Original article by Constantin von Hoffmeister

The electoral success of the AfD (Alternative for Germany) in the East German state of Brandenburg today, with 30% of the votes, marks a decisive moment in the political evolution of Germany, one which parallels the growing wave of conservative nationalism across Eastern and Central Europe. Following the precedent set by the other East German states Thuringia and Saxony, Brandenburg has now become the third German state where the AfD has become a major political actor. The trend signifies the region’s deep-rooted desire to reclaim its sovereignty from the liberal, cosmopolitan ethos of Western Europe. To look at these events through the lens of Friedrich Nietzsche is to perceive a monumental cultural schism — one that describes the ancient East-West divide but with new actors and existential stakes. In Nietzschean terms, we are witnessing the rise of an “Eastern Europe” not in geographical terms but in spirit, a bastion of the last remnants of strength, resilience, and traditional values, much as Byzantium once stood as a bastion of continuity, preserving the legacy of the Roman Empire and Orthodox Christianity while Western Europe descended into political fragmentation after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Nietzsche once remarked that “[t]he German people, with an appetite for which they are to be envied, continue to diet themselves on contradictions, and gulp down ‘faith’ in company with science... without showing the slightest signs of indigestion.” This quote, in its expanded relevance, offers a biting critique of contemporary Western Germany, which has allowed itself to be devoured by contradictions. The West claims to uphold “freedom,” yet it restricts discourse with the legal enforcement of political correctness. It celebrates “diversity” while homogenizing cultural differences. The AfD’s success in Brandenburg and the ongoing conservative ascendancy in the East are a revolt against this ideological confusion, a rejection of the liberal paradoxes that dominate Western Europe. Here, in the AfD’s success, Nietzsche might see the beginnings of a people finally refusing to swallow the contradictions of their time, asserting instead a clear and decisive rejection of the West’s moral relativism and decadence.

What we are witnessing in Brandenburg, Thuringia, and Saxony is not merely a political shift but a cultural resurgence. Nietzsche often lamented that “[n]ot only have the Germans entirely lost the breath of vision which enables one to grasp the course of culture and the values of culture, not only are they one and all political (or Church) puppets, but they have also actually put a ban upon this very breadth of vision.” This insight rings painfully true in the current context of Western Germany, which has utterly abandoned the deep cultural instincts that once made it great. The rise of the AfD, however, represents a partial restoration of that vision — an attempt to break free from the puppet strings of both liberal politics and a hollow, institutionalized Christianity. This Eastern revolt is not just against mass immigration or economic disparity. It is also against the shallow materialism and spiritual impotence that have come to define the modern West.

One cannot disregard the profound messages of history at this moment. The growing chasm between East and West, now starkly visible in the AfD’s triumph in Germany’s East, reflects an ancient fracture, where the West, once again, spirals into decay, and the East rises as a fortress of discipline, belief, and tradition. As Orbán in Hungary and Putin in Russia have emerged as sentinels of conservative fortitude, the parallel becomes undeniable. The AfD’s ascendancy is not an isolated flare but a signal of a greater transformation across the continent — a resurgence of an Eastern Europe, resilient, defiant, and unyielding to globalist delusions. Here lies the final citadel of European identity, standing firm against the collapse of the West into irrelevance.

Nietzsche’s critique of modernity finds chilling relevance in the socio-political environement of today. He spoke of a German uncleanliness towards itself, stating: “That which is called ‘deep’ in Germany is precisely this uncleanliness towards oneself... People refuse to be clear in regard to their own natures.” This inner lack of clarity is painfully evident in the contradictions of West Germany’s politics, where a desire for humanitarianism masks the reality of increasing social fragmentation. In obvious contrast, the AfD’s supporters in Brandenburg and beyond are clear about their vision for the future: they reject the globalist agenda, they reject mass immigration, and they reject the ideological tyranny of Western elites. In this sense, the AfD’s success marks the first time in decades that a German people, at least in the East, has chosen clarity over uncleanliness, decisiveness over confusion.

The broader cultural implications of the AfD’s rise cannot be overstated. We are entering an age in which Europe will once again be divided between East and West, but this time, the roles are reversed. Whereas once the West was the shining beacon of culture, strength, and vitality, it is now the East that stands as the last refuge of European civilization. In Martin Heidegger’s terms, the West has succumbed to a “nobody to whom every Da-sein has already surrendered itself,” the amorphous, decaying force of the “they,” a mass that defines itself by its absence of self. Western Europe, with its technocratic elites, its fetish for open borders, and its nihilistic embrace of relativism, has surrendered itself to this “they,” dissolving all sense of individual and national identity in the process. The East, by contrast, has resisted this dissolution. The AfD’s success in Brandenburg signifies this resistance, as does the broader conservative wave sweeping through Hungary, Poland, and Russia. In the East, we find people who still remember who they are, and in that memory lies the potential for Europe’s cultural rebirth.

However, this is not just a political conflict — it is existential. Heidegger said, “The grandeur of man is measured according to what he seeks and according to the urgency by which he remains a seeker.” What does the West seek? Comfort, ease, and the suppression of conflict at the cost of its own identity. In contrast, what does the East seek? A return to order, tradition, and the defense of its cultural heritage. The urgency of this seeking, this striving to reclaim what was lost, is what marks the Eastern conservative movements as Europe’s last hope. As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, Byzantium held firm, preserving and defending Roman law and Greek culture — values that would influence and shape Eastern European civilization for centuries to come. Today, a similar dynamic is at play. Western Europe drifts aimlessly, while the East reclaims the glory of man through its courageous struggle against the forces of dissolution.

The AfD’s success in Brandenburg is, in this light, not just a political event but a harbinger of a deeper cultural and existential shift. Like the silver hoofs of a mighty array swinging into view in some forgotten Valusian kingdom, the rise of the AfD signifies the reawakening of a deeper European spirit — a spirit that refuses to fade into the mists of relativism and decay. It is a rejection of the “waste of barbarians” (Robert E. Howard), a refusal to pass into the oblivion of history without a fight. Just as the gold spires of ancient peoples once split the stars, so too do these resurgent forces seek to illuminate a path forward, even as the West fades into darkness.

Nietzsche might see the last great battle for the soul of Europe — a battle that will determine whether Europe can once again rise to its former shining might or whether it will fall, forgotten in the mists of the ages.