STORIES

VATERLAND

Germany

2024–ongoing

Vaterland traces the re-emergence of right-wing extremism in contemporary Germany, following its movement from subcultural milieus and street-level movements into youth organizations, electoral politics, and positions of political influence.

The project began in 2024 under the title The Quiet Rise. At the time, I was photographing neo-Nazi groups, nationalist youth organizations, demonstrations, political gatherings, and the environments surrounding them. What initially appeared as a gradual and often peripheral development increasingly became visible in public and political life. As the work expanded, the distinction between the political margins and the mainstream became harder to maintain.

Vaterland looks at this space in between: the places where boundaries shift, where political language changes, and where ideas once associated primarily with extremist or marginal movements enter broader public discourse. The project moves between street demonstrations, party congresses, election campaigns, youth organizations, private gatherings, and portraits of the people participating in them, examining how political identity is constructed, performed, and normalized.

Germany’s relationship to its own history gives this moment particular weight. A society whose postwar identity has been deeply shaped by remembrance and by the consequences of National Socialism now confronts political ideas, symbols, and forms of nationalism that were long assumed to belong primarily to the historical past or to the political margins.

The title, Vaterland “fatherland” comes from a word repeatedly encountered while making the work. It evokes ideas of home, belonging, nation, and identity, but in Germany it also carries a historical weight that cannot easily be separated from its political use.

Vaterland does not attempt to suggest that history is simply repeating itself. It documents the present: the people, spaces, rituals, symbols, and political structures through which contemporary nationalism and the far right are taking shape in Germany. As the distance between fringe and center narrows, what began as The Quiet Rise can no longer be described as quiet.

“Tobias” (name changed), 24, a member of Der III. Weg, poses in a field near Bad Doberan, Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, Germany, in 2025, making a hand sign used as a coded symbol for “White Power” within far-right networks. Der III. Weg is classified by German authorities as an extremist organization that promotes neo-Nazi ideology and is primarily active in eastern Germany. “These globalists, leftists, and foreigners are destroying my once-great country. I couldn’t just sit and watch it being doomed,” he said. “That’s why I decided to fight, and I’m doing my best to help others join our cause. Enough is enough.”

Lois Wagner, a member of the Junge Nationalisten (JN), speaks at an event in Wetzlar, Germany. The JN is the youth organization of the far-right party formerly known as the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD), now called Die Heimat. German domestic intelligence classifies the group as extremist. Wagner promotes ethnonationalist ideology and claims that his facial features prove his “Aryan” heritage, identifying himself as part of what he refers to as the “Nordic race.” “Germany should be for Germans,” he said. “That’s our right, to preserve who we are. If we don’t stand up now, we’ll lose everything our ancestors built.”

“Christian” (name changed), 21, a member of the Junge Nationalisten (JN), poses for a portrait. The JN, youth wing of the far-right NPD, is monitored by German intelligence for promoting neo-Nazi ideology and anti-constitutional agendas. “We’re not extremists, we’re realists,” Christian said. “Multiculturalism has failed. Crime is rising, and Germans are becoming strangers in their own cities.” He described joining the JN as a way to reclaim national pride and prepare for what he calls a cultural fight. “If talking doesn’t work, we’re ready to take serious action. Me and my comrades won’t just stand by while our country is dismantled.”

“Marcel” (name changed), 24, a member of the Junge Nationalisten, poses in a residential backyard in Göttingen, Germany. “We don’t call ourselves Nazis. We are patriots. We protect our land. They want to destroy everything we stand for,” he said. “We’re not the extremists—they are,” he added, referring to leftist and queer activists. “Every time we speak out, they call it hate. But we’re just defending our way of life.” When asked about democracy, he responded: “The system doesn’t work anymore. People like us get silenced. It’s time for a new order.” German security services report rising recruitment among young men, particularly in rural and economically deprived areas.

Members of the Junge Nationalisten (JN), the youth wing of the far-right party formerly known as the NPD and now called Die Heimat, attend a nationalist rally in Wetzlar, eastern Germany. Several wore symbols such as the Iron Cross and Thor’s hammer, which are commonly seen in far-right and neo-Nazi subcultures. “We’re not afraid to show who we are anymore,” said one of the participants. “We’re the true sons of this land, and we’re taking it back.” The JN is classified as extremist and is monitored by German domestic intelligence for promoting neo-Nazi ideology, including racial superiority and anti-constitutional agendas.

“Lukas” (name changed), 22, a member of the Junge Nationalisten, the youth wing of Germany’s far-right NPD party, poses anonymously. “I just want Germany to be for Germans again,” he said. “They call that hate now, but to me, it’s just common sense.” He claims he’s not a neo-Nazi, but identifies with what he calls “a traditional, proud, white German identity.” Lukas insisted the media distorts their goals. “We’re not monsters. We’re patriots. But that word doesn’t mean anything anymore, does it?” he added.