“He looks a little like a poster boy.” “Ulli” is breaking Germany’s taboos, one by one

For decades after World War II, the thought of a right-wing party taking power in Germany has been enough to make the country recoil. Now, a smiling family man known as “Ulli” could break that taboo on Sunday.

The portrait focuses on a figure presented as unusually approachable, even resembling “a little like a poster boy.” That image sits at the center of a political possibility Germany has long treated as unthinkable: a right-wing party reaching power.

The article portrays the moment as one that could change Germany forever. Critics warn that the consequences would not stop at the country’s borders and could cost the whole of Europe dearly.