In autumn 2014, a protest movement by the name of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (Pegida) appeared on the streets and squares in Germany. The image presented to the outside world led to the conclusion that it was a small-minded, blatantly Islamophobic and xenophobic mob publicly displaying their diffuse fears and resentments. Nevertheless, the participants, supporters and initiators of the protest rallies always denied any xenophobic motives. In fact, they thought of themselves as the avant-garde among the citizens, who had the courage to take justified criticism generally shared by the population to the street as a public protest. By scrutinizing these two views based on existing findings this essay examines the role of xenophobia and Islamophobia for the formation and development of Pegida.

In 2015/16 – at the refugee crisis’ peak – Germany was facing numerous demonstrations and acts of violence – such as arson attacks, common assaults, and verbal aggressions – directly or indirectly related to the social group of refugees, their shelters, and/or the federal government’s refugee policy. This article explores to which degree right-wing extremists – both partisan and non-partisan – were capable of instrumentalising the anti-asylum protests in all East German states for their own political purposes. After comparatively delineating the number of anti-asylum protests (as well as the number of participants) influenced by right-wing extremists, this contribution depicts the extremists’ strategies, their aims, and their mediate and immediate political impact. Unlike the majority of media coverage, the data seem to reveal that Saxony was far from being an exceptional case in Germany’s east, but an “average” region instead.

“Reichsbürgers and Selbstverwalters” have been in the focus of German national security authorities and the press since 2016. By the example of three right-wing violent felonies in Saxony between 2011 and 2016, similarities and possible crossovers with right-wing extremist groups are discussed. What are the significant common grounds and differences of politically motivated crimes committed by “Reichsbürgers and Selbstverwalters” and right-wing extremists?

Shortly after the “National Socialist Underground” (NSU) put its name on the map, six neo-Nazi groups in Saxony and North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) were banned. In NRW the concerned uniformly joined the party “Die Rechte”. In Saxony, people joined the subcultural milieu and the youth organisation of the NPD. Being protected by the party privilege had provoked an incorporation of “free forces” into consolidated structures.

White-Power music was serving as the “soundtrack” of xenophobic riots in post-reunification Germany in the early 1990ies. Then it disappeared into the underground until its most recent comeback. This contribution presents an examination of the development of the scene in Germany and especially in Saxony from the beginnings to the present day. On the basis of this historical reconstruction, an analysis of the lyrics of the two Saxony based bands “Blitzkrieg” and “Heiliger Krieg” reveals which ideological, linguistic and strategic developments have occurred in the scene and how this is reflected by the songs of these bands.