'People are sick and traumatised': How Germany's wealth inequality led to far-right surge, explained

Trudging through Frankfurt’s infamous train station district, Alaleh Bergmann pulls a wagon piled high with food and warm clothing. As winter bites, she hands out essentials to those Germany’s welfare system has left behind. Nowhere is Germany’s social divide starker than in central Frankfurt. Just blocks from its powerful banks and glass-clad office towers, people sift through bins for plastic bottles to exchange for a few cents. A towering euro symbol, a tourist favourite, serves as a bitter landmark for those barely scraping by.

“You can see that the people here are getting younger and younger,” said Bergmann, who started Hilfe mit Herz (Help with Heart) in 2020 in memory of her father who worked with disadvantaged people. “People are sick, traumatised and the city has lost control.”

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The bankers and lawyers that keep German commerce humming rush past people in this downtrodden part of the city. Struggling in the seedy shadows of skyscrapers are drug addicts and sex workers. They are the living signs of Germany’s fraying social contract, based on egalitarian aspirations. It may never have been fulfilled, but the postwar political slogan Wohlstand für Alle (prosperity for all) has become a cruel joke. Germany’s yawning inequalities are a major theme in Broken Republik (published in Germany as Totally Kaputt?). It lays bare the forces gnawing at Germany’s social fabric and the cracks politicians have failed to mend.

Though still affluent, Germany has some of the worst wealth inequality in Europe. That’s destabilising because shared prosperity was central to Germany’s postwar rebirth. The country never promised opportunity, but it did strive for security. With that gone, the bonds holding the nation together are loosening, opening the door to nationalism.

The 23 February election exposed the cost of unmet promises. While conservatives won, returning the Christian Democratic Union (Angela Merkel’s former party) to power, stability is gone. Anxiety helped fuel a far-right surge, with one in five voting for the right-wing populist AfD (Alternative for Germany). CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, tried to ape the far-right on migration but now must govern with the SPD (Social Democratic Party). The centre-left party’s failure on social justice led to its worst result since the 19th century. Deepening fragmentation will make it harder to form a stable government, let alone deliver desperately needed reforms. It may be the mainstream’s last chance to save Germany from an ascendant far-right.

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For decades, postwar Germany thrived on economic success. The Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) built a strong welfare state and the Volkswagen Beetle symbolised progress – a car for every worker. Reunification shattered that balance. East Germany’s economy collapsed, triggering mass emigration and decline. The West failed to adapt, clinging to old industries as the world changed and the internet shifted value away from metal bashing. 

Beyond the East-West divide, new fractures separate homeowners from renters, secure professionals from the precarious working class. Eighteen million Germans are in poverty or at risk of falling into poverty. Education often entrenches disadvantage and healthcare is increasingly stratified by social class. As inequality deepens, so does political discontent. Once a beacon of stability, Germany is growing volatile, evoking the fragmentation of the Weimar era, when economic despair opened the door to the Nazis. A third of the electorate has abandoned mainstream parties.

Political entrepreneurs on the fringe thrive on the frustration. Nearly half of AfD voters cite inequality as a key grievance. Once viewed as an East German party, the AfD is gaining in the West and among struggling youth, who have become more polarised.

With a demographic crisis looming, Germany faces stark choices on welfare and spending. If mainstream politicians fail, populists stand ready to capitalise. Germany’s postwar identity is fragile,
and as it cracks, ethnic nationalism lurks. The political crisis won’t end with this election. It may just be starting. Its breakdown would send shockwaves across Europe and beyond. As the continent’s largest economy, Germany should lead on global challenges.

Yet just as strong leadership is needed, political tribalism is taking hold. Instead of confronting its challenges – revamping its economic model; restoring opportunity – the election fixated on immigration, sidelining tougher debates. Keeping out a few thousand refugees won’t improve most German families’ lives.

Although the political class struggles for solutions, civil society is mobilising. Anti-poverty activists dismantle the myth that the system works for all, while grassroots groups help people fight benefit cuts, access medical care and keep their heating on. Germany needs to tap into this energy, fostering a sense of community that breaches social, economic and religious lines.

The challenges remain formidable. Deindustrialisation and the decline of Germany’s once-mighty auto industry will fuel further disillusionment. But resistance endures. Back in Frankfurt, Bergmann keeps handing out supplies to Germany’s forgotten, defying a system that ignores them. 

“There are signs that people are growing more sensitive to the fate of others,” she said, pointing to social media efforts around highlighting poverty. “That is something at least.”

Broken Republik: Germany’s Crumbling Promise of Shared Prosperity by Chris Reiter & Will Wilkes is out now (Bloomsbury, £22). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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