Heated atmosphere at Swiss rally against AfD politician Alice Weidel

Booing for rally against Alice Weidel in Einsiedeln SZ Keystone-SDA

Around 250 people demonstrated against the German AfD politician Alice Weidel on Saturday afternoon in Einsiedeln. The atmosphere on site was heated with provocations and scuffles involving counter-demonstrators.

Weidel is running for the post of Germany ‘s chancellor in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. The politician has lived in the district of Einsiedeln with her partner and two children since 2018. Her main place of residence is in Überlingen in Germany.

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“We are fighting for a world with diversity and without fascism,” said a speaker from the “Alliance against the Right” at the rally. She accused Weidel of pursuing a policy of social coldness in Germany, while her children could grow up in safety in Switzerland.

“Weidel out” read one poster, while another read “History repeats itself if you don’t learn anything”.

Many police officers in Einsiedeln

Although the rally was small, there was a large contingent of police from several cantons on site. The reason for this was that an unauthorised counter-demonstration had also been called for.

The demonstration marched through the village of Einsiedeln and was booed, jeered and insulted by dozens of people practically the whole time. Some of the counter-demonstrators held up Swiss flags, others AfD posters. Shouts of “Alice stay with us” could be heard, a reporter from the Keystone-SDA news agency noted at the scene.

Police in riot gear protected the demonstration as it made its way past the imposing Benedictine monastery to Paracelsus Park. A rally was held there for around 30 minutes. According to a statement issued by the Schwyz cantonal police early on Saturday evening, around a thousand spectators watched the event on site.

Heated atmosphere on site

There were repeated exchanges with the counter-demonstrators. These included the “Mass-Voll” group, who appeared with their purple flags shouting “Liberté”, but were immediately led away by the police.

According to the Schwyz cantonal police, the atmosphere was heated and there were provocations and scuffles. However, the police managed to prevent any major riots. There were no reports of injuries or damage to property by Saturday evening.

In the run-up to the rally, the cantonal police said they had also carried out a large number of identity checks and turned away a number of counter-demonstrators. Five people who were carrying prohibited items or did not comply with the police orders to leave were temporarily taken into police custody, it was reported. They will be reported to the public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Schwyz.

According to his own statements on X and a confirmation from the cantonal police at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency, Nicolas Rimoldi, the founder of the “Mass-Voll” group, was also among the five people in police custody.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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