Thousands of people demonstrated this Saturday against the far-right and in favor of democracy in the Cathedral Square of Magdeburg, capital of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, while, not far from there, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) held its end-of-campaign event.
Under the motto "A Saxony-Anhalt open to the world", around 15,000 people according to the organizers and around 10,000 according to the Police, gathered in a massive gesture in defense of democracy, diversity and solidarity.
The event, with numerous musical performances and interventions by German activists and personalities and supported by various civil society organizations, was not linked to any political party, although the heads of the list of The Left and The Greens, Eva von Angern and Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz, respectively, participated.
Tina, a researcher at the University of Magdeburg who went with her family to the almost packed Cathedral Square, explained that it is "important to show democratic unity", at a time when polls attribute victory to the AfD on Sunday.
"I hope there is no AfD government, but even if that doesn't happen, the problem will still be there," he said, alluding to the "hatred" that, in his opinion, has taken hold in the public debate.
The latest survey published on Thursday places the AfD at 41% of voting intentions, followed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU, 23%) of regional president Sven Schulze, The Left (11.5%), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) (8.5%) and the Greens, with 6%.
The rest of the formations, the liberals of the FDP, partners in Schulze's coalition with the SPD, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) would not exceed the 5% threshold to enter the regional Parliament.
If these polls hold true, and if the AfD wins by an absolute majority, it would be the first time that the extreme right returns to govern in a German 'land' after the Second World War.
The smart vote
Maxi and Max, a young couple who came to the demonstration with their baby, were hopeful that on Sunday many parties would manage to overcome the 5% barrier, something that would reduce the AfD's chances of obtaining an absolute majority and therefore governing.
"We must show that the push from the right is not such in Saxony-Anhalt, it is always said that here we are very right-wing, but that is not the case," he said, while she appealed to vote on Sunday "intelligently", regardless of political preferences, in favor of the party that is not above 5% in the polls.
Bernd, a middle-aged man who watches the festival from the sidelines of the Cathedral Square with his dachshund, points out that democracy must be "reinforced" with events like the one hosted by the capital of Magdeburg.
The festival organized next to the temple, whose works began in the 13th century, featured musicians and interventions by politicians, activists and relevant cultural figures such as the author and Holocaust survivor Henriette Kretz, 92 years old.
AfD takes refuge in a theater
Not far from Cathedral Square, in a wealthy neighborhood of Magdeburg, AfD chose a theater with capacity for just under 1,000 people to celebrate its closing campaign in a protected event with abundant police presence and in which the party's co-presidents, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, participated.
There, AfD leaders have supported the party's candidate, Ulrich Siegmund. Gordon Kohler, AfD regional deputy, highlighted that Siegmund "is the face of our positive message", alluding to the AfD campaign motto: "Anything is possible."
Chrupalla has expressed confidence that the party will win the elections this Sunday and that from there they will conquer other federated states and, "of course, we will also triumph at the federal level, at the latest in 2029," he noted.
The other co-leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel, has exclaimed that the party is "the force of the future" and has stressed that "Uli will make history in Saxony-Anhalt and Germany."
