Simon Schütz

Many expected the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, to continue growing stronger, but the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the far-right party's deep internal divisions.

NPR sits down with Germany's prominent youth climate activist to discuss lessons from the coronavirus and next steps for the movement.

Average citizens in Germany carry more than 100 euros on them, significantly more than most of their European neighbors, and they keep big stashes at home.

Senior officials in Berlin who oversee the trans-Atlantic relationship tell NPR there continue to be concerns about the "German-bashing we hear out of Washington."

Formed in 1980, the Greens are now the second most popular party in the country. Much of their success, analysts say, has to do with the worsening image of the country's traditional leading parties.

It is the latest sign that many citizens are drawn to a populist movement that is reshaping politics in Germany by focusing debate squarely on immigration.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partner wants to bar migrants from entering Germany if they've applied for asylum elsewhere, and has given her two weeks to tighten asylum rules.

Alexander Gauland, the head of Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, made recent remarks about the Nazi era that offended many Germans, but critics say it's all part of the AfD's playbook.

Members of the Merkel government agree that Muslims belong in Germany but disagree on whether the religion itself does.

The populist, anti-immigrant party is led by a lesbian former investment banker who's worked in China and a 76-year-old politician who abandoned Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.