Feb 16, 2026, 1:24 p.mFeb 16, 2026, 1:24 p.m
The AfD federal party conference is scheduled to take place on July 3rd and 4th, 2026 in Erfurt, in the German state of Thuringia. The choice of date and location for this party conference is criticized by German politicians.
The abbreviation AFD stands for “Alternative for Germany”.Image: keystone
The reason for the criticism is that exactly 100 years ago, on July 3rd and 4th, 1926, a Nazi party conference of the then political party NSDAP took place in the then Thuringian state capital Weimar. This reports “the time”.
The NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) was a party founded in the Weimar Republic. Their ideology included anti-Semitism and nationalism as well as the rejection of democracy and Marxism. The party leader of the NSDAP from 1921 was the later German Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
Criticism from German politics
The German Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Serap Güler, tells the “Kölner Stadtanzeiger” that the parallels between the two party congresses were consciously chosen by the AfD. The CDU politician goes on to say that she is disgusted by how little respect the AfD has for Germany’s history.
“My goodness, how stupid they all think we are!”
CDU politician Serap Güler regarding the chosen date of the AfD party conference.
The former SPD parliamentary group leader, Rolf Mützenich, also commented on the chosen date. He says, as Die Zeit writes, that this election fits in with the claim that National Socialism was “a piece of shit in German history.” He is referring to a statement by AfD party founder Alexander Gauland. He said in 2018 that National Socialism was “just a piece of bird shit” in the history of Germany.
Rolf Mützenich was chairman of the SPD parliamentary group from September 2019 to February 2025.Image: keystone
Mützenich thinks that the AfD wants to create a provocation with the choice of date in order to attract attention. He goes on to say that this is not a historical coincidence that can simply be accepted.
The NSDAP party conference in 1926 was considered a relevant date for the rise of the party and at the same time for Adolf Hitler. Among other things, the Hitler Youth was founded at the party conference at that time.
Stefan Möller, spokesman for the AfD Thuringia, says that anyone who draws attention to the parallels to the NSDAP party conference in Weimar 100 years ago is only interested in a compulsive instrumentalization of history. (nib)
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