The whole of Thuringia appears to be firmly in AfD hands after its victory in the state election on 1 September. But all of Thuringia? No.
Because while the Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) party came out on top in 16 districts, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party was successful in just one district: Eichsfeld, which is predominantly Catholic.
It has raised the question for some about whether Catholics in Germany are more resistant to <em>völkisch</em> nationalism. The word <em>völkisch</em> does not have a direct translation in England: it refers to a romanticised and idealised notion of Germanic culture, folklore and mysticism, and is characterised by a strong sense of national and ethnic pride, a rejection of modernity and urbanisation, along with a fascination with pre-Christian Germanic mythology and mysticism. The <em>völkisch</em> movement gained prominence in Germany and Austria, influencing the development of Nazism.
The possibility of a Catholic "firewall" was raised on election night by the <em>Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung</em> paper, which looking at the Eichsfeld district, in which 65 per cent of people profess the Catholic Faith, put the following question: “Are Catholics loyal to the Church more resistant to the AfD and still a safe bet for the Union parties? Does a firmly established Catholic worldview make them immune to political extremism and nationalism?”
<em><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/panic-is-not-the-answer-to-afd-victory-in-former-east-german-region/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Panic is not the answer to AfD victory in former East German region</mark></a></strong></em><br><br>One thing is clear: 12.6 per cent of all Catholics in Eichsfeld attend church services on Sundays on average. According to statistics from the German Bishops' Conference, that is almost twice as many as the average for all dioceses. And even if there is no reliable data for Eichsfeld itself, it can be stated that practising Catholics are significantly less likely to vote for the AfD.
According to a post-election survey on the recently held European elections, conducted by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, only nine per cent of Catholics voted for the AfD; overall, the party received 15.9 per cent. The Union parties received 64 per cent of the vote from this Catholic group of voters.
A strong trend towards Christian parties and a simultaneous rejection of extremist parties can also be seen in the Eichsfeld region throughout German history: for example, the Centre Party received an absolute majority in the Reichstag election here as recently as March 1933.
And in the last free election in the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1946, the CDU received more than sixty per cent of the vote, which the CDU was able to seamlessly build on in the years of reunification.
It was reason enough for Pope Benedict XVI to pay a visit to the Eichsfeld region during his visit to Germany in 2011 and to thank them for their faithfulness and perseverance.
Questions about the relationship between Catholics and the current fraught political situation in Germany coincide with a similarly fraught time in US politics, and when the Catholic vote appears to be getting courted by former President Donald Trump with a view to the US presidential election in November.
Trump has warned US Catholics about <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/trump-warns-of-anti-religious-democrat-policies-theyre-really-after-the-catholics/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">anti-religious Democrat policies</mark></a> and stated that “they’re after the Catholics almost as much as they’re after me”, referring to the Democrats' continual efforts to indite Trump and pursue him through the US judicial system.
Trump's election campaign recently <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/donald-trump-adds-to-his-catholic-team-again-what-are-we-to-make-of-rkf-coming-on-board/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">received support from another practicing Catholic and prominent politician</mark></a>, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the son of President JFK’s brother “Bobby” Kennedy, and a daily mass attender and a devotee of St Francis of Assisi.
The controversial endorsement follows the former president announcing that <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/how-catholic-philosopher-rene-girard-could-shape-us-politics-now-jd-vance-on-republican-ticket/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Catholic convert JD Vance</mark></a>, a man heavily influenced by the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo and the French Catholic philosopher René Girard, would be his running mate for the Republican ticket to wrestle back the White House from the Democrats in November’s election.<br><br>Catholics constitute one of the biggest voting blocks in the US. <br><br><strong><em>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/trump-appoints-firebrand-pro-life-catholic-as-vp-running-mate-and-political-heir/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Trump nominates ‘firebrand’ pro-life Catholic as VP running mate and political heir</mark></a></em></strong>
<em>Photo: Supporters of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party gather at the final AfD campaign rally ahead of Thuringia state elections, Erfurt, Germany, 31 August 2024. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.)</em><br><br><strong>This article <a href="https://www.die-tagespost.de/politik/im-katholischen-eichsfeld-hat-die-afd-keine-chance-art-254977"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">originally appeared</mark></a> in the weekly newspaper <em><a href="https://www.die-tagespost.de/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Die Tagespost</mark></a></em> – it has been edited by <em>CH</em> staff for relevance and to provide additional information – Germany’s leading Catholic newspaper for politics, society and culture; it is reproduced here with kind permission. <em>Die Tagespost</em> also runs the Tagespost Foundation for Catholic Journalism and the<mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"> <a href="https://www.benedictusxvi.com/editorial">Pope Benedict XVI Institute</a></mark>.</strong>
