thousands protested AfD leader
Dusseldorf — Thousands of people took to the streets in western Germany again on Monday to oppose an appearance by Björn Höcke, a senior leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Several thousand protesters gathered ahead of meetings between Höcke and regional party representatives in Dusseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The 53-year-old, who leads the AfD in the central state of Thuringia, is currently touring Germany’s largest state ahead of a potentially decisive regional conference next month, with radical figures attempting to determine the party’s direction.
Höcke has twice been convicted for knowingly quoting the banned slogan of the Nazi Party’s SA stormtroopers during political speeches.
On Sunday, he met with AfD politicians and members in Dortmund, where more than 3,000 people rallied against his appearance on the city’s central Friedensplatz public square.
The anti-immigrant AfD, Germany’s largest opposition party, is under investigation by domestic intelligence services over its extremist views.
Höcke was invited by a local Dusseldorf AfD chapter to give a speech in the city’s Garath district, where the party achieved a peak of around 32% support in local elections in September 2025.
Three alliances registered protests with the police. According to a police spokesman, around 3,000 people took part in the first demonstration, and 4,000 in the second under the slogan “Dusseldorf stands up.” A third demonstration was also planned.
The protesters chanted slogans such as “Against fascism” and waved banners with phrases such as “Red card for Nazis.”
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