The German Blues: A Historian’s Perspective on the Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Eastern Germany

The right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), recognizable by its light-blue campaign color, has become a major force in German politics. In upcoming state elections in eastern and western Germany as well as in Berlin, the AfD is expected to gain further votes and may even become unavoidable in government formation in some regions, such as Saxony-Anhalt. While right-wing populism has grown across the country, its rise over the past decade has been especially pronounced in eastern Germany. Historian Dorothee Wierling explores the deeper historical reasons for the AfD’s particular appeal in the East. She argues that current political discontent is rooted in a longer experience of perceived marginalization that began with Germany’s defeat in World War II and the division of the country during the Cold War, when West Germans came to see themselves largely as winners and many East Germans as lasting losers. The analysis draws on two oral history projects: one conducted in 1987 in the former GDR with people born before 1930, and another carried out after reunification with members of the 1949 birth cohort. Planned interviews with AfD voters and party members in a village in Saxony-Anhalt will extend this perspective. Together, these sources offer a multi-generational view of eastern German experiences based on what cultural historian Jan Assmann calls communicative memory. The title The German Blues also points to a broader sense of disillusionment in postwar German society, as expectations of steady liberal and social progress have increasingly been called into question.

The Gerda Henkel Lecture Tours were established in 2018 by the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Each year, the series brings leading German historians to the West Coast to present their latest research and to engage in conversations with diverse academic and public audiences across North America.