The term "far-right extremist" is imprecise, though it is widely applied to the Alternative for Germany, known as the AfD. Armin Pfahl-Traughber, a political science professor at Germany's Federal University of Administrative Sciences, said that far-right extremist parties do not necessarily oppose democracy itself, but rather reject core democratic values like separation of powers, human rights, and pluralism while emphasizing ethnic nationalism.
Pfahl-Traughber told DW that the AfD has shifted fundamentally since its founding in 2013. "What was originally a right-wing democratic party with a minority of far-right extremists has developed over the years into a far-right extremist party with a minority of right-wing democrats," he said.
Right-wing populism, according to Pfahl-Traughber, shares several core elements: viewing "the people" as a monolithic entity that rejects pluralism, claiming conflict between "us" and "them" — typically ordinary people versus elites — and seeking direct support by claiming to understand what ordinary citizens think and want. The AfD is frequently described as populist because it adopts these features in its political style.
Bjorn Höcke, the AfD's most influential politician and party leader in the eastern state of Thuringia, has repeatedly drawn on the ideas of conservative revolutionaries from the early 20th century in his writings. In 2024, Höcke was twice convicted of using a slogan associated with the SA, the Nazi paramilitary organization.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, classifies the AfD as a suspected far-right extremist case. This classification indicates credible indicators that the party seeks to undermine the democratic order and requires closer investigation. The agency said the AfD pursues giving citizens of immigrant descent lower legal status, which violates the constitution, a finding confirmed by Germany's highest administrative court in Münster in 2024.
The classification allows authorities to monitor the party using intelligence methods, including wiretapping and informants. Party members classified as confirmed extremists can be rejected for employment as teachers, police officers, or soldiers because their loyalty to the constitution is not assured. A administrative court in Cologne is currently reviewing the AfD's classification as a confirmed extremist organization.