The head of the hard-right Alternative for Germany is riding high
Alice Weidel’s laments for the decline of Germany, and broadsides against immigrants, strike a chord among voters
FROM HER sixth-floor office next to the Bundestag Alice Weidel looks west over an expanse of winter-brown treetops. This is the Tiergarten, Berlin’s most famous park. At its centre rises a 67-metre (220-foot) column celebrating Prussia’s defeat of Denmark in 1864. Glinting in gilded glory at its top strides Victory, this particular version of the winged goddess modelled on the then-crown princess of Prussia, a daughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The blue queen”
From the December 23rd 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
François Hollande hopes to make the French left electable again
The former president moves away from the radicals
Germans are growing cold on the debt brake
Expect changes after the election
The Pope and Italy’s prime minister tussle over Donald Trump
Giorgia Meloni was the only European leader at the inauguration
Europe faces a new age of gunboat digital diplomacy
Can the EU regulate Donald Trump’s big tech bros?
Ukrainian scientists are studying downed Russian missiles
And learning a lot about sanctions-busting
How Poland emerged as a leading defence power
Will others follow?