'It's like 1933 again': How GenZ is reviving Germany's far-right ahead of its election
ITV News' George Hancorn travelled to Germany ahead of its election to find out why young people are voting for the far-right party, the AfD
Words by Deputy Content Editor Sophia Ankel
On Sunday, February 23, around 2.3 million young Germans will step into a voting booth for the very first time.
Their choices could send shockwaves through the country, mainly because many of them are leaning away from their traditional left-wing politics, toward the increasingly popular far-right party, the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD).
Polls show that the AfD, which has adopted a platform largely based on German nationalism and anti-immigration, will likely emerge from the elections as the second strongest party.
Though it is still unclear how many of those votes will come from Under-30s, the AfD has been pushing its messages relentlessly on social media - and it appears to be working.
The party has three times more followers on TikTok than all of the other political parties combined, according to new research published last month.
With slick, meme-driven content, the AfD has managed to tap into a deep well of frustration among young voters, who are mainly concerned about immigration, and Germany's shrinking economy.
Simon, a TikTok influencer, told ITV News his For You page is saturated with AfD content.
Simon, 25, who has more than 51,000 followers on TikTok and posts videos about politics in Germany, told ITV News: "TikTok has been disregarded by most of Germany's politicians and party's until around a year ago.
"But the far-right AfD has been doing TikTok on a very high level for years and they have a head start that is unimaginable.
"If you create a new account, how much content by the AfD you see compared to how much content by more left-leaning parties you see, you can't really escape it.
Erik Ahrens, a social media strategist specifically hired by the AfD, told ITV News that the way the party successfully reaches young people online is by portraying its politicians as "real-world people on the streets."
"To have an impact, you can't just be a regular politician, who talks about politics," he said. "You need to be a social media star."
What is the AfD, who is Alice Wediel, and what are some of its key policies?
The far-right AfD was founded in 2013. Its leader is 46-year-old Alice Weidel, an ex-Goldman Sachs analyst.
Weidel has backed the mass deportation of migrants, embracing the highly controversial term "remigration", and wants to end sanctions on Russia.
She enjoys the support of Elon Musk, who last year defended some of her views, saying she could not be classed as a right-wing extremist as she "has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka".
AfD has also called for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
Another way far-right messages are spread to young people is through music.
Kavalier is a rapper whose songs, Dusi Dusi and Abschiebhauptmeister, have been removed from streaming platforms for hate speech.
The songs, which have almost two million views combined, mock migrants and the LGBT+ community.
"The term Dusi is the name of the AfD's 'remigration plane - go into the plane, and goodbye. We don't need you here."
“In my songs, I talk about the big European problem of migration and also topics like the LGBT+ community. Stop with smoking shisha everywhere, that typical stereotype for Arabic guys.
When asked if he's worried about offending people, he said: "Gay communities or left-wing communities, they are always anti to everything that we do because we don't have anything in common."
Kavalier's videos mocking migrants and the LGBT+ community are racking up millions of views online
But this content is also having a real-life impact.
Azra, Kim and Helin are second-generation immigrants who live in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia, which has always been a right-wing stronghold.
In September last year, the AfD made history here by becoming the first far-right German political party to win a state election since World War II.
The branch is now led by Björn Höcke, a controversial figure who was found guilty - and fined - for using a Nazi slogan on two separate occasions.
"We now have people on the top who are praising the idea of taking away the citizenship of people. Its like its 1933 again," Azra told ITV News.
The young women, who are all students are Erfurt University, said they feel increasingly worried about their safety.
"I came to Erfurt with my family and we just went shopping and we were talking in Turkish to each other, and someone behind us said schei** Ausländer (s*** foreigners). This is something which is still in my head," Helin said.
"What is hurting the most is that I was born and raised here. This is my home, this is what I know. And I'm not foreign here, even if I maybe look that way."
Racist heckling and confrontational stares have started becoming common place for the young women, which they said has also started to make them angry.
"It is making me sad that the politicians nowadays are mainly focused on migration as if we would not have any other problems and all the problems we have is because of the people who are coming to try to survive," Helin added.
The students said they're trying to channel their anger into activism, telling ITV News that they believe the hatred aimed towards them should not be met with more hatred.
Kim said: "I am not planning on leaving Erfurt. Things might be difficult, but we must continue to fight for our country."
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