AfD Establishes Hessian Youth Branch 'Generation Deutschland' Amid Large Protests

The AfD youth organization Generation Deutschland founded its Hessian state association in Fulda on Saturday, electing 27-year-old engineer and city councillor Nafiur Rahman as its first chairman with 47 of 50 delegate votes. Around 50 delegates gathered at the Bürgerhaus in the Johannesberg district for the founding congress, while counter-protesters assembled outside. Police counted approximately 1,000 demonstrators at the venue, while organizers of the counter-protest put the figure at up to 2,000. The event concluded in the afternoon without major incidents, in contrast to the more turbulent founding of the GD federal association in Gießen in November 2025. One police officer sustained a minor injury during the arrest of a man described by protest organizers as coming from the right-wing milieu, who had resisted after being excluded from the street festival stage area.

Rahman elected with near-unanimous delegate support Nafiur Rahman, the sole candidate for the chairmanship, presented himself to delegates as an engineer with family roots in Bengal who grew up as a Muslim and was baptized Christian seven years ago. He is politically active in his hometown of Bad Vilbel in the Wetteraukreis district, where he serves as a city councillor and a member of the Wetterau district council. Rahman also holds a seat on the Generation Deutschland federal executive board. Following his election, he said the goal was to attract new members through a regular event program and continuously grow the organization. 170 (members) — current membership of GD Hesse at founding State parliament member Pascal Schleich from the Vogelsberg region was elected as Rahman's deputy. Rahman described Hesse as GD's "fastest-growing state," though the membership base of just under 170 remains modest by the organization's own account.

Federal chairman calls Hesse the 15th state association Jean-Pascal Hohm, the federal chairman of Generation Deutschland, addressed the founding congress and described the organization's expansion as a "success story." He called on the new Hessian branch to serve as an "innovations engine" within the AfD while remaining grounded in society, urging delegates to "stay normal." With Hesse now established, only Baden-Württemberg remains without a GD state association, according to Hohm. Robert Lambrou, the AfD state chairman and opposition leader in the Hessian state parliament, also spoke at the event, calling on GD to be a "point of contact for other young people with young people." „Stay normal” — Jean-Pascal Hohm via Frankfurter Allgemeine The founding meeting was described by observers as notably factual and moderate in tone.

The Alternative für Deutschland was founded in 2013 and has since entered the European Parliament and all German state parliaments. Generation Deutschland was established at the federal level at a founding event in Gießen in November 2025, where approximately 25,000 people demonstrated against the event, mostly peacefully, though clashes with police also occurred and access roads were blockaded to prevent delegates from reaching the venue. The Hessian AfD is led by Robert Lambrou, who has served as the party's state chairman and as leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Hessian Landtag since 2018, and has held the role of opposition leader since 2024.

Counter-protest organizers satisfied despite disputed crowd count The counter-demonstration was organized by the association Fulda stellt sich quer together with other organizations, combining a demonstration march and a street festival near the Bürgerhaus. Andreas Goerke, representing the association, said he was "more than satisfied" with how the protest unfolded, citing a "positive atmosphere" among participants. The discrepancy between the police count of around 1,000 and the organizers' figure of up to 2,000 reflected a pattern common to such events, where official and organizer tallies frequently diverge. „Everything was peaceful and there was an incredibly positive atmosphere among each other” — Andreas Goerke via N-tv Goerke also praised the conduct of police and the city of Fulda's security services, saying they had shown "a great deal of tact." The single arrest involved a man the organizers identified as coming from the right-wing milieu, who had been removed from the area around the festival stage before resisting police and injuring one officer slightly. Unlike in Gießen, where blockades prevented some delegates from reaching the founding event on time, all delegates in Fulda arrived without obstruction and the assembly began as scheduled.