After a short while your ears are ringing. But not because of the large crowd of people chanting, booing or repeating what the man on the makeshift stage is saying. The Dresden police estimate the crowd that came to the last Pegida demo on Neumarkt to be just 500 people. In a central square, on a bright Sunday, when the organizers around Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann had hoped for 3,000 to 5,000 demonstrators. That’s not enough for a long time.
The event only seems bigger because the speakers are too loud and poorly adjusted. The speaker’s voice constantly cracks. Bachmann doesn’t show any disappointment this Sunday when he steps up to the microphone. Rather proud of what he and Pegida have achieved, how they have shifted the political discourse in Germany to the right. About the fact that he can announce speeches by the well-known right-wing extremists Götz Kubitschek, Jürgen Elsässer and Martin Sellner, who would like to thank Pegida and Bachmann for their pioneering role. However, the short greetings roll off the production line.
Pegida had influence on several right-wing and far-right parties and movements
Bachmann only moderates the almost hour-long event. “Many people have been inspired by us,” he says to the audience. Many people only became interested and involved in politics again thanks to Pegida. Since Pegida was founded exactly ten years ago, more than 2.7 million people have attended demonstrations held by the “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West”. The number cannot be verified.
What is undeniable, however, is the influence that Pegida had. This can be seen not least in the green and white flags of the Free Saxony, the right-wing extremist micro-party that has gained Pegida popularity and which has adopted the form of protest of walks. One of the beneficiaries is the AfD, which is also represented with a few flags on the Neumarkt. But at the front of the stage, the Saxon AfD chairman Jörg Urban did not thank Pegida, nor did his Thuringian colleague Björn Höcke. Both had “walked along” in the past. After all, Hans-Christoph Berndt, the parliamentary group leader of the AfD Brandenburg, traveled to Dresden to say a few warm words to Bachmann – and what kind of words: He says that without Pegida he would never have gotten this position.
“Dresden showed us how it’s done,” says Berndt, before making points that have been and are being spread by Pegida, Free Saxony and the AfD: that Germany is in ruins and can only be rebuilt by patriots. These contrast with those who are afflicted by a “disease of self-loathing”. With these words, Berndt points in the direction of what the police say are also around 500 counter-demonstrators, in whose ranks some black and red Antifa flags are flying.
The elections showed that the AfD is the strongest force among young people and “whoever has young people on their side owns the future,” says Berndt. The past is rumbling back there, the future is in front of the stage. However, this cannot be seen this Sunday: the counter-demonstrators with the whistles and drums are mainly 20 to 30 years old. Pensioners in particular are demonstrating for Pegida, Free Saxony and AfD.
Founder Bachmann is a multiple convicted criminal
Bachmann gets a laugh when he says that his lectern is on the blue “Asi truck”, which suits Pegida so much better than a stage, which was therefore canceled again. At the beginning he had already explained why he did not want to express himself politically that day. It is also one of the reasons why the Pegida demonstrations are coming to an end.
Just over a month ago, the Dresden District Court sentenced Bachmann to a 17-month prison sentence, which was suspended due to his poor health. The court also convicted Bachmann of aiding and abetting incitement to hatred because a photo was published on his Telegram channel during the 2021 corona crisis that showed half an SS officer and half a police officer. With the SS rune, skull and crossbones and the signature: “I only carry out orders.” A post also appeared on the channel inciting hatred against Ukraine refugees. The verdict is not yet final.
Bachmann reiterated on Sunday that the content did not come from him and that he had long since stopped running the channel “on which the truth was told”. Distancing looks different.
Just over a week ago, Bachmann announced the end of the Pegida demonstrations for health and financial reasons. His defense probably cost the 51-year-old, whose criminal record includes 22 entries – in addition to sedition, drug trafficking, theft and tax evasion – a lot of money. But the supposed 250th demonstration is not the end of Pegida. They want to launch podcasts as well as articles on TV and radio soon.
However, it is questionable whether Pegida will have as much impact in public without its presence on the streets. Maybe the club has already fulfilled its function. This is supported by the article by AfD pioneer Götz Kubitschek, who attributes historical merit to Pegida: “You will be written about in history books.” Jürgen Elässer, the publisher of the right-wing extremist Compact magazine, speaks of Pegida as a “lighthouse”, an association, “ who paved the way for all of us.” The same applies to Matin Sellner, who had already spoken at Pegida events. For the pioneer of the “Identitarian Movement,” Pegida was once “the heartbeat of political resistance.” Of course, the demonstration was only the end point for Pegida; the end has been coming for a long time.
