AfD Party Congress in Erfurt Concludes – Weidel and Chrupalla Confirmed as Dual Leadership

The focus was on the party's personnel and programmatic lineup: delegates confirmed Alice Weidel with 81.3 percent as co-chair – a result described as virtually unchanged compared to the 2024 election. Tino Chrupalla received roughly 70 percent, performing significantly weaker than in his previous election, when he had reached 83 percent. Both ran without opposing candidates and are thus in office for another two years.

Claim to Power and Platform

In terms of content, Chrupalla invoked the party's claim to power in his closing speech: "Die AfD ist da, um zu siegen. Und wir werden siegen und wir werden regieren", he said. At the same time, he warned against promising anything the AfD could not deliver and pointed to possible "Enttäuschungen und auch auf Rückschläge" on the path to power. The party must also keep its promises. He named the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin in September as the next milestones.

Weidel sharply attacked the policies of the federal government of the past twenty years in her speech. She spoke of people being overwhelmed by "Eurorettung, Flüchtlingsrettung, Klimarettung, Ukrainerettung, bei gleichzeitiger konsequenter De-Industrialisierung und desaströser Energiepolitik". At the close, she called for a societal commitment in the colours black-red-gold: "Lasst uns das gesamte Land in Schwarz-Rot-Gold tauchen. Schwarz-Rot-Gold: Das leben wir! Das sind unsere Farben!", she said. She also announced that the party was preparing for an early federal election and wanted to "Regierungsverantwortung übernehmen", as the AfD was the "stärkste Kraft".

Personnel Changes on the Federal Executive

The view of the state elections in eastern Germany also shaped the congress: the AfD wants to provide a minister-president for the first time in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In Saxony-Anhalt, a federal state of 2.1 million inhabitants, the AfD with its lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund is currently polling at 41 percent. In the ARD DeutschlandTrend, the federal party currently stands at around 27 percent, well ahead of CDU/CSU at 22 percent; the SPD reaches 12 percent.

Alongside the elections, the reconfiguration and restructuring of the federal executive was a central focus. Among others, delegates elected Stefan Möller from Thuringia, regarded as a confidant of Thuringian AfD state and federal executive member Björn Höcke, with 76.54 percent as deputy federal chair. According to an executive decision, Möller is to maintain relations with the German security authorities. Höcke had made headlines following two convictions and fines from 2025, including for the repeated use of an SA slogan from the Nazi era; ahead of this party congress, he described demonstrators as "Seelenverwundete" and demanded that the AfD must "die gebrochene deutsche Identität heilen".

Security Agencies and Domestic Intelligence

The new federal executive also includes Jean-Pascal Hohm as head of the newly founded AfD youth organisation "Generation Deutschland", who had previously had to step down from his position in the Brandenburg AfD state parliamentary group due to contacts with the right-wing extremist scene. Also newly elected as deputy is Katrin Ebner-Steiner, co-chair of the Bavarian AfD state parliamentary group; she set the goal of driving Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder "aus der Staatskanzlei zu jagen". Hannes Gnauck, former head of the now dissolved Junge Alternative, narrowly prevailed in the third ballot against long-standing treasurer Carsten Hütter and is the new federal treasurer. Sven Tritschler from North Rhine-Westphalia was elected to the third deputy post with 50.7 percent, defeating Kay Gottschalk; Tritschler had stated during the campaign that he had studied law but had no degree.

On the question of internal demarcation, there was a shift: a motion, championed by Höcke, that sought to place the so-called "Unvereinbarkeitsliste" on the agenda was removed from the agenda. The list stipulates that former members of extremist organisations such as the Identitarian Movement or the NPD may not be admitted to the AfD. A commission is to address the matter in the coming year. Observers interpreted the outcome as an attempt by the party leadership not to aggravate the already strained mood.

Protests in Erfurt

The fact that six of the 14 newly elected members of the federal executive come from state associations classified as confirmed right-wing extremist by the respective state offices for the protection of the constitution was also perceived nationally as a signal. Five state associations – Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, and Lower Saxony – are considered confirmed right-wing extremist; in six other states as well as at the federal level, the AfD is classified as a suspected case. However, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had classified the party as a whole as confirmed right-wing extremist in May 2025; the Cologne Administrative Court provisionally halted the upgrade in expedited proceedings in February 2026, so that the federal party legally remains a suspected case. A spokesperson for the alliance "Widersetzen" summed up that they had come to prevent the AfD party congress – "Das ist uns nicht gelungen".

Parallel to the congress, one of the largest protest mobilisations of recent years formed in Erfurt. The civil society alliances "Zusammenstehen", supported by trade unions, churches, associations, and other organisations, as well as "Widersetzen", called for demonstrations, rallies, and sit-in blockades. According to police figures, more than 31,000 people took part in the protests; the organisers spoke of around 50,000 participants. A bicycle demonstration by the ADFC also started at Willy-Brandt-Platz and led, among other routes, to the Fischmarkt and on a large circuit of the city.

The police were deployed with several thousand officers according to their own statements; the course of events had been "überwiegend friedlich", said Police President Thomas Quittenbaum. Officers had to deploy pepper spray and batons, including during two incidents on blocked streets and during an attempt by around 250 blockaders to break through a barricade in the Frienstedt district and attack police officers. There is suspicion of breach of the peace. During a sit-in blockade on the A71 motorway as well as on access roads to Erfurt, several thousand people took part at times. Eleven police officers were slightly injured; four press representatives were injured; a representative of "Junge Freiheit" had his mobile phone stolen, and some suspects have already been identified. Three representatives of the portal "Apollo News" were physically attacked on Saturday; the police provided assistance. The police also seized several drones that had been flown despite a no-fly zone.

Voices from Politics and Civic Society

The Thuringian police drew a positive balance of the operation on Sunday. Thuringia's Minister-President Mario Voigt (CDU) also commented: he saw it as "Stärke der Demokratie, dass der Parteitag der AfD stattfinden konnte. Vor allem aber haben viele Tausend Menschen bei vielfältigen und friedlichen Demonstrationen deutlich gemacht, wofür unser Land steht: für Freiheit, Weltoffenheit und ein respektvolles Miteinander." Erfurt's Mayor Andreas Horn (CDU) said that the concepts of the state capital and the police for a peaceful weekend had worked and that Erfurt had "Zeichen für lebendige Demokratie" set. The state police directorate praised in particular the predominantly peaceful course of events and the guaranteed freedom of assembly.

At the same time, there was criticism of the actions of the security forces. Representatives of a civil society organisation accused the police of an "Überaufgebot an Einsatzmitteln". The alliance "Widersetzen" spoke of disproportionate violence and cited examples of arbitrary pain compliance techniques applied to the face at Gothaer Platz; lawyers intended to examine charges of assault. "Widersetzen" also accused Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) of exaggerating dangers and thereby favouring the AfD; Police President Quittenbaum rejected the accusation. The Federal Interior Ministry and the Federal Police recorded no disruptions to rail traffic; the Erfurt–Berlin, Erfurt–Göttingen, and Erfurt–Leipzig routes were the most heavily used.

Weidel also used her appearances to attack the domestic intelligence agency. She said that an institution like the Federal Office for the Protection of