The Relapse

A discussion about parties in Germany that were once considered “unelectable” and how people can protect their democracy.

September 14, 1930—some Germans are horrified, while others are jubilant: In just two years, the NSDAP has increased its share of the vote more than eightfold and is now the second-strongest force in parliament. How could this have happened? Economic crisis, propaganda, unemployment? These are all familiar answers, but none of them is a real explanation.

On February 23, 2025, a similar shock ripples through the German population when the AfD enters the Bundestag with more than 20 percent of the vote—and its support continues to rise steadily.

Bestselling author and political activist Philipp Ruch looks back at Hitler’s first triumph and shows how National Socialism managed to make the leap from being unelectable to becoming a mass party.

Why did the NSDAP suddenly appeal to so many people? What promises were so irresistible? And how can people prevent themselves from falling for it all over again—less than 100 years later?

Philipp Ruch, born in 1981, is the founder and artistic director of the “Center for Political Beauty,” through which he has been campaigning against right-wing extremism and for human rights for years with spectacular and radical actions. Philipp Ruch studied political philosophy and the history of ideas and earned his doctorate under the renowned political scientist Prof. Herfried Münkler at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Anastasia Tikhomirova has been an editor in the politics department at *Die Zeit* since 2026. Prior to that, she spent two years as an intern at *Die Zeit* and *ZEIT ONLINE*. Until 2024, she was a working student at *ZEIT ONLINE* and a freelance writer for *taz*, *Tagesspiegel*, and others.

She is an alumna of the 2021 Marion Gräfin Dönhoff Fellowship of the International Journalists’ Programs, which she completed at “Novaya Gazeta” in Moscow.

She is currently completing her master’s degree in Eastern European Studies and Interdisciplinary Research on Antisemitism in Berlin. Prior to that, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and Philosophy.

There will be a book table on site on opening night, as well as the opportunity to have the book signed by the author!