Clash at CSD: Neo-Nazis detained at Potsdamer Platz Square
In a troubling development, a group of far-right extremists attempted to disrupt the 46th Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin on July 29. The attack was thwarted by police intervention, resulting in the handcuffing and removal of the group from the area.
The location of the custody was not specified. The majority of the attackers were young men, and the group consisted of adults and minors, with the minors being immediately released and the adults kept in custody until after midnight.
The attack occurred at Potsdamer Platz, where the group stood around the edge of a shopping center, occasionally flashing "white power" hand signals. The attackers were surrounded by police officers between midday and 3:45pm on Saturday.
The CSD event, organised under the motto "Only strong together - for democracy and diversity," was largely successful, with an estimated 250,000 people participating.
The rise in far-right activity in Berlin and the surrounding Brandenburg region is not a recent phenomenon. There has been a notable increase in far-right activity, primarily tied to the growth and extremist classification of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). This surge reflects broader trends in Germany’s former East German states and arises from underlying societal and political factors.
The AfD, originally founded as a eurosceptic party, has increasingly shifted towards far-right extremist positions. In 2025, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution officially classified the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor." This designation places the Brandenburg branch of the AfD—bordering Berlin—as a "proven right-wing extremist" group, alongside similar classifications in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia.
In the 2024 state elections in these regions, the AfD achieved significant electoral successes, being the first far-right party since the Nazis to win a plurality in a German state (Thuringia). The far-right movement is associated with increasing antisemitic crimes, with 1047 reported in Germany within the first 3 months of 2025, largely attributable to right-wing extremism.
The rise partly stems from socio-economic and political dissatisfaction in eastern Germany, where the AfD capitalized on anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim sentiments. The AfD advocates an ethnocultural concept of German identity that excludes minorities, fostering discrimination and societal division around issues of immigration and cultural belonging.
Online platforms facilitate youth radicalization by concealing identities, easing the spread of extremist content, and glorifying violence. Efforts to combat youth online radicalization involve research and awareness campaigns to recognise and intervene in far-right influence on minors to prevent long-term social destabilization.
German authorities now monitor the AfD closely due to its extremist classification, which may lead to restrictions such as bans on AfD members in sensitive public sector jobs. Legal proceedings are underway as AfD challenges their extremist designation in court. Political and social pressures include polls showing rising support for banning the AfD, and widespread condemnation from other parties, including the Social Democratic Party.
Civic responses include heightened public scrutiny and calls for banning extremist entities, alongside efforts to protect vulnerable communities from hate crimes and political repression. The far-right increase in Berlin and Brandenburg reflects a regional and national shift toward extremist politics complicated by social and technological factors. The German government has intensified surveillance and legal actions against far-right groups like the AfD, while also facing challenges linked to political polarization and youth radicalization.
The general-news surrounding the CSD event in Berlin revealed an increase in far-right activity, with the group that disrupted the event affiliated with the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose Brandenburg branch was classified as a "proven right-wing extremist" group. In the realm of crime-and-justice, these allegiances resulted in the arrest of some group members, highlighting the political implications of such activities.
