Far-right motorbike fan hopes to cruise to power in east Germany

Mobbed by fans for selfies and autographs, the man who hopes to become the far-right Alternative for Germany's first state premier cuts more of a rock star figure on the campaign trail.

Ulrich Siegmund, 35, regularly climbs onto a vintage East German motor scooter for rallies with voters in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where his AfD party holds a commanding lead in the polls ahead of a September 6 election.

Despite sweltering heat, scores of Siegmund fans joined him on a recent Sunday for a countryside ride on Simson-brand scooters -- simple yet durable two-stroke engine bikes that have become a symbol of East German identity.

"The Simson is a symbol of freedom, and freedom is also what we, the Alternative for Germany, stand for," the AfD candidate, blue-eyed with a salt-and-pepper side-parted hairstyle, told the audience as he spoke on a village meadow.

Riding his scooter -- painted in the party's signature colour sky blue -- he led a convoy of several hundred motorcyclists, some wearing World War II-era helmets and waving German flags.

Descendants of the Simson firm's namesake Jewish founders, who gave up the company to escape persecution in Nazi Germany, have denounced the AfD's appropriation of the brand name.

Across Germany's formerly communist east, the AfD -- an anti-immigration, pro-Russia and pro-Trump party -- is leading the polls, capitalising on a sense of injustice felt by many residents.

More than 35 years after reunification, many gripe about allegedly being treated as second-class citizens compared to their compatriots in the generally more prosperous former West Germany.

Deepening the resentment, many believe that immigrants are given preferential treatment.

- 'Reclaiming our country' -

Nowhere is the AfD closer to power than in Saxony-Anhalt, a state of 2.1 million people where polls give it a realistic shot at an outright majority in the state parliament.

Siegmund's party is polling nearly 20 points ahead of the centre-right Christian Democrats -- the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Saxony-Anhalt's current leader, Sven Schulze, whom Siegmund describes as a "living symbol of broken election promises".

AFP recently followed Siegmund -- a native of Saxony-Anhalt who was born just three weeks after German reunification in 1990 -- as he led the motorbike tour of several villages around the town of Jessnitz.

During the ride, the melody of the Gigi D'Agostino track "L'amour toujours" could sometimes be heard, not a coincidence.

The song has infamously been co-opted by the xenophobic far-right, with a chanted chorus of "Germany for the Germans, foreigners out".

Siegmund continued flashing a broad smile to a crowd of all ages, many wearing T-shirts bearing his likeness and AfD slogans.

"We aren't just reclaiming our freedom; we are reclaiming our country," he told them.

Shortly after signing a blue balloon for a young boy, Siegmund gave AFP an interview in which he contended that "uncontrolled immigration is one of this country's biggest problems".

Siegmund vowed "to make life as difficult as possible for those who want to take advantage of us, those who are criminals".

- 'Like a good mate' -

People at the event gave different reasons for showing up -- some drawn mainly to the bike event, others to support the AfD which has become deeply ingrained in everyday life in the east.

Lena Schef, a 21-year-old unemployed woman from Jessnitz, said the far-right party is more attentive to people's concerns than other parties.

At the last city council meeting, Schef said, local AfD politicians "voted against the closure" of the kindergarten where she used to work, "whereas the CDU voted in favour of the closure".

Lars Breternitz, a 66-year-old retiree from Bergwitz -- who, like Siegmund, used to vote for the CDU -- said he was motivated by the issue of immigration.

"We need to launch 'remigration'," he told AFP, explicitly attacking former chancellor Angela Merkel's welcoming policy towards asylum-seeking migrants.

"Now we're full of criminals and welfare scroungers, and they need to be sent back out as quickly as possible," Breternitz added.

Hans Witte and his friend Robert Kunze, both from the town of Graefenhainichen, said they got their first Simsons at age 15 during a "Jugendweihe" a coming-of-age ceremony established in East Germany as a secular, socialist alternative to Christian confirmation.

"We're here primarily because we're all about the moped scene," Witte, a 19-year-old industrial mechanic, told AFP. Siegmund, he said, "is like a good mate".

But "of course, we are also here to send a political message," added Kunze, a 21-year-old IT specialist, citing immigration as "one of the biggest issues" and the reason why "crime has risen".

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© Agence France-Presse