The extreme right’s win in Germany poses an existential problem: what is the truth, and what are the limits of representation’s power? Like a century ago, the answers matter to the world

Catholic writer and analyst Chris Caldwell is, as usual, brilliant in writing about the crisis in Germany that led to the recent AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt. He says:

“Fifteen years ago, Germany held an unassailable position as the top Western European economy. It was an export powerhouse, built around the auto industry and a sturdy business model that needed only three things: cheap Russian energy, cheap Central European labor, and the exponentially rising Chinese demand for cars and industrial machinery. There was a mystery, though. At a time when all seemed to be going well, voters were souring on the CDU and SPD—to the extent that those two parties essentially had to merge in three of the four coalitions through which Angela Merkel ruled Germany from 2005 to 2021. It seemed that whomever you voted for, you got the same parties in power.

The AfD’s victory stems from many unresolved issues since unification. The President of the Conference of Bishops calls for addressing the cultural and social roots of the problem.

The Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) overwhelming electoral victory in Saxony-Anhalt casts a long shadow over the stability of German constitutional democracy. The events unfolding in Germany, Europe’s leading economy, which rose from the ashes of the Nazi regime and absorbed the severe social and economic consequences of the collapse of communism, directly concern not only the European Union but also the world.

The events of Sunday, September 6, 2026, culminate a long journey that began on November 9, 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall—a moment filled with hope and promise. The failure to fulfill these hopes and promises in reunified Germany fueled resentment, fear, and disillusionment among the population of the former East German states, upon which the AfD has built its political success step by step.

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However, it would be a mistake to view the AfD solely as a regional phenomenon.