Politics · Germany · 1 hr ago
Oschmann links AfD gains in eastern Germany to west German attitudes
Writer Dirk Oschmann argued on the German TV show Markus Lanz that west German condescension has deepened the country’s political divide.
He said people in eastern Germany have long been treated as different and less capable, causing lasting resentment.
Oschmann also linked AfD gains in the east to decades of young people and women moving away.
He said this has left an older, more male population, while noting that 60 percent of voters there did not vote for the AfD in the 2025 federal election.
Journalist Reinhard Bingener disagreed, saying eastern voters’ own increasingly aggressive efforts to distance themselves also contribute to the divide.
He also challenged Oschmann’s claim about discrimination in the armed forces, citing figures showing eastern Germans were well represented among army staff officers, though few held top military ranks.
Oschmann said German reunification was successful overall but argued that eastern Germans still cannot shape society on equal terms.
Dirk Oschmann said western German attitudes toward eastern Germans have helped fuel the AfD’s electoral gains in the east.
The author argued that decades of portraying eastern Germans as deficient and backward have caused lasting resentment.
He also pointed to the departure of young people and women, which he said has changed the east’s demographic makeup.
Journalist Reinhard Bingener countered that growing eastern German self-separation is also a factor.
The two disagreed over whether eastern Germans face systematic discrimination and over the role of western Germany’s financial support.
- Who
- Publicist Dirk Oschmann and journalist Reinhard Bingener discussed the issue on Markus Lanz’s television programme.
- What
- Oschmann linked AfD gains in eastern Germany partly to western German attitudes and demographic change. Bingener offered a different explanation.
- When
- Wednesday evening, 22 October 2026.
- Where
- On Markus Lanz’s television programme in Germany.
- Why
- Oschmann said western German condescension and the departure of young people and women have contributed to the AfD’s success in the east.
Dirk Oschmann
Reinhard Bingener
Causes of AfD gains
Dirk Oschmann
Western German arrogance and decades of disparagement have contributed to eastern German resentment and AfD gains.
Reinhard Bingener
Growing self-separation in the east is an important factor.
Treatment of eastern Germans
Dirk Oschmann
Eastern Germans face continuing exclusion, discrimination and paternalism.
Reinhard Bingener
Oschmann’s claim of systematic discrimination relies on misleading figures.
Oschmann said the departure of young people and women from eastern Germany has contributed to demographic changes.
Bingener’s commentary about western Germany’s patience with the east drew attention.
Oschmann said 60 percent of voters in the federal election did not vote for the AfD.
Oschmann and Bingener debated eastern Germany and the AfD on Markus Lanz’s programme.
- AfD voters in 2025
- 60 percent of voters did not vote for the party, according to Oschmann.
- Bundeswehr representation
- Bingener said eastern Germans made up 35 percent of army staff officers.
- Bundeswehr generals
- The article said the army and air force each had one eastern German general, and the navy had no eastern German admiral.
- Book
- Oschmann’s The East: A West German Invention was published in 2023.
What people are saying
It is a continuous disparagement, exclusion and discrimination of the east.
The east made a revolution and the west talks about it. That is discursive colonization.
That the recipients keep grumbling and the donors put up with everything is a curious thing.