Germany’s annual Mitte Studie (Center Study), conducted since 2006 by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, surveyed 2,000 people representing a cross-section of voting behavior, education, income and origin to track attitudes toward right-wing extremism, xenophobia and antisemitism. The findings, released this week, paint a mixed but revealing picture of public opinion.
Commitment to democracy is strong: almost 80% of respondents said they are firmly committed to democratic values, a rise of 6 percentage points from four years ago. Support for overt right-wing extremism has declined sharply — only about 3% of respondents hold a clearly right-wing extremist worldview, considerably fewer than in previous years. Researchers say the political center has stabilized and helped slow extremist support.
At the same time, many Germans view right-wing extremism as a threat: around 70% see its rise as dangerous, and more than half said they would be willing to take action against it. Yet attitudes remain ambivalent for a substantial minority. Roughly 20% neither agree with nor explicitly reject right-wing extremist statements, and only 6.6% of those surveyed rejected all 18 extremism-related items the study measured — the lowest share recorded.
Geographic and demographic patterns vary. Contrary to common assumptions, a slightly higher share of people in western Germany displayed a closed right-wing extremist worldview, defined as a coherent anti-democratic, misanthropic outlook. Xenophobic attitudes, however, are more widespread in the east. Nationwide, 88% said dignity and equality for all should be a top democratic priority, but 25% felt minorities receive too much consideration and about 11% rejected the idea that minorities deserve fundamental rights. Negative attitudes were reported by roughly 30% toward asylum seekers and 36% toward the long-term unemployed.
Young people show notably stronger tendencies toward right-wing extremism than older cohorts. The study’s editors find that younger Germans are more likely to adopt authoritarian ideas drawn from Nazi-era and other extremist ideologies — including support for dictatorship, antisemitic views or an aggressive national identity. Researcher Nico Mokros observed a pronounced youthful tilt toward authoritarianism combined with frustration at perceived lack of control, which can channel pent-up aggression into hostility toward marginalized groups.
Signs of rising nationalism and chauvinism surfaced too: 23% agreed that Germany’s primary political goal should be to secure the power and prestige the country deserves, and about 15% expressed support for having a leader who rules with a strong hand. These attitudes accompany a worrying erosion of institutional trust. Andreas Zick of Bielefeld University warned that when people see extremism as a threat yet believe insufficient is being done, mistrust grows — creating openings for populists and extremists who claim to offer solutions.
Public perception of the problem is split: while 70% see right-wing extremism as a threat, 22% think media coverage overstates the issue. The study underscores both the resilience of democratic commitment in Germany and the persistent vulnerabilities — especially among youth and in attitudes toward minorities — that could be exploited by extremist movements if institutional trust continues to weaken.
