Populism and the Rise of the AfD in Germany

In the wake of the disastrous destruction and terror the Nazi regime brought to the world, German society generally guards itself against populism. Yet, with the success of right-wing populist movements all over Europe, Germany is once again confronted with the rise of right-wing attitudes, in particular with a right-wing populist party named Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD). After outlining the history of right-wing movements in Germany, this article focuses on the mediasphere of the AfD and gives a more detailed analysis of the rhetoric of two central AfD politicians: Björn Höcke’s “Dresden Speech,” delivered in January 2017, which can be seen as a model of populist rhetoric, and social media-based rhetoric of provocation by Alice Weidel. The case studies of these two politicians illustrate that political speech is of high importance within populist movements and explain the complex cross-media strategy used by the AfD to promote their ideology of exclusion and racism.