Germany: Lower Saxony local polls in focus after AfD win

Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on the weekend of Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13:

Residents in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony are voting for mayors, district administrators and local councils in elections that are drawing unusual attention after the far-right Alternative for Germany's (AfD's) huge win in Saxony-Anhalt last week .

The local polls come ahead of key state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 20 that will also be closely watched as the AfD gains popularity across the country.

However, the party still has much less support in western states than in those in what used to be communist East Germany, with the AfD achieving just 4.6% at district level in the 2021 local elections in Lower Saxony.

Some 6.3 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's elections.

The massive job cuts taking place at car manufacturer Volkswagen are likely to loom large in voters' minds, as Lower Saxony is home to Volkswagen 's HQ and six of its ‌plants, as well as being a key shareholder in the company.

Any run-off elections will take place across the state on September 27.

We are resuming our coverage of all things German on Sunday as local elections get underway in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony .

They are drawing unusual attention in light of last week's landslide victory for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt .

With two key state elections still to come this year, results for the AfD, which continues to gain support across the country, will be closely monitored.

This comes as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate warns of a "really critical situation" for industry as low water levels in the Rhine continue to hinder shipping.

Read on for more stories from and about Germany on September 13.

For many decades, romanticized tales of the US Wild West have been popular in Germany. But these stories can be difficult for Native Americans to accept.

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Markus Söder , leader of the Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, or CSU , has ruled out an internal move to oust the under-pressure chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

Merz has faced growing criticism in recent months for the sluggish pace of promised reforms and amid a surge by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won the most votes in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt last week .

Asked by the Bild newspaper if there were plans to remove Merz, Söder said, "certainly not from the CSU."

"I am not responsible for the CDU; I am not its chairman. But I can say that for the CSU," Söder added.

Söder said he still believes Merz is the right man to lead the government and push through reforms, urging the center-right alliance to "not let the AfD drive a wedge between us now."

France beat Germany, the hosts, 86-64 on Saturday to qualify for the women's basketball World Cup final.

Among the 12,650 fans in the German capital were German men's basketball icons Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schröder, but they could not cheer their team to victory against the strong French lineup.

Gabby Williams shone for the victors with 22 points, helping France reach the final for the first time.

The United States, the favorites, will take on Spain in the second semifinal later.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has questioned the effectiveness of the "firewall" strategy used by Germany's major political parties to prevent the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) from gaining power.

"As we can see, this is a strategy that does not work," she told the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, when asked about the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's victory in last weekend's elections in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt .

Meloni also noted that political movements "that focus on the defense of identity, the fight against mass illegal immigration and the danger of Islamization" have gained strength in Europe.

The reaction of the "establishment," Meloni said, has often been "to erect firewalls rather than addressing the substantive issues."

She added that this strategy clearly does not work and that "listening to these concerns and responding to them" is a more successful approach.

Earlier, Meloni, who leads the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, has distanced herself from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its political views on several occasions.

Berlin police said that a woman wearing a Star of David was injured in an antisemitic attack by two men.

The men verbally abused the woman with antisemitic slurs in the middle of the night on Torstrasse in the central district of Mitte before one of them attacked the 43-year-old with a broken bottle, according to police.

Police said the men approached her earlier, at around 2:30 a.m. (0030 GMT), about her Star of David. The state security department of the state criminal police office has taken over the investigation.

The woman sustained cuts to her hand while defending herself and was taken to the hospital.

The incident occurred during the Jewish New Year celebration, Rosh Hashanah, which began Friday evening.

With the slogan "Not a Step Back! No to the AfD and Right-Wing Hate Speech!" around 20,000 people marched through downtown Düsseldorf , according to reports from the police and organizers.

Several political initiatives called for the protest rally to send a united message of support for an open, democratic society.

Among the participants, who marched peacefully without any counter-demonstrations, according to police, were the "Grandmas Against the Right."

On their poster, which was secured with a small piece of fabric and pins, they proclaimed: "The right is only for knitting." Numerous families with children also joined the protest march in beautiful weather.

Meanwhile, in Berlin , several marches protesting the normalization of right-wing politics converged on the town hall. Police estimated that 18,000 people participated, though organizers claimed that 32,000 people took part.

The demonstrations were prompted by the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party received nearly 44% of the vote, the most by far, but fell short of an absolute majority.