Was it worth it?

Posters from major AfD donor from FPÖ are in circulation

The AfD's election campaign in Germany is very classic and as "chancellor-like" as possible (pictured here) - but the posters donated by an Austrian stand out from the crowd.(Bild: AP/Michael Probst)

This is the largest single donation to date to the controversial Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been classified as far-right in some quarters - the first posters donated by the ex-FPÖ politician are now in circulation. However, they do not quite fit in with the image that the party would otherwise like to portray on its advertising material.

The large posters in bright yellow appeared in several cities (see article on X below). An AfD spokesperson confirmed that these are the posters that Gerhard Dingler from Vorarlberg financed with his donation in kind.

Party was "informed in advance by email"
"Mr. Dingler independently arranged this campaign with an external service provider from North Rhine-Westphalia and informed us in advance by email," it was stated. The posters attack the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens on migration, energy and economic policy and recommend the AfD as a "bourgeois alternative". The posters can be seen throughout Germany, according to the AfD.

Large donation amounting to 2.35 million euros
As required for large donations, the German Bundestag recently published a donation from Dingler amounting to almost 2.35 million euros after receiving a corresponding report from the AfD. WDR and NDR had reported on a donation in kind in the form of 6395 posters.

Dingler also recently said that he would provide the party with 6400 election posters for the election on February 23. The donation comes from his private assets.

Austrian is "very worried"
Dingler said that his motivation for supporting the AfD, parts of which are classified as right-wing extremist, was that he was very worried about a further escalation of the war in Ukraine.

In his opinion, the only party in Germany that is credibly committed to peace is the AfD. Dingler handed over the leadership of the Vorarlberg Freedom Party in 2016.