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[Ulrich] Siegmund is tall, slim, telegenic. His graying hair is slicked back; the edges of his three-day beard are precisely trimmed. He wears a tailored navy suit, white shirt and pocket square. When he speaks, even when he attacks, a faint smile flutters on his face.
In recent months, this 35-year-old regional politician has turned into a new leading figure on Germany’s far right, now one of the two largest parties in the national parliament, the Bundestag, neck-and-neck with the Christian Democrats, known as the CDU, and its sister party, the CSU.
Siegmund is already a skilled politician, the kind who can set up what looks like a parliamentary defeat that actually serves to build his political momentum.
Which is exactly what he does next. Siegmund’s caucus proposes that Saxony-Anhalt withdraw from the treaties that underpin Germany’s public broadcasting system. The motion is doomed. A Christian Democrat praises the regional public broadcaster as “reliable,” prompting an AfD heckler to shout: “Yes, for you!” The vote ends 66 to 16 against Siegmund. Support only came from the AfD.
A blowout, but only at first glance. The parliament in the state capital Magdeburg is not Siegmund’s primary stage. Shortly after the speech, he posts a clip on social media under the headline: “This is how they manipulate us.” On TikTok alone, more than 600,000 users follow him; Instagram and Facebook add nearly 300,000 each — more than nearly any other German politician.
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Later this year, Siegmund has a realistic chance to deliver the AfD its first outright victory one of Germany’s 16 states. Recent polls put the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt at 39 percent, once even at 40. A gain of just two or three points could be enough for Siegmund to secure an absolute majority in the 83-seat state parliament and take over the premier’s office in the stately Palais am Fürstenwall.
It would be the party’s first electoral prize, one that would surmount what’s become known as Germany’s “firewall” — an unwritten but rigid pact among Germany’s other parties to block out the AfD by refusing any cooperation: no coalitions, no confidence deals, no informal alliances.
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Most of the time, German parties come to power in states and nationally by forming coalitions. As long as the firewall holds, the only way the AfD can take power is by winning a straight-up majority. Which is what it seems poised to do in the September elections.
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Nationally, the AfD is led by 46-year-old Alice Weidel, whose cool, abrasive style attracts attention but little affection. Her co-chair Tino Chrupalla, a 50-year-old painter, appears more down-to-earth yet often awkward. By contrast, the young candidate from Saxony-Anhalt presents a more personable, media-savvy image.
As governor, Siegmund would be the AfD’s first-ever leader tested in a relevant executive office — a role fraught with risk. Success, however, would make him a contender for the party’s top candidacy in the next national elections, presumably in 2029.
For now, Weidel is the front-runner, and Siegmund is smart enough not to challenge her leadership role. His goal, he says, is to help Weidel on her way to become Germany’s first AfD chancellor.
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On the evening of September 6, 2026, the name Ulrich Siegmund may remain a footnote in German politics. Or it could enter the history books as the starting point of a right-wing revolution, one that began in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The post Germany’s Far Right Is on the Threshold of Power. This Man Is Leading the Charge. appeared first on American Renaissance.
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