After winning a historic state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) stands on the brink of becoming the first far-right party to gain power in Germany since World War Two.
The AfD won 44 per cent of the vote in what chancellor Friedrich Merz called a “seismic” defeat by a party classified by German intelligence as a right-wing extremist organisation.
President Donald Trump said the party showed the party was “on the rise” as voters had “finally got tired of the absolutely horrible Immigration rules and regulations which have hurt Germany so badly”.
The AfD has faced a string of controversies over links between its members and neo-Nazi groups, as well as racist comments made about migrants. They are led in Saxony-Anhalt by 35-year-old former fragrance salesman Ulrich Siegmund, who magazine Der Spiegel recently billed as “the most dangerous man in Germany”.
Among the AfD’s new parliamentarians are a man reported to have starred in porn films, a former Stasi officer and members currently under criminal investigation for involvement with neo-Nazi organisations. There are also several vocally pro-Russian candidates.
Whether they will make up the next state government - they are three short of a majority and there remains a slim chance that opposition parties could put together a coalition - is yet to be confirmed.
But the 39 AfD candidates will be heavily involved in governing the fractured state either way. The Independent takes a look at some of the characters involved.
Phillipp-Anders Rau
Phillipp-Anders Rau is a far-right activist who has spent time with Trump in his Mar-a-Lago resort.
At an AfD conference in August 2024, Rau was accused by a rival of being a paid porn actor. He denied the allegation at the time, saying “I am neither a virgin nor a porn star”.
Rau attempted to sue Magdeburger Volksstimme newspaper for publishing the allegations, but a court in Frankfurt ruled against him, saying: “He participated in filming for a professional porn video that was clearly intended for release.”
According to German media, Rau was also convicted for stealing bedding in bulk from hotels.
Rau also obtained a fraudulent spot at university by using a forged high school diploma, and was expelled as a result, Die Zeit reported. He says he was readmitted around 18 months later following a legal battle.
He was also part of a group of AfD politicians who toured Washington and New York, meeting with members of the Trump administration in a bid to deepen ties.
Frank-Ronald Bischoff
And then there is Frank-Ronald Bischoff, a 78-year-old management consultant and the oldest member of parliament, who represents Werrnigerode in the state parliament and has been a member of the AfD since 2016.
For 12 years between 1977 and 1989, Bischoff was an “officer on special assignment” for the Ministry for State Security of the GDR, otherwise known as the Stasi, the state secret police in Eastern Germany between 1950 and 1990.
He told German tabloid Bild in 2017: “I do not comment on questions regarding the Stasi. I faithfully and conscientiously fulfilled my duties according to the laws of the GDR.”
Evelyn Zupke, the Federal Commissioner for the Victims of the SED Dictatorship, has strongly criticised his candidacy, telling the outlet that it is “hurtful to the victims of the SED dictatorship to see how casually people who supported the dictatorship now seek mandates in democratic parliaments”.
Sebastian Koch
Sebastian Koch and Simon Lansmann, two candidates who won their seats with huge majorities of more than 40 per cent, have been linked in police investigations to neo-Nazi group the "völkisch Artgemeinschaft", a neo-pagan organisation that has espoused nationalist and anti-Semitic ideas.
Koch had his home searched by police for alleged support of the group despite its ban in 2023, while the public prosecutor is looking into Lansmann under the same suspicions.
The pair are alleged to have supported the party during a summer solstice celebration hosted by Lansmann, Die Zeit reported. Both reject the allegations and distanced themselves from the group’s ideology.
Pro-Russia candidates
Pro-Russian politicians are rife song the AfD’s ranks, especially in Saxony-Anhalt.
Dr. Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, 48, joined the AfD group that visited members of the MAGA movement in the US. He is reported to have attended an event hosted by far-right Compact magazine at the Russian embassy in Berlin.
In 2022, Tillschneider travelled to Russia alongside another AfD parliamentarian, 44-year-old chef and healthcare administrator Daniel Wald. A trip to the Russian-occupied Donbas in Ukraine was planned as part of the trip, prompting criticism even from the AfD leadership.
Nadine Koppehel, 49, one of two women among the 39 new parliamentarians, reportedly added a Russian flag to her Facebook profile following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, telling the Volkstimme newspaper that she was "connected to the Russian people through family ties”, Die Zeit reported.
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