Large-Scale Demonstrations Expected in Gießen Amid AfD Youth Organization Launch

This weekend, the city of Gießen in central Hesse is preparing to host significant demonstrations as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party initiates the formation of its new youth organization. The two-day founding congress will be held at the city's trade fair halls, where delegates will focus on organizational statutes and electing the initial leadership of the new group.

The frontrunner for leadership is Jean-Pascal Hohm, a member of the Brandenburg state parliament who is widely recognized for his alignment with the party's right-wing faction. The previous youth wing, Junge Alternative, dissolved in the spring after the party formally distanced itself from the group.

Political parties, trade unions, and civil society groups have responded to the event with widespread calls for protest. Local authorities have received notifications for more than 20 separate protests, and expect tens of thousands of demonstrators to gather in Gießen over the weekend. In anticipation of the high turnout, police forces from across Germany will be deployed, with several thousand officers assigned to ensure public safety, especially on Saturday.

Due to concerns over potential clashes and crowd safety, the city of Gießen implemented a comprehensive security plan that restricts protest activity near the congress venue. This plan was upheld by the Hesse Higher Administrative Court, which ruled that major demonstrations organized by groups such as the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), the Left Party, and the non-governmental organization Attac must take place on the eastern banks of the Lahn River. The AfD's founding event will proceed on the western side.

The court justified the decision by citing the risk of overcrowding and the potential for danger to participant safety if rival demonstrations and the AfD event were to occur in close proximity. The area surrounding the western bank, where the congress is located, was deemed insufficient to safely accommodate the expected number of protestors and lacked adequate escape routes in the event of an emergency.

Despite the separation, the designated protest areas on the Lahn meadows offer both visual and audible proximity to the venue, which the court stated meets the requirement for demonstrators to express their opinions within sight and sound of the event. The court further affirmed that the city's risk assessments and decisions to relocate the demonstrations were lawful and proportionate, ensuring both public order and the right to assembly.

The upcoming AfD youth organization formation and the large-scale protests reflect broader tensions within German society regarding the role of right-wing politics and the mobilization of grassroots opposition. Authorities continue to monitor the situation and have called for peaceful and lawful conduct from all participants to avoid any escalation during the weekend's events.