Exploring the Rise of Right-Wing Ideologies in Eastern Germany
Loading...
Authors
Karolina Pucek
Issue Date
2026
Type
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
In the 2025 German federal election, the relatively recently established right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) (“Alternative for Germany”) secured the second place, recording the largest voter gains out of any of the 29 parties represented on the ballot. Notably, despite its origins in West Germany, the AfD achieved unprecedented success across eastern states. Scholars attribute this development to many factors, particularly the Euro and migration crises, which have deepened preexisting societal divides and reshaped the country’s party system. While the growth of right-wing parties and ideologies has been observed across many European countries in recent years, it is especially pronounced – and in many ways pioneering – in regions formerly under Soviet influence. In this study, I aim to examine the intersection of political, social, and economic factors that make Eastern Germany an important case study of broader European trends in right-wing mobilization. I will use public opinion polls, starting from the previous federal electoral cycle in 2021, to show the evolution of public support that eventually culminated in the AfD receiving a large share of the seats in the German parliament in 2025. I will further parallel this evolution with major events and political developments of the past four years to highlight the possible explanations of the right-wing ideologies’ growing appeal to the East German population. Finally, I will establish a connection between the country’s Soviet past and the current political climate to provide a preliminary framework for understanding how the region’s history still exerts its effects today, over three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.