What the AfD is really planning
An honest look at the election program – for everyone, who make music
I read through the election manifestos. Not the speeches, not the talk show clips – the real programs. Saxony-Anhalt (150 pages), NRW, Bund. And honest: It's wilder than most people think.
The short version: Completely abolish asylum law, Deport millions of people, Make church asylum a criminal offense, culture “German values” trim. That's what it says in there. And this affects you directly – your network, your gigs, your scene.
Briefly about the context
The AfD started 2013 as an EU critic party. Since 2015 it drifts further and further to the right. Today, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies them as definitely right-wing extremists in several federal states - Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, for example. Not just any Twitter account says that, That's what the security agency of this country says.
And the numbers are real: In Saxony-Anhalt it is just under 40 percent in the polls, strongest force. In the NRW local elections 2025 there were hundreds of new mandates, There is also a faction on the council in Dortmund. This is no longer a fringe group. That's why it's worth taking a closer look.
The asylum thing
Let's start with the biggest chunk. Currently applies: Anyone can apply for asylum, the state has to check. This is a fundamental right. The AfD wants to delete exactly that – not reform it, cancel. Instead, asylum should be granted “Right of clemency” become. The state grants clemency, or not.
Listen to the word. Not right. grace. That is the difference between the rule of law and arbitrariness. No claim, no reliable appeal – the state decides, complete.
Plus the “Deportation- and remigration offensive”. 2024 were in Saxony-Anhalt 654 people deported, 1.252 Deportations failed. The AfD says: Scandal, far too little, more pressure! But why do deportations actually fail?? Because countries of origin do not take their people back. Because goals are too uncertain. Because papers are missing. That doesn't help “Pressure” from Magdeburg – Syria doesn’t care.
And the best part: Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have 56 Migration demands analyzed in the program. 21 of which are only federal- or EU level can be implemented at all. So a national association promises things, which a country cannot decide at all. That's the trick: promise big, never have to deliver, the anger remains.
Church asylum is banned
That part honestly amazed me the most. Church asylum has been around for centuries - when a community takes someone in, the case will be examined again. This is not a mass issue, these are isolated cases.
The AfD wants to stop this. That's what it says in the program. Think this through: A pastor, that protects a family, then acts against the state. This is no longer migration policy, this is state controlling church. Even conservative church people reject this.
Culture is brought into line
For us as musicians, the cultural part is actually the most important. The program includes stuff like: “Gender ideology” out of schools, “protect unborn life” (say: Restrict abortion), clear “Norms and role models” for society, cultural adaptation as a duty.
Was “German culture” should be accurate, remains intentionally vague. And that is exactly the problem: When no one defines, what is allowed, In the end, arbitrariness decides. Is hip hop German enough?? A track in Turkish? A drag show at the youth center? Vague rules plus political will equals pressure on everything, what doesn't fit into the picture.
Plus the skilled worker logic: are immigrants “no replacement for a lack of skilled workers”, they would rather bring Germans back. Sounds nice, only: Saxony-Anhalt has a massive shortage of skilled workers, and German skilled workers are more likely to move to Berlin than to Magdeburg. Ideology beats math here.
Dortmund specifically
The AfD council group in Dortmund takes a clear line: Islam as a core problem. On their side they count on the around 70.000 Muslims of the city, talk about “excessive crime” and parallel societies.
You know the pattern behind it: When a German commits a crime, he is an isolated case. When a migrant commits a crime, is it “the culture”. 70.000 People, who simply live their lives, never appear in the bill. This is not security policy, that's framing.
What that means in practice, if something like that gets a majority: more controls in certain neighborhoods, more requirements for events there, more self-censorship among organizers (“Let's not book the act?”). The scene becomes quieter, before any law comes. That's the nasty thing about it.
Climate: just deny it
The NRW program says so, die “Climate hysteria” is generated by the media and a connection between CO₂ and climate change cannot be proven. Point for honesty: At least they write it openly. It's just wrong. The scientific consensus is clearer than on almost any other topic.
Why you should care: Festivals are already struggling with heatwaves, Storms and skyrocketing energy costs. The AfD answer to this is “back to coal” and remove funding for sustainable events. That doesn't make open airs cheaper, that makes them riskier.
More police, less freedom
10.000 additional police officers for NRW, that's the plan. Sounds like security at first. But think about it, what it costs – and what is cut for it. Spoiler: It won't be the defense budget, it will be social and cultural.
And police don't solve things, what it's actually about. Addiction needs therapy, Poverty needs perspectives, Psychological crises require social work. Above all, more uniforms means: more controls. And based on experience, where do they end up?? At raves, at clubs in “problem areas”, with everything, which smells like subculture. Ask people, who organized illegal parties, how neutrally police presence is distributed.
Who benefits from all this??
Now the part, which the AfD does not say out loud. Besides all the migration- and cultural stuff is in the business section: deregulation, Abolish supply chain law, fewer environmental regulations, fewer “bureaucracy”. Translated: free rein for large corporations.
The party, who sells herself as an advocate for the little man, does politics for people, who are definitely not little men. There's nothing in it for you as an indie artist. No better streaming payout, no fairer GEMA, no venue funding. Nothing.
And the list of losers is long: internationale Acts (Visa, Costs), queer artists (Culture clash), migrantische Acts (General suspicion), small clubs (Conditions, Police costs), Festivals (no sustainability funding, more expensive “Security”). Kurz: exactly the corner, arises in music.
For comparison
To keep it fair: The CDU and others also have restrictive migration policies. The difference is nevertheless fundamental. The CDU wants deportations within the framework of the rule of law - it does not affect the asylum law itself and church asylum. SPD, The Greens and the Left are placing greater emphasis on integration and actively promoting cultural diversity.
One can argue about migration numbers, this is legitimate politics. Abolishing basic rights and punishing churches is a different category. That's the point, and out of it “restrictive” something else will be.
Don’t believe me – check for yourself
I don't want to, that you just swallow this. Read for yourself:
The Saxony-Anhalt program is completely online (afd-regierungsprogramm.de, or as a PDF via media reports). Church asylum, Asylum-“Right of clemency”, Remigration – it’s all there. The deportation numbers (654 to 1.252) come from official state statistics. The analysis of the 21 The unrealizable demands come from the Max Planck Institute, published in the constitution blog. You can find the Constitutional Protection classifications at the state offices.
That's the difference between opinion and analysis: You can check each point here.
What you can do
First of all, this: be informed, without panicking. Not “they are evil” the mail, but rather share specific program points and let people read them for themselves. That's ten times more powerful than outrage.
Then, very practical for business: Buch international, as long as it's straightforward. Give various acts a stage – not as a statement, but because diversity is simply better musically and sets you apart from others. Network with other organizers and artists in Dortmund, go to a council meeting and listen, what is actually being said.
And long term: Build structures, that do not depend on funding policy. Own channels, own communities, Cooperations between clubs. Which is independent, is harder to break down.
Bottom Line
Any genre of music, that you love, arose from mixing. Rock’n’Roll, HipHop, Techno, Reggae – all children of migration and exchange. A policy, wants cultural homogeneity, is a policy against that, what music is made of.
The AfD does not hide its program. It's all there, black and white, 150 pages. You just have to read it. And once you've read it, you know, what the next elections are about – not abstract, but for your scene, your city, your thing.
To read. Ponder. Go vote. And keep making music loud.
All information is based on the publicly available election programs, official statistics and journalistic sources. Check yourself is expressly desired. – flexbarker.org