Saxony-Anhalt election: Where does the anger come from?

Saxony-Anhalt votes on September 6 to elect a new state parliament, with the AfD’s state branch leading polls at more than 40 percent. Germany’s domestic intelligence service classifies the branch as right-wing extremist.

The podcast asks where the anger behind that support comes from. More than 35 years after German reunification, eastern and western Germany still differ economically, socially and structurally. Eastern states have higher unemployment, lower incomes and lower pensions, and resentment over those conditions remains strong.

ZEIT journalist Jana Simon examines the roots of that anger and why the sharpest debates about eastern Germany are often held among eastern Germans themselves. The AfD also emerged as the strongest political force in eastern Germany in the 2025 federal election.

The episode also reports on a cyberattack against Berlin’s administration. The Rhysida hacking group published about 5.8 terabytes of stolen data on the darknet after the Senate refused to pay a ransom of roughly €2 million in bitcoin.

The leaked material included internal documents, contracts and emergency plans, as well as sensitive personal data belonging to city employees and residents. The attack temporarily disrupted government services so severely that eligible households could not receive housing benefits. Authorities do not yet know exactly how the attackers entered the system, although outdated software could be one possible reason. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security has warned of further attacks.

ZEIT’s David Will discusses why the Senate rejected the extortion attempt and what those affected can do. The podcast also briefly features notable and unusual gadgets from the IFA technology trade show.