A hard-right Eurodance craze is rapidly spreading through Germany, despite attempts by the political mainstream to threaten would-be partygoers with job loss, fines and potential prison time.
Problems began in May on the German island of Sylt in the North Sea, where young people filmed themselves dancing to ’90s Eurodance hit L’amour Toujours while singing “Germany for Germans” and “foreigners out”, with the footage subsequently finding its way onto social media.
Retaliation was swift. German media jumped on the story, reporting on the alleged use of “anti-constitutional” slogans and “gestures”, prompting an investigation from local authorities.
Nein, das ist nicht Sachsen. Das sind wohlhabende Mitbürger beim Urlaub auf der Insel Sylt. Als wäre es das normalste der Welt. Die „Mitte der Gesellschaft“, wie Medien gern sagen. Aber „nie wieder ist jetzt“ und so, wa? Wir haben ein gigantisches Rassismusproblem im Land. pic.twitter.com/z1W756OBSz
— Tarek Baé (@Tarek_Bae) May 23, 2024
Many of those filmed reportedly then lost their jobs, while one senior German politician advocated for the ravers to be handed five years in prison for breaking Germany’s hate-speech rules.
Despite the severity of the threats, the media and political crusade against the Sylt partygoers appears to have backfired. German social media has since been inundated with posts of young people across the country partying to the song while singing the same controversial phrases.
Nanu, was ist denn da los? Fans von Galatasaray Istanbul feiern am Sonntag in Stuttgart die Meisterschaft ihres Vereins und skandieren lautstark: „Ausländer raus! Ausländer raus!“ Videos davon tauchen nun in den sozialen Netzwerken auf. https://t.co/XJGcUwh3rn pic.twitter.com/T4gSr7PV88
— NIUS (@niusde_) May 27, 2024
The phenomenon is also being spurred by right-wingers in the wider world, with major accounts in the Anglosphere creating and reposting meme-heavy edits of the song on Elon Musk’s X.
COMMENT: The isolation of the AfD may bring new success to the EU nationalist right, writes @Jay_Conz. https://t.co/ix1gKNNpV7
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 27, 2024
Politicians and legacy media outlets are now struggling to put the hard-right genie back in the Eurodance bottle.
Some have advocated for bans on the song, as well as the hard-right’s use of it, with major political magazine Der Spiegel blaming streaming giant Spotify for not doing enough to quell the phenomenon.
Munich’s Oktoberfest, which is not set to take place until September, has already announced it would ban L’amour Toujours entirely for fear of furthering the phenomenon.
Others have fought against such proscription out of concern that such a heavy-handed approach would only encourage the raving outbreak.
German culture minister Claudia Roth said a ban on the song should be avoided and instead argued that the provision of “sensitivity training” was now needed.
She added that there must be “a zero-tolerance policy towards any racist, misanthropic and Nazi-glorifying statements” at events in the country.
Amid the chaos, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has seen its previously rising popularity stabilise after months of scandal. INSA polls now show support for the group holding steady at 17 per cent.
The party is said to be particularly popular with young Germans, with recent polls showing it has more support than any other among 14 to 29-year-olds.
That is despite ongoing State-backed investigations into many of the AfD’s European Parliament election candidates. Among these, a police raid on the EP offices linked to its lead candidate Maximilian Krah was said to have taken place on May 29.
The AfD appears to be embracing its new base of edgy Gen-Z young people, posting an anime-style anti-mass migration meme on X encouraging voters to turn out for the European elections.
The premises of one of the German Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s top candidates in the June European Parliament elections, Petr Bystron, have been searched by German and Spanish authorities. https://t.co/m9hR8pDMqb
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 16, 2024
