Germany’s Die Linke was once the shining light of the European left. Created in 2007 as a merger between the postcommunist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and a pro-labor breakaway from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), in its first decade Die Linke became a major force in national politics. In the East, it represented left-behind young people and pensioners and drew attention to the inequalities bequeathed by reunification. In the cities, it was the obvious political home for left-wing students, radical trade unionists, and activists of all kinds. At its height, it routinely scored around 10 percent nationally and nearly 30 percent in many former eastern states, even entering government there.
Yet today the picture is far from rosy. With the center-left Social Democrats and Greens in national government since 2021, presiding over a fall in living standards, economic stagnation, and seemingly unlimited support for war abroad, it might appear that the opposition party Die Linke is well-placed to take advantage. Yet it is today in the doldrums, after years mired in an identity crisis. It scored under 3 percent in this year’s European Union (EU) elections, dropped out of one eastern state parliament, and now risks losing its cohort in the federal Bundestag. So what went wrong?
For many both in and outside Die Linke, it all boils down to one name: Sahra Wagenknecht. Doubtless, Die Linke’s decline has been evident since Wagenknecht, in the 2010s its most prominent representative, began publicly flouting the party line. This began with dubious…
Auteur: David Broder
