How the far right is shaking Germany’s political order

Every Friday in Chemnitz, Germany, a crowd of far-right activists gather to denounce immigrants.

“What do we with foreigners?” a man calls into a megaphone.

“Out out out!” the protesters reply.

We went to Chemnitz to witness the weekly demonstrations, which began last August when two refugees from Syria and Iraq allegedly stabbed a German man to death. The crime became a rallying cry for the far right and others who oppose migrants. And it has resulted in real violence, including numerous attacks on immigrant businesses.

Migrants have been a political flashpoint for Germany since 2015. That’s when Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed nearly a million asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision infuriated many Germans. And it divided a country that, after reckoning with its Nazi past, had long seemed immune to the rise of populist movements.

Now, Germany’s political system faces a watershed moment. A far-right party that openly calls for deporting immigrants is the third-largest in Parliament. And Merkel, a pillar of German stability for 13 years, announced this week that she would not seek re-election in 2021. Her retreat from the political stage marks the end of an era, and has left people wondering whether the political center in Germany is starting to cave.