Die AfD probt die Machtergreifung
The article reports that in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the far-right party AfD could achieve an absolute majority in the upcoming September election—a first in postwar German history. The state government has preemptively introduced a cultural funding law to protect the arts. The AfD's platform includes a "new patriotic cultural policy" under the slogan "#deutschdenken," which explicitly targets the Bauhaus and modernist art as symbols of an "identity disorder" they promise to "heal."
This matters because it represents a direct threat to the cultural identity of Saxony-Anhalt, which is home to the historic Bauhaus building in Dessau, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The AfD's proposed policy would shift state funding away from avant-garde and modernist art toward "patriotic" works, undermining the principle of artistic freedom. The article draws a historical parallel to the Nazi regime's attack on "degenerate art," warning that the AfD's rise could lead to a systematic dismantling of progressive cultural institutions in the region.