Promoting Democracy | "Cosmopolitan Saxony": Fertilizer for Civil Society

The T-shirts were a coup. When the "Augen auf" initiative organized a music festival against right-wing extremism in Zittau, eastern Saxony, in 2001, they secured Lonsdale as a sponsor. The British fashion label was very popular with right-wing extremists at the time because the letters "NSDA" could be seen under the bomber jacket's chest print, evoking the Nazi party NSDAP. However, Lonsdale supplied T-shirts for the festival that the right-wingers didn't like, says Sven Kaseler: "On the back it said: 'Nazifrei!'"

Nazi-free – that was more of a pious wish than a statement in East Saxony at the time. Kaseler, known to everyone as "Kasi," enumerates a whole series of right-wing extremist incidents that prompted him and some of his fellow activists to found "Augen auf!" (Open Your Eyes!). In Zittau, where the National Youth Bloc, affiliated with the NPD, ran a youth center on Südstraße, a lesbian and gay party at the town hall was attacked by Nazis during a town festival, and at a town festival in Löbau, a visitor was hospitalized by right-wing extremists. "That was commonplace back then," says Kasi. "We didn't want to accept it."

"Augen auf!" (Open your eyes!) resisted and made a name for itself in the tri-border region with creative and committed projects. There were cross-border soccer tournaments, school projects, and concert tours. What it didn't have was money. "We organized it all on a voluntary basis," Kasi explains. While they were able to raise donations and gain sponsors, this wasn't a foundation for long-term work.

The fact that Kasi can be visited today in one of the association's offices in Löbau, and that "Augen auf!" is still active after almost a quarter of a century, is thanks in no small part to a funding program that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary: "Weltoffenes Sachsen" (World-Open Saxony), or WOS for short. Since 2005, the Free State has been setting "a clear example for a democratic, diverse, and inclusive society," said Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) on the occasion of the landmark anniversary. The funding pot, which this year is filled with €9.24 million, supports initiatives and projects across the state that "strengthen democratic culture and the free democratic basic order in Saxony or help reduce phenomena of group-related xenophobia," Köpping said. The recipients appreciate this. "The WOS," says Kasi, "is worth its weight in gold for democracy."

Before 2005, only the federal government provided funding for strengthening democracy and the fight against Nazism. In 2000, Minister-President Kurt Biedenkopf (CDU) of Saxony claimed that Saxony was "largely immune" to right-wing extremism. Four years later, the NPD received 9.2 percent of the vote in the state elections in autumn 2004 and entered parliament for the first time since 1968. The new government, in which the SPD participated for the first time, created the "WOS" (Working Group on Democracy and Social Affairs), "one of the first such state programs ever," says Michael Nattke of the Saxony Cultural Office. "That was a huge step for the many small democracy initiatives."

However, these were initially not considered the primary targets of the funding program. The CDU initially wanted to spend more than half of the initial €2 million in the WOS pot on an image campaign for the state . It was intended to promote a "long-term positive image" of the Free State, which had been discredited by the NPD's election victory. Only under pressure from the SPD, which was part of the government for the first time, was the share of funds going to civil society initiatives increased.

The question of who should benefit from WOS funding has been a recurring topic of discussion. In 2012, for example, the program was opened to applications from fire departments, sports clubs, and youth organizations, resulting in victim support centers and other counseling centers that deal with right-wing extremism in the narrower sense losing 40 percent of their funding. There were heated debates. Looking back, Michael Nattke considers the approach to be sound: "If a youth fire department goes on an educational trip to a memorial site—why shouldn't that be funded?!" Even then, it was clear that there were significantly more interested parties than funds. Although the program has since been increased to almost five times its 2005 budget, it is regularly oversubscribed, and applicants repeatedly miss out.

Michael Nattke, however, also sees this as proof of the program's effectiveness. If one understands the WOS as a program against right-wing extremism, "one has to ask how successful it was," he says. In 2005, the NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) polled just under 10 percent in the Free State; in 2025, the AfD, also classified as right-wing extremist, was the strongest opposition party in the state parliament after an election result of 27.5 percent.

However, if you define Cosmopolitan Saxony as a support program for a democratic civil society, "it has had an enormous impact," says Nattke. Twenty years ago, there were very few such initiatives and associations in Saxony, especially in rural regions, and they – like "Augen auf!" in Upper Lusatia – generally operated under precarious conditions. Today, many of them have permanent offices and at least one or a few permanent employees. The Tolerant Saxony network, in which such initiatives cooperate, had 60 members in 2005. Today, there are 150 members between Plauen and Weißwasser, who are committed to "democratic culture and diverse ways of life." "In terms of promoting democracy, the program has been a huge success," says Nattke.

An indirect indication of this is the hostility the WOS is facing from the right. The NPD once wanted to immediately cancel the newly launched program, arguing that it promoted the creation of a "state SA" that would "terrorize democratic dissidents." The party also predicted a "civil war against the right."

