A "Greater Germany" Map Claiming Territory from 12 Other Countries: AfD Youth Leadership Member Steps Down "for Personal Reasons"

Luca Maurice Strauf, a member of the leadership of "Generation Deutschland", the youth wing of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), has stepped down after posting a map of a so-called Greater Germany on social media. On it, parts of a whole series of European countries were shown as German territory.

He posted the map on 3 October, German Unity Day, when Germany marks the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany. The accompanying text left little room for interpretation: "German unity means a Germany that unites the entire German people in one state. Today we celebrate one stage of victory on the road towards it."

What was on the map? All of Austria and Luxembourg, plus parts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. France reacted most fiercely, because the map included Alsace and part of the Moselle department - areas that changed hands between Paris and Berlin for generations.

Strauf quickly deleted the post from X, but screenshots were already circulating across Europe. French MP Théo Bernhardt of the right-wing National Rally said Alsace and Moselle are French and will remain so. Clémence Guetté of the left-wing France Unbowed linked the idea of a Greater Germany directly to Adolf Hitler's policies and warned about the AfD's growing strength. According to German public radio, there was concern in Luxembourg and Switzerland too.

His own organisation distanced itself as well. The youth wing's spokesman, Wendelin Fesl, said the post did not reflect the organisation's views on either history or real-world politics. "Patriotism doesn't need fantasies about historical maps," he said. Strauf himself claims he wasn't calling for the annexation of other countries' territory, but wanted to recall the shared history of Germany and Austria. On 10 October the organisation announced that he had stepped down from the federal leadership - "for personal reasons".

Why the map is no harmless joke

In the 19th century, the idea of a Greater Germany was part of the debate over unifying the German lands, including the question of whether Austria should join the common state. Nazi Germany later used it to justify expansion: in 1938 Hitler annexed Austria, and new territorial demands and conquests followed. Alsace and part of Moselle were under German rule from 1871 until the end of the First World War, and in the Second World War they fell under Nazi control again.

The Balkans know that maps of "historical rights" rarely stay on paper - and that they almost always start with someone who just wants to "recall history". That's why one thing in this story is worth noting: in Germany, a single post cost a young official his position in less than a week. The question is whether the next one will give up the map, or just learn to pick a better day to post it.