The AfD hopes to make further gains in eastern Germany as it looks to state elections

“If the old parties had done their job properly, the AfD would not exist,” complained Ingolf, echoing the idea that the whole of Germany looks down on the so-called “Ossis” in the east.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has already won the majority of votes in regional elections this month in the eastern state of Thuringia. Germany is now facing another political wave, as polls show that the AfD could take the majority of votes in the Brandenburg state election in just a few weeks.

Far from the Polish border, in the two small towns of Jämlitz and Klein Düben, support for the right has increased.

A former Conservative (CDU) voter, Ingolf is frustrated with the way successive governments have handled education, saying standards were better when he was a boy growing up in the communist German Democratic Republic.

He expresses concern over Germany’s faltering economy and immigration, comparing riots in England this summer to “civil war-like situations”.

Anarchy, while not the same as civil war, has fueled narratives of violent conflict in multicultural societies.

He says: “That is not what we want here in Germany.

In Jämlitz, most notable for its large goose farm, the idea of ​​civil strife was not far off.

And the war would not continue in Ukraine. But the AfD’s call to stop sending weapons to Kyiv is also being heard loudly.

“Ukraine’s money is a problem,” says Yvonne, who sees the whole war as “senseless” as we chat with her on the street.

“And this is our tax money that is sent abroad. We have enough things to fix in our country.”

However, Yvonne relies on another anti-establishment group that was founded only this year that opposes the supply of weapons to Ukraine and is a growing force in German politics: the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

Ms Wagenknecht’s brand of “left-wing conservatism” has already propelled her party this month into a potential kingpin role in Saxony and Thuringia.

However, to his critics, he has simply created another movement of misfits, a pro-Putin movement that undermines the central pillars of German foreign policy.

I challenge Yvonne with the idea of ​​ending the purchase of weapons from Ukraine, which would help Russia win the war it started, by attacking its neighbor.

“I understand both sides,” he said after a moment’s hesitation.

This is the part of Germany where the older generation, from the GDR years, grew up learning the Russian language and culture.

It is also a country, scarred by two World Wars, that maintains a strong pacifist streak fueled by fears that the existing conflict could escalate.

“Poland is not big,” said Yvonne, as she pointed out that the Polish border is a few kilometers away. “And we’re the first to go when the tanks converge.”

In these two villages, with a population of less than 500, 57.5% of voters supported a right-wing party in the recent local council electionsthe largest part of Brandenburg.

Across the wider region, that figure was 43.7%, also unusually high.

It comes ahead of a larger, state parliamentary vote on 22 September, in which the AfD leads the polls – after winning a majority in Thuringia and coming second in Saxony on 1 September.

In Thuringia, the AfD attracted 36% of the vote from under-30s, election researchers said.

Their strength lies in the east despite the party being viewed by many – and officially designated in three states – as right-wing extremists, a charge its supporters vehemently deny.

Nearby, I visit one of the beautiful lakes that have been converted from their original purpose as open pit coal mines.

As I go around asking people if they want to talk about German politics, most, perhaps unsurprisingly, are not tempted.

A woman named Katrin agrees to speak, although she does not want her picture taken.

Taking us away from the crowd sunbathing on the grass and beach, you light a cigarette and stay alert as we wait to hear what you have to say.

Sounds like it’s going to be really controversial.

He doesn’t like the AfD – something that might sound like a biased opinion here.

“Half of the people here didn’t vote for the AfD,” he reminds us, adding that he is “frustrated” by local levels of support for the far-right party.

But why are they so popular, I ask?

“That’s a good question,” said Katrin. “That’s what I always ask myself.”

“There’s an old saying,” he recalls. “When a donkey is very comfortable it walks on black snow.”

Katrin says she believes that life is, in fact, good for people in society, which leads to the negative behavior of the “grass-is-greener” syndrome – whether that is through the eyes of the past or the present.

Average income levels and household wealth are lower in the east compared to the west, although inequality has narrowed over the years.

All in all, Katrin doesn’t get it. “I’m still thinking, why, why, why?”

He gets the feeling that the mainstream parties, including those in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are similarly unable to understand, or respond, to the success of the AfD or the BSW, parties that polled around 18% and 8% nationwide respectively.

Powerful traditionalist parties are heading east and Germany’s reputation for calm, political harmony is under pressure.