Protesters Rally as Germany’s AfD Unveils New Youth Wing

People demonstrate against the planned re-founding of the AfD youth organization in Giessen, Germany, early Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.

Thousands of protesters gathered in the western German city of Giessen on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) prepared to launch its new youth organisation.

Clashes erupted when demonstrators attempted to block roads, prompting police to use pepper spray and later water cannons to disperse the crowds. Officers said stones were thrown at police at one location, while around 2,000 protesters refused to clear a road in another area.

The founding convention of the new AfD youth wing, expected to be named Generation Germany, was scheduled to begin at the Giessen convention centre but had still not started two hours after its planned opening.

The new group replaces the Young Alternative, AfD’s previous youth organisation, which the party formally cut ties with before its dissolution in March. Young Alternative had been classified as a right-wing extremist group by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency — a label also applied to AfD itself before being suspended pending a legal challenge.

A court in Cologne last year upheld the extremist label for Young Alternative, citing its promotion of an ethnically defined German identity, hostility toward migrants and asylum seekers, and links to extremist movements including the Identitarian Movement. A higher court closed the appeal process in June after confirming the organisation’s dissolution.

Germany’s political parties typically maintain youth branches that are more ideological than their parent groups, but it remains unclear whether AfD’s new wing will differ significantly from its predecessor.

Kevin Dorow, a delegate from Schleswig-Holstein and a former Young Alternative member, said the new organisation aims to continue attracting and training young people for future roles within the party. He added that he had not observed a “drift in a radical direction” within the previous youth wing.

AfD presents itself as an anti-establishment force amid growing public dissatisfaction with mainstream politics. The party first entered the national parliament in 2017, driven by discontent over large-scale migration, and continues to focus heavily on opposing migration while tapping into broader frustrations across Germany.