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PEGIDA turns 4 – will AfD be among the well-wishers?

Some have spoken out against a rapprochement between the AfD and PEGIDA. The AfD leader in Saxony insists: 'The AfD is the political arm of all non-violent, liberal-democratic citizen movements.'

By Manès Weisskircher
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01.09.2018, Saxony, Chemnitz: Lutz Bachmann, founder of PEGIDA, makes a selfie in front of a photo of the murdered Iulia from Viersen during AfD demonstration. Ralf Hirschberger/ Press Association. All rights reserved.

Four years ago on October 20, 2014, 'Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident' (PEGIDA) staged their first-ever demonstration in the city of Dresden. About 350 people attended. Soon, the weekly PEGIDA protests turned into the most talked about issue in German politics. In the winter of 2014 and 2015, up to 20,000 people joined the 'evening walks' in Dresden. While since then a political party, the AfD (Alternative for Germany), has become the key radical right player in German politics, PEGIDA still regularly mobilizes more than 1,000 individuals. By now, their Monday gatherings have become a 'protest ritual'.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0