Doc Martens, shaved head, underage: Young neo-Nazis increasingly look like their parents did in the early 1990s. Participants in an anti-Pride march in Dresden on 31 May this year. Photo: recherche-nord

“We are the gang – Adolf Hitler Hooligans,” chant the five masked neo-Nazis as they attack the alternative housing project Zelle79 in Cottbus [a city in eastern Germany] in the late evening of mid-May. Using heavy railings, they attempt to break down the door whilst throwing Bengal flares at the house. A small fire starts in the back yard, which is successfully extinguished. Fortunately, there are no injuries. “That was a targeted and planned attack on a well-known left-wing space in the city,” says Fabi Buchholz, who lives in the housing project. The attack represents a “new martial level.”

There had been several attacks recently. Just in March, there had been a double attack on the housing project in quick succession, and there had been threats before that. “The attackers are now significantly younger, sometimes we’re talking about twelve-year-olds,” says Buchholz. In Cottbus – already a hotspot of right-wing violence for many years – the threat situation for leftists, queer people and migrants has worsened again since last year.

The city stands as symptomatic of a nationwide phenomenon: In numerous locations, counselling centres and antifascist groups are currently raising alarms about massively increased right-wing attacks. A small selection from recent weeks: 15 to 20 people attacked the left-wing scene pub Hirsch Q in Dortmund with clubs. Six masked youths attacked the Open Antifa Meeting (OAT) in the Berlin district of Hohenschönhausen. Eight masked neo-Nazis attempted to break into the left-wing pub Fischladen, also in Berlin. Right-wing youths repeatedly attacked a student residence with foreign and queer residents in Leipzig-Lößnig. 30 to 40 masked right-wing extremists attacked the youth club Jamm in Senftenberg, also attempting to break in. Such reports can now be found almost daily. According to the counselling centre Opferperspektive [Victim Perspective], there were 20 right-wing motivated crimes against youth and cultural centres in southern Brandenburg alone between May 2024 and March 2025.

Overall, the figures leave no doubt about the trend: For 2024, counselling centres for victims of right-wing and racist violence recorded around 3,500 right-wing attacks nationwide – an increase of 20 per cent compared to the previous year and a record high. Even the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which records fewer cases, registered a 48 per cent increase in right-wing extremist crimes for 2024.

Are the “Baseball Bat Years” Back?

Are the “Baseball Bat Years” [referring to the violent early 1990s period following German reunification] returning? Emotionally, the comparison may seem obvious. The appearance of right-wing youths in the Doc Martens and bomber jacket style of the 1990s and their partial hegemony in youth culture also bring back such memories. However, a few things are different: On one hand, there is a precariously funded but existing network of counselling centres for victims of right-wing violence. On the other hand, the AfD [Alternative for Germany, far-right party] has established itself as an extreme right-wing party that normalises corresponding discourses and encourages part of society towards violence. Dorina Feldmann from the counselling project Opferperspektive understands corresponding comparisons but points out: “The extent of widespread violence has not yet reached the level of the 1990s today.”

Many of the attacks are characterised by a high degree of militancy. Young neo-Nazis organise themselves in groups such as Elblandrevolte [Elbe Region Revolt], Jung und Stark [Young and Strong], Deutsche Jugend Voran [German Youth Forward] or Der III. Weg [The Third Way]. In part, right-wing terrorist structures and motivations also seem to be emerging: In May, the Federal Prosecutor General had five members of the extreme right-wing alleged terrorist group Letzte Verteidigungswelle [Last Defence Wave] arrested. Particularly disturbing: some of the accused are still children, the youngest is 14 years old. In mid-June it emerged that a possible attack on a Pride event in Wernigerode (Saxony-Anhalt) may have been prevented. A 20-year-old man had announced his intention to use firearms against the participants; during a house search, police found ammunition. Opferperspektive simultaneously points out that only about 15 per cent of attacks are carried out by supporters or members of extreme right-wing organisations – the majority are perpetrated by people who consider themselves part of the centre of society.

At schools, it’s fashionable again in places to be a neo-Nazi

The fact that more and more young people are among the perpetrators worries counselling centres. “We’re getting feedback that an increasingly consolidated right-wing youth culture has developed,” says Dorina Feldmann – being a neo-Nazi is considered “cool” again in schools in some places. She suspects the reasons lie partly in lacking alternative leisure activities, crisis stress following the Corona lockdowns, and the skilful use of social media by the extreme right. “The feeling of hopelessness meets an overall situation in which right-wing actors deliberately offer simple explanations and enemy images,” says Feldmann. Family circumstances are also a factor. “Many of the perpetrators from back then experienced hardly any consequences and are today the parents of those young neo-Nazis who are radicalising again.” A sense of self-efficacy and pride in one’s own militancy is passed on to the next generation.

