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Doreen Denstädt becomes eastern Germany’s first black minister

Former policewoman Doreen Denstädt became the first black minister in ex-communist eastern Germany on Wednesday, taking over the justice and migration brief in a hotbed of right-wing extremism.

Published: 1 February 2023 13:01 CET

Former policewoman Doreen Denstädt became the first black minister in ex-communist east Germany on Wednesday.

Former policewoman Doreen Denstädt became the first black minister in ex-communist east Germany on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Martin Schutt

Denstädt, 45, belongs to the Greens and assumed the office in Thuringia state from Dirk Adams, who was fired after his management of immigration policy lost the support of the ecologist party.

Thuringia is governed by a fractious coalition of the far-left Linke party, the Social Democrats and the Greens who formed a bulwark against the far-right AfD party, which is polling at around 30 percent.

The state chapter of the AfD, an anti-migrant, anti-Muslim party, is considered particularly radical and has been placed under surveillance by the
domestic security watchdog, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

“If you like the constitution in Thuringia, you’re considered a leftist,” Denstädt, whose Tanzanian father studied in Germany, told the daily Tagesspiegel.

“I can be visible – after all I always stood out in a white-majority society, whether I wanted to or not.”

Denstädt, whose new office oversees the judicial system as well as migrant and refugee affairs, has said she intends to be a voice for victims of crime, racism and discrimination.

She noted that she as a German citizen is regularly asked to show her residency papers and does not ride public transportation at night for fear of racist attacks.

READ ALSO: Black people in Germany face ‘widespread’ racism, study finds

Denstädt, who only entered politics in 2021, faced a deluge of hate speech online when it was announced she would become a minister.

But she said she has also received widespread encouragement and support for her highly visible new position.

“An incredible number of people got in touch to say they’re proud of me and hopeful about what I can do,” she told Tagesspiegel.

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TikTok and barbecues: Germany's far right mobilises youth vote

At a campaign rally for Germany’s far-right AfD, one of the party’s most recognisable faces is mobbed by teenagers waving the national flag and looking for a selfie.

Maximilian Krah is treated like a rock star by young activists at the gathering in Oranienburg in the formerly communist region of Brandenburg, which goes to the polls on Sunday.

Controversial even within his own party, the 47-year-old member of the European Parliament has tens of thousands of followers on TikTok.

Wearing a black hoodie, Jorn Paul Plewka, 17, is among those to have been “attracted to the AfD by Krah’s videos on immigration”, the teen told AFP.

In a demographic where the far right had previously struggled, the AfD was now finding more support, said Johannes Hillje, an expert in political communications.

“They have found another way to reach them,” Hillje said.

In recent elections in two other eastern states, Thuringia and Saxony, the AfD did relatively better with voters aged 18 to 24.

In Thuringia, where the party scored its first regional election win, 38 percent of voters in that age group chose the AfD, compared with around 33 percent overall, according to a survey.

READ ALSO: What the far-right AfD state election win means for Germany

“Young people are the life insurance for this party… There’s a good chance for the AfD that these voters will vote for them again in the future,” Hillje said.

‘Germany first’

Polling ahead of Sunday’s vote shows the AfD with its nose ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, who have won every regional election in Brandenburg since reunification.

For Max, 21, who refused to give his surname, the AfD was all about “Germany first”.

A small German flag tucked into the back pocket of his jeans, the young salesman told AFP he had converted his parents and grandparents to the far-right party.

“They noticed that things were no longer working,” he said, explaining how his 72-year-old grandmother had returned to work as a nurse to top up her state pension — which is less generous in the east than in the west of the country.

AfD in Thuringia

People stand around an election booth of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and it’s youth organisation Junge Alternative in the eastern federal state of Thuringia during a campaign event on August 11th, 2024. Photo: Clement KASSER / AFP

Jason Sowada, 14, whose parents vote for the Social Democrats, said he was drawn to the AfD because he “no longer feels safe”.

“Some of my friends were attacked with knives by migrants and had to go to hospital,” said Sowada, who will have to wait to cast his first ballot in an election.

READ ALSO: Foreigners in Germany fearful over rise of far right

Another supporter of the party Jeremy Saleschke — who, at 15, is also too young to vote — said he finds it hard to study at school because “half the students don’t speak German”.

Among a group of counter-protestors at the AfD rally, Eike Simonrinn, 21, was concerned about the popularity of the far-right among his old school friends.

“The AfD affects everyone, regardless of income or social class,” Simonrinn told AFP.

Bowling and barbecues

“In Brandenburg, the AfD is the only party that distributes leaflets outside schools,” Anna-Sophie Heinze, professor at Trier University, told AFP.

At the forefront of the effort to build support from an early age is the party’s youth organisation, “Junge Alternative” (Young Alternative).

The group “offers a whole range of leisure activities, barbecue evenings, games or bowling, excursions, to recruit new members”, Heinze said.

The AfD’s message to young people sticks to the party’s main lines: opposition to immigration, environmental policies and Germany’s support for Ukraine, as well as blaming the mainstream parties for economic stagnation.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW – ‘Failed climate policies are fuelling far-right politics in Germany’

Some AfD politicians have also called for an end to Germany’s post-World War II culture of repentance for Nazi crimes.

They include the party’s leader in Thuringia, Bjoern Höcke, who was recently convicted of deliberately using the Nazi-era slogan “Alles für Deutschland” (Everything for Germany).

Taken literally, 17-year-old Jorn Paul Plewka does not see the problem with the utterance.

“It’s important to do something for your country,” he said

Nonetheless, Plewka said a recent school trip to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg was “important to explain to young people what happened there”.

By Céline Le Prioux

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