AfD Conference in Erfurt Begins on Schedule Despite Road Blockades by Protesters

Thousands of protesters blocked roads leading to the Alternative for Germany party’s annual conference in Erfurt, Thuringia, on July 4, 2026. An estimated 20,000 people gathered in the city, according to German police. Demonstrators assembled in central Erfurt, roughly 250 kilometers southwest of Berlin.

Police reported several street blockades, including some protesters abseiling from a motorway bridge and others staging sit-in blockades around the city center. More than 200 buses carrying protesters arrived in Erfurt, police told dpa. Some clashes occurred with police in riot gear.

Large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed for the two-day conference. Most AfD delegates reached the venue, and party representatives said the congress began on time. The AfD became the second-largest party in the 2025 federal elections and recorded the best result for any far-right party in Germany since World War II.

Current opinion polls show the party leading Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, partly attributed to years of economic stagnation. Latest polls in Saxony-Anhalt place the AfD at 42 percent, which could deliver an absolute majority in the state. All mainstream parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD.

The party is monitored by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on suspicion of anti-constitutional activities. Georg Becker, spokesperson for the Widersetzen group, told Reuters that protesters wanted to signal they would not tolerate fascism rising in Germany.

Noa Sander, spokesperson for the Resist protest alliance, told AFP that the AfD seeks mass deportations and ethnic cleansing through its remigration demands.