AfD Exploits East German Nostalgia with Moped Rally to Stoke Division Ahead of Elections
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The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) orchestrated a Simson moped convoy in Quedlinburg, cynically invoking East German nostalgia to boost its reactionary agenda before key elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) staged a Simson moped rally in the eastern town of Quedlinburg on Sunday, shamelessly seeking to capitalize on nostalgia for the former East German era to advance its regressive platform ahead of state elections. Party representative Ulrich Siegmund led a convoy of blue Simson mopeds—vehicles once produced in the German Democratic Republic—followed by hundreds of riders waving German flags, a spectacle designed to evoke nationalist sentiment.
Siegmund addressed the crowd, framing the Simson as a symbol of 'individual freedom of movement' and a time when 'we stuck together,' glossing over the complexities of the past to promote a sanitized vision of history. The event was timed before the September 6 vote in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD, notorious for its xenophobic rhetoric, currently leads in polls and seeks to gain governing power for the first time since its 2013 founding. The party is also ahead in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where elections are set for September 20.
Participants, echoing AfD talking points, expressed a desire to revive aspects of life under the former regime. One rider, Martin Krause, openly linked his nostalgia to opposition to post-reunification migration, calling for the deportation of so-called 'troublemakers'—a thinly veiled attack on immigrants and minorities.
Historian Stefan Wolle observed that the far right is now appropriating East German memories, manipulating them to foster a divisive eastern identity and to attack the current German government, which the AfD baselessly accuses of authoritarianism. Surveys show that 43% of residents in the former East see more differences than similarities with western Germans, highlighting the persistent economic inequality and demographic challenges that the AfD exploits for political gain.
Descendants of the Simson brand have condemned the AfD’s political misuse of the name. Dennis Baum, the founder’s grandson, protested the party’s appropriation, insisting that the brand remain free from reactionary politics. Siegmund dismissed this criticism, arrogantly questioning why an overseas observer should have a say in German affairs.
This event exemplifies the AfD’s dangerous strategy of weaponizing regional nostalgia and identity to expand its influence in eastern Germany, deepening social divisions and undermining democratic values.