The Anti-AfD Firewall and Germany’s Problem with Democracy

by Sabine Beppler-Spahl

“No cooperation, no toleration, nothing at all”—that’s how German chancellor Friedrich Merz described his relationship with the right-populist AfD (Alternative for Germany). It’s a pledge he repeated once again this July, just before retreating into his summer break. “I will do everything in my power to stop Germany’s right-populists from gaining power,” he said.

“Brandmauer” (firewall) is the term used to describe the established parties’ joint pledge to exclude the populists from any meaningful parliamentary participation.

With important state elections due in September in three federal states, nervousness within the establishment over how long this Brandmauer can hold has reached fever pitch. The AfD, which has been topping national polls for months, is expected to emerge as the strongest party in at least two states. In one, Saxony-Anhalt, polls suggest the populists could become so strong that no government could be formed against them, a scenario Merz alluded to in his summer speech, and one that has led some within his own party to question the logic of a policy they now see as increasingly self-limiting.

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