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Münster is known as a cycling and student city
Photo: Jorg Greuel / Getty Images
The Münster Higher Administrative Court is an inconspicuous building.
Anyone traveling in the city hardly notices the building with its gray facade.
These days, however, it is the scene of a negotiation that the whole of Germany is watching.
From Tuesday it will be decided here whether the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can continue to classify the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a suspected right-wing extremist case.
In concrete terms, this means: The authority may use intelligence resources such as undercover agents to monitor the party as a whole, not just individual state associations.
The Cologne Administrative Court allowed this two years ago.
The AfD appealed, and negotiations are now continuing in Münster.
The decision is seen as pointing the way towards a possible party ban.
The anti-AfD stronghold
There is a certain irony in the fact that the trial with the catchy name “Alternative for Germany against the Federal Republic of Germany” is taking place here of all places.
Because Münster is anything but a stronghold for the AfD.
In the 2021 federal election, she received 2.9 percent of the second votes, the worst result in Germany.
Only in the Cologne II constituency was the number just as low.
In 2017, Münster was the only constituency in which the party remained below five percent.
So not a good place for the party.
One wonders why that is.
There are the common prejudices: Münster is a student city and the young people are left-green, goes the cliché.
Plus, there are the many cyclists: certainly everything is eco-friendly.
That's not entirely wrong.
There are actually a lot of students in Münster.
There are more than 62,000, spread across ten universities.
They ride bikes a lot and are also on the left.
The results of the federal election show this: among 18 to 24 year olds, the Greens have almost 45 percent.
The AfD has so few votes that it is not listed as a separate party in the statistics.
The AfD is finding it difficult to gain a foothold at the university.
A few years ago there was a rumor that someone wanted to set up a student AfD representation.
Some students quickly founded their own alliance, the “Alternative for You,” and registered it as an official university group.
The abbreviation was taken and the party supporters backed down.
To date, there is no AfD presence at the university.
If black-green were a place, it would be Münster
However, it is difficult to describe Münster as left-wing because of the poor AfD results.
There are Antifa groups and an alternative scene, as is the case in big cities.
But the city doesn't seem particularly concerned about openly left-wing places.
A youth center is currently being demolished and an autonomous center is to be sold to an investor from Berlin.
There was no initiative on the part of the city to preserve the places.
That’s Münster too: stuffy, middle-class and preferably as “normal” as possible.
It is a big city that often seems like a village.
The region is predominantly Catholic and conservative values are important to many people.
The fact that Münster residents go to the market on Saturday and go to church on Sunday and eat coffee and cake at 3 p.m. sharp is probably just another cliché.
The fact that the centrist parties in Münster are very strong is not a cliché, but a fact.
In addition to the Greens, who achieved 30 percent across all age groups in the 2021 federal election, the SPD and CDU also each achieved more than 24 percent.
Voter turnout was 83.9 percent, one of the highest in Germany.
There isn't much room for the AfD.
If the party wants to make a name for itself in Münster, the city community reacts quickly.
On February 16, more than 30,000 people protested against the AfD district association's New Year's reception.
The guests were the Bundestag members Peter Boehringer and Martin Reichardt, who are considered right-wing hardliners within the party.
When Correctiv's research became public, an alliance organized a rally within a few days.
Münster Mayor Markus Lewe's CDU has also called for protests against the AfD in the past.
Prosperity and high future prospects
You might think that there is simply a special cohesion in the city, that people live here who, for various reasons, distance themselves from right-wing ideas.
Last but not least, Münster is one thing above all: wealthy and structurally strong.
more on the subject
Expedited proceedings in Münster: AfD sues against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Procedure for classification as a “suspected case”: AfD wants to have judges declared biased
Media report: The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is apparently planning to classify the entire AfD as a “secure extremist effort”
Only around ten percent of Münster residents have a migrant background, in all of North Rhine-Westphalia it is 30 percent.
The proportion of academics is also above the German average, at more than a third.
And the economic research institute Prognos confirms that Münster has very good future prospects, measured by indicators such as purchasing power and job density.
People in the city can be more carefree than elsewhere.
This means there is little target for the AfD.
This is also true, even if some people wish that the unity of the people of Münster alone would weaken the party.