ZTen months before the state elections, the AfD put up a large poster in Thuringia: “The East stands together”. Höcke, a Thuringian by choice, held an audience as an election campaigner on this last Saturday in October to show his flag with the East German state leaders of his (sic!) party on Erfurt Cathedral Square. Not only blue supporters came, but also counter-demonstrators who wanted to show that there are people in the East who resist Höcke. Their meeting point was the main train station. As always, when I enter the forecourt, I remembered the year 1970. I was twelve, the same age as my youngest son is today, and, watching the “Tagesschau”, I was amazed at the citizens there loudly cheering on the Chancellor of the Federal Republic, Willy Brandt, quoted to the window.
The people’s police had difficulty calming the crowd. Why wasn’t their humble wish fulfilled? Then the state guest appeared in a window reveal of the hotel and waved to calm the situation. Brandt’s calm impressed me, even though I knew nothing about him, let alone his life. I had no idea of the hopes that my parents had in this German-German encounter, but I had a good feeling when the East German Willi spoke to the West German Willy.
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