The Saale-Orla district will elect a district administrator on Sunday. Despite his contacts with citizens of the Reich, the AfD candidate Uwe Thrum has a good chance.

Before the district elections on Sunday, December 14, 2024 in the Saale-Orla district Photo: Martin Schutt/dpa

SCHLEIZ/BERLIN taz | Flags swing to the rhythm of drums at the Neumarkt in Schleiz. Frank Haußner, activist of the Reich Citizens' Scene, advances with the green flag of his group “Free Thuringia”. Behind her are two blue AfD flags. It's cold this Saturday, a week before the district elections in the Saale-Orla district. Four candidates are looking for votes. The AfD's Uwe Thrum has a good chance. The fact that he maintains contacts in the Reich's civic scene apparently does not harm his support.

There is a video of Thrum that shows him with Henry XIII. Prince Reuss at a bistro table. Reuss was arrested in 2022 with about two dozen accomplices because they were allegedly planning a coup in Germany.

Thrum also regularly organizes political events with Frank Haußner. He demanded in view of Henry XIII. Prince Reuß called on his supporters: “Let us, as proven Germans and in accordance with our ancestry, turn our backs on the state simulation of the Federal Republic of Germany.” To the Taz question, Thrum did not want to answer. He answers how he felt about Haußner's political orientation.

Although Thrum himself is not there, dozens of his followers have flocked to Schleiz to defend him with flags, drums and loud shouts. Because there is a protest against Thrum.

Organize against AfD

While AfD supporters in Schleiz form a counter-demonstration at the Neumarkt, the doctors' song “Scream for Love” echoes across the square from a stage on the other side. Originally only the “Village Love for All” initiative had registered for a demonstration in Schleiz, which was attended by around 300 people. Motto: No AfD district office.

About 20 people from the area have come together to form the initiative. With the demonstration they wanted to show “that there are many who are against an AfD district administrator,” says spokesperson Lena Grundmann. The problem is that many people don't know each other. Ralf Kalich, who will run on Sunday as a candidate for the left, is not surprised. “The level of social organization in the Saale-Orla district is relatively low,” he says. He is glad that the initiative was found there.

They also published a public letter that has already been signed by more than 1,400 people. “The AfD destroys constructive debates with disrespectful slogans and misinformation,” he says. And to a candidate who boasts of his good relationship with Björn Höcke and “they amuse the armed citizens of the Reich” “we cannot give him a vote.”

AfD dreams of an absolute majority in Thuringia

Last week, Bundestag deputy Stephan Brandner supported him in the election campaign. Despite the freezing temperatures, in front of about 300 people in Pößneck, according to police estimates. Brandner dreamed out loud that the AfD would win an absolute majority in Thuringia, introduce a new family and education policy, and expand Erfurt airport as a “central deportation airport.” As the East Thuringian Newspaper he wrote, there was applause.

The district elections in the Saale-Orla district essentially herald the election year in Thuringia. And the AfD is doing well in the polls. According to a Forsa poll published on Thursday, 36 percent would vote for the far-right party in Sunday's state election.

The AfD is increasingly consolidating at the local level. Last year, not far from Sonneberg, Robert Sesselmann became the first AfD candidate to win a district election. Tim Lochner then became the first AfD mayor in Pirna. Uwe Thrum also managed to win once in the Saale-Orla district.

In the 2019 state election, Thrum narrowly won the direct mandate in the southern electoral district, SOK I. The second direct mandate in the northern electoral district, SOK II, went to Christian Herrgott, general secretary of the CDU in Thuringia.

If you ask him what challenges the district faces, the first thing he mentions is comprehensive health care. Like many, the district is struggling with demographic change. Approximately half of the 79,000 inhabitants are over 50 years old. But the Saale-Orla district is known for its low salaries: employees in all other Thuringian districts earn more.

But there is also potential, highlights Regina Butz, an independent candidate with the support of the SPD, which should disappear behind the problems: for example, the beautiful landscape as a tourist attraction.

Although Butz does not belong to any party, she was nominated as a candidate by the SPD. She grew up in Schleiz and already worked as department head and head of specialist services in the district administration. Collaboration is important to the district. That's why she was happy when she found out about the “Village Love for All” initiative. However, “a demonstration is not the appropriate format for an exchange of opinions.” She thinks afternoons of discussion are better.

Bullying from the right

On Saturday in Schleiz, AfD supporters were present at the demonstration from the beginning. Several wear hats in black, white and red. When asked how he evaluated the demonstration, one responded: “They want to exclude a party, that is undemocratic.” Isn't it part of freedom of expression to consider the AfD inadequate? There is no answer for that. “Leave!”

As long as they listen, there will be no problems, says Lena Grundmann. Hosts will ask anyone causing a disturbance to leave and push them aside.

As the demonstrations progress, some people stand at the back of the crowd with signs and try to separate listeners from disruptors. That causes dissatisfaction. A woman demands to be let through. “You can also hear it from here”, is the response she receives through the sign in Neumarkt. She then responds that she has more experience in life and that she doesn't want to be told anything. A man agrees with her and adds to the demonstration: “Do you know where you belong? To Ukraine, to the front!” She turns around and laughs. A little later, the police form a chain between the fields.

In the end, at the Neumarkt there are people watching the demonstration and shouting critical and insulting things at the participants. In almost every speech, AfD supporters shout “Lie! Lie!” Butz spoke to some families at the anti-AfD demonstration who were scared by the whole situation.

Lena Grundmann can understand that “sometimes I understood it as an attempt at intimidation.” However, she is happy that the demonstration ended as planned.

However, it is still unclear how Sunday's district elections will play out. If none of the four candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round will be necessary.