Tens of thousands march across Germany to protest far-right party AfD - Al Jazeera

Around 150,000 people demonstrated across roughly 20 German cities on Saturday, September 12, 2026, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, protesting against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The rallies were organised by the campaign group Pruef, which is pushing for a ban on the AfD, with protesters carrying signs reading "Ban the AfD now" and "Democracy needs no alternatives."
Organisers reported turnouts of about 25,000 in Hamburg and 12,000 in Munich, while police said several thousand more joined separate demonstrations in Berlin.
The protests followed the AfD's landslide victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, where the anti-immigration party took nearly 44 percent of the vote, far ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union at roughly 17 percent.
Falling just short of an outright majority, the AfD is now in coalition talks that could make it the first far-right party to lead a German state since the Nazi era ended in 1945, with state leader Ulrich Siegmund hailing the result as historic.
The AfD, known for its Russia-friendly posture, held a counter-rally in Berlin attended by Kristin Brinker, its lead candidate for the capital's upcoming regional election.