Carsten Schulz, who has led the OASIS a youth centre of the Protestant church community in Brandenburg’s Rathenow for almost 14 years as a deacon, social worker and theatre educator, also perceives a change: “They haven’t increased in number, but the right-wing youths appear more self-confident,” he says. They feel tailwinds, experience that they are not alone. “There’s this particular tone that you hear more often now: Politics is shit, everything is shit, something has to change.” When asked about the reasons, the 59-year-old says: “Cuts in education and culture, hopelessness, the feeling: Everything is pointless. A politics that shows little presence and isn’t sufficiently transparent.” He also sees responsibility with traditional media that spread racist narratives, as well as with social media that make fake news directly accessible. Not least, the AfD plays a major role: “They come with simple, clear slogans, loud, sometimes shouting down. That catches on. And it’s sometimes difficult to counter – because it’s all so baseless.”

Politically Divided Youth

The mood of young people was also analysed in the trend study “Youth in Germany 2025”, which was published in mid-May. The representative survey confirms that young people are under enormous pressure. 62 per cent of respondents worried about war; 57 per cent expressed economic concerns, such as about inflation; 48 per cent were concerned about expensive or scarce housing. Climate change frightens 47 per cent, with old-age poverty being another fear factor. “For many, permanent crisis mode remains reality – the level of psychological stress remains correspondingly high, and we experience almost a quarter of young people who say they feel they need treatment,” comments Kilian Hampel, a co-author of the study. Almost every second respondent complains of stress, one-third of exhaustion.

The evaluation also shows that trust in the political system is crumbling: many young people no longer feel represented by established parties. In the February 2025 federal election, established parties lost significantly among young people, whilst Die Linke [The Left] surprisingly became the strongest force among voters under 25. But the AfD also performed above average: among under-25s it became the second strongest party, in the age segment above (25 to 34 years) the strongest party. The lack of belief in a positive future, growing pressure and the feeling that the cake is getting smaller overall – not for everyone, but for many – apparently leads to elbowing out and radicalisation to the right.

Sensible responses to this can hardly be expected from established politics. Parallel to the opening of the first NSU [National Socialist Underground, a far-right terrorist group] documentation centre in Chemnitz, the absent Saxon Minister President Michael Kretschmer claimed that democracy and prevention projects are ineffective because they are too left-wing and don’t reach the target group.

At the same time, he praised the approaches of accepting youth work from the 1990s, which demonstrably supported the spread of extreme right-wing groups and facilitated the emergence of the NSU. Saxon Interior Minister Armin Schuster even considered allowing the Verfassungsschutz [Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence service] to monitor twelve-year-olds. Several politicians also called for a general social media ban for under-16s. Cottbus has simultaneously announced plans to cut funding for youth social work by one-fifth from 2026. The city’s social committee is led by the AfD.

Queerphobic Violence Explodes

At least Cottbus has now managed to achieve talks between the city leadership, the districts of Spree-Neiße and Oberspreewald-Lausitz, as well as the self-organised initiative Sichere Orte Südbrandenburg [Safe Places Southern Brandenburg] – a network for protecting alternative projects. What will come of this remains unclear; scepticism among local activists is great. Sichere Orte Südbrandenburg will therefore likely continue to rely on its own capabilities: together they make incidents public, build up a fund to help with repairs, and organise mutual support measures, such as through solidarity concerts and work assignments.

The situation remains extremely tense. A central point of confrontation this summer will once again be the Pride parades. Counselling centres for victims of right-wing violence recorded a 40 per cent increase in queerphobic attacks for 2024 compared to the previous year. Last year, the [anti-extremism] Amadeu Antonio Foundation counted 55 attacks on Pride events – it also expects attacks this year. Threatening emails to organisers are already being used to try to create a climate of fear, says Kai Bölle, board member of the association CSD Deutschland [Pride Germany].

In many places, organisers are already working together with antifascist groups to ensure protection of participants. Practical solidarity will be a central task here.

Sebastian Bähr is a journalist and lives in Berlin.