The AfD doesn't resort to such belligerent language; it claims that "left-wing, green non-governmental organizations" are using the program's funding to "silence critics of current politics." However, it also announced that it would immediately abolish the WOS if it were to participate in government. The savings would be marginal. Nattke notes that the €9 million currently allocated to the funding pot is "negligible" in relation to the total budget of well over €20 billion. The fact that the AfD is nevertheless so fixated on the issue "shows that the program can't be completely ineffective."

At the state level, the AfD in Saxony, at least so far, has no say in how funding is spent. The situation is different at the municipal level – which has further increased the importance of funding programs like WOS. "For us," says Martina Glass, managing director of the Network for Democratic Culture (NDK) in Wurzen, "it's currently a lifeline."

The NDK was founded in the late 1990s and is now one of the best-known democracy associations in Saxony. It is committed to cosmopolitanism and tolerance, is active in many areas of political education and , last but not least, promotes social cohesion in Wurzen . Its headquarters at Domplatz 5 has previously served as a meeting place for those involved, hosting cultural events and a workshop. Municipal funding has also been provided for this, but this is now in question. In early summer, the city council, in which the AfD and CDU each have seven representatives, rejected in a secret vote by twelve votes the so-called "municipal share" of €12,900, which is necessary for the NDK to receive funding from one of Saxony's cultural spaces. The association spoke of a "decidedly politically motivated attack on an alternative part of democratic civil society."

Thanks to a fundraising campaign, the funds have since been raised. However, Glass says it is unclear whether the city council will actually accept the earmarked funds at its next meeting on September 9th: "I think it's not unlikely that they will be rejected." This would put many of the services that the NDK has previously provided to the city community at risk. "As an open house, the D5 would no longer exist in its current form," says Glass. However, the NDK would not have to cease its work entirely, because 60 to 70 percent of the funding comes from the state, including from the "Cosmopolitan Saxony" program. Educational work at schools in the district can continue, and other programs will also continue. "Programs like the WOS ensure that we don't have to go home right away," says Glass.

"Programs like 'Cosmopolitan Saxony' ensure that we don't have to go home right away."

Martina Glass NDK Wurzen

However, receiving funding requires a significant investment of time and effort. The application process is considered extremely complex and bureaucratic. "Anyone without administrative experience will find it extremely difficult," says Michael Nattke from the Cultural Office. Martina Glass, who has been managing the NDK for nine years, considers her organization to be "sufficiently professionalized" to be able to submit successful applications. However, smaller and newer initiatives could easily be overwhelmed by the associated bureaucracy, and the increasing digitalization of the application process has "made things even more difficult."

For a long time, there was also criticism that applications were approved or rejected at will. "Augen auf!" (Open Eyes!) in Löbau is a case in point. In 2010, the association launched a satirical campaign to protest the Interior Ministry's requirement that funded associations sign an "extremism clause" and, in doing so, also guarantee the constitutional compliance of their cooperation partners. Sven Kaseler toured the Free State wearing a wig and costume as "Karl Clause" and, supported by corresponding advertising posters, sold "extremism-mus" in jars . This did not go down well with the State Prevention Council, which decided on WOS funding and was based at the Interior Ministry. "They made our lives very difficult," Kasi recalls. Applications for the current year were not approved until the fall, and in some cases the approval was even subsequently revoked: "It was almost a trauma for us."

The procedure was later changed. Today, applications to the Saxon Development Bank (SAB) are decided based on a points system. Some critics question whether bankers have sufficient expertise in promoting democracy. Michael Nattke from the Cultural Office would like to see an advisory board "have the final say and make the selection of content." However, "Augen auf!" is satisfied with the current arrangement: The SAB is doing good work, "and they now even offer us, the funding agencies, advice," says Kaseler, before departing for a video conference.

The real "catch," says NDK Managing Director Martina Glass, is a different one: funding from the WOS is limited. Although applications are now approved for three years instead of just twelve months, this meant that "the new application had to be written while the old one was still being invoiced," says Kaseler. Furthermore, it repeatedly happened that by the end of the year no decision had been made on funding, and experienced employees had to be laid off. There is now some longer-term security. However, permanent, so-called institutional funding is still not possible. If a provider wants to submit a new application, it "always has to contain something completely new," says Glass.

On the program's 20th anniversary, Michael Nattke also hopes to see further development of democracy promotion. "If a project works, it should receive long-term funding," he says, ideally from the responsible ministry: "The Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs should provide funding for a good project school day, and the Ministry of the Interior for a workshop with security authorities." This would give sponsors greater security – and at the same time create space for new ideas and initiatives in the Open-Minded Saxony program. Whether this will ever happen remains to be seen. For now, the sponsors are happy that the cuts to the WOS that were mooted during the budget negotiations could be averted – and that the AfD does not yet have a say in the allocation of funds in the state parliament. Nattke