The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which presents itself as an anti-establishment party defending ordinary citizens, is under growing scrutiny over the employment of relatives and associates — a practice critics call nepotism.
The controversy follows earlier attacks by AfD politicians on other parties for similar hires, but media investigations now target AfD members themselves. In Saxony-Anhalt several state and federal AfD parliamentarians are reported to have placed relatives on the payrolls of colleagues’ offices. Public broadcaster ZDF and other outlets say some of those relatives have received substantial salaries funded by the state.
The biggest focus is on Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate for the September state election in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party polls at around 40 percent. Siegmund has said he would aim to lead the state government if the AfD wins, a result that would make him the first far-right politician to head a German state government since World War II. Reports say Siegmund’s father was hired in a Bundestag member’s office on a wage approaching €100,000 per year. Siegmund defends the appointment, arguing that trustworthy staff are scarce. Legally, MPs may not employ their own relatives directly but can hire relatives of other members, so the arrangement appears to fall within existing rules.
Accusations have also come from inside the party. An AfD MEP has alleged secret deals and self-enrichment within the party’s Lower Saxony regional association, which Germany’s domestic intelligence service has recently classified as right-wing extremist. Media reports add that the wife of Lower Saxony regional chairman Ansgar Schledde worked in an AfD Bundestag office, heightening questions about hiring practices across regions.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly criticized the AfD’s behavior and warned that, while he would prefer not to introduce new laws, the scale of the alleged abuses might make regulation unavoidable. He urged a stern response to what he described as cronyistic practices.
Political scientist Alexander Hensel of the University of Göttingen says the allegations matter not only because opponents raise them but because the party’s radical wing and its supporters are also attacking colleagues. That internal criticism could deepen splits. Thuringia state leader Björn Höcke has publicly warned the party risks being undone from within, and Hensel sees such attacks as a tactic by the hard right to paint regional leaders as having sold out — thereby boosting the party’s most extreme faction.
The nepotism controversy arrives amid a series of other problems for the AfD, including:
– An internal accusation of secret dealings and self-enrichment in Lower Saxony.
– The Bundestag president permanently barring seven AfD employees from parliamentary premises for security reasons; some had previous convictions for offenses such as incitement, resisting police, or weapons violations.
– Contacts by some AfD figures with Austrian extremist Martin Sellner, which many in the party regard as beyond the pale.
– A Bavarian AfD state parliament member fined heavily in February 2026 for money laundering and coercion.
– A former AfD Bundestag member accused in a criminal trial linked to a suspected terrorist organization.
AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla acknowledged on public television that the hiring practices in Saxony-Anhalt leave a “bad taste.” Both party co-chairs, Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, have drawn criticism for weak internal control. Hensel says their capacity to resolve the crisis is limited, especially in an election year when the party cannot afford a major internal rupture.
Hensel warns the affair could damage the AfD’s core populist message: portraying itself as an outsider alternative to corrupt elites is harder when critics inside and outside the party accuse it of the same corrupt behavior. Because the dispute resonates internally and in the wider public, it has potential to inflict genuine political harm.
This piece was originally written in German, first published on February 11 and later updated. If you follow German politics, DW offers a weekly Berlin Briefing newsletter summarizing key developments every Tuesday.