AfD Targets Bauhaus Before Saxony-Anhalt Vote

AfD has described Bauhaus as an “aberration of modernism” and said it violates the “human need for security,” language that echoes Nazi-era criticism of the movement. The party’s election program also targets Saxony-Anhalt’s current “Think Modern” slogan, proposing to replace it with “Think German” as part of a broader nationalist rebranding.

The clash has prompted a response from Germany’s cultural establishment and Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer, who said the party is using the same rhetoric the Nazis deployed a century ago. Weimer has pledged the federal government will keep financing the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau to protect its independence even if AfD takes power in the state parliament.

For investors and businesses, the immediate market link is limited, but the political signal is broader: a stronger AfD in eastern Germany could raise policy uncertainty around regional subsidies, public institutions and the investment climate in a state that relies on cultural tourism and federal support. About 150,000 visitors come to Dessau each year to see the original Bauhaus building and museum, making the institution an economic as well as symbolic asset.

The election is also a test of how far Germany’s far right can move from protest to governing. Even though AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund has tried to soften the party’s line on Bauhaus, he has not ruled out a sharper break from current funding priorities if the party secures control of the state assembly.

The result on Sunday will decide whether the Bauhaus remains a protected national showcase or becomes a flashpoint in a wider battle over culture, identity and state spending in eastern Germany.