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Hundreds of business owners in the eastern German city of Magdeburg staged a hours-long closure of their shops on Wednesday, in a demonstration aimed squarely at the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party just under two weeks before voters in Saxony-Anhalt head to the polls.
Around 150 enterprises took part in the action, shutting between 10 am and 3 pm local time (0800–1300 GMT). The affected establishments were concentrated in the neighbourhood surrounding Hasselbachplatz, one of the city's central squares, and included restaurants, kiosks and barbershops, according to one of the event's organisers.
A rally in front of the state parliament building was also scheduled for later the same day, extending the protest beyond the commercial closures.
Saeeid Saeeid, who works with the refugee council in Saxony-Anhalt, said the underlying message of the day was simple: "Nobody should have to prove through work or economic output that they belong to this society."
Organisers noted that the strike was not limited to businesses run by people with migration backgrounds — several locally owned firms without such ties also announced they would close in solidarity, broadening the show of support across the city.
Saeeid described a powerful mood of unity among participants ahead of the action. "Business owners are motivating one another, joining forces and peacefully raising their voices against racism and exclusion," he said, pointing to what he called an extraordinary level of mutual encouragement within the community.
Beyond the symbolic gesture of empty storefronts, organisers said the goal was to make visible the everyday contributions that would vanish if migrant entrepreneurs and workers were absent. They pointed out that people with migration histories staff care services, deliver parcels across the region, and form an essential part of the workforce in construction and manufacturing.
But those behind the protest emphasised that the demonstration was about more than economic utility. "We don't want to be seen only as workers, but as people with all their needs," said a co-organiser, who works as a social worker and asked to be identified only by her role.
She framed the strike as a deliberate wake-up call directed at German society more broadly, urging citizens to take a hard look at the programme put forward by the AfD rather than accepting its rhetoric at face value.
The political backdrop gives the protest added urgency. Saxony-Anhalt will elect a new state parliament on September 6, and the regional branch of the Alternative for Germany currently sits at the top of opinion surveys. The domestic intelligence service has formally classified the state's AfD organisation as a far-right extremist grouping.
Party leaders are now campaigning for an outright majority — a result that would, for the first time, allow the AfD to control a state parliament's leadership, a prospect that has alarmed civil society groups and migrant communities across the region.
Wednesday's closures, organisers said, were intended to remind voters in the final stretch of the campaign exactly what stands to be lost if the political climate turns further against the people who help hold the city's daily life together.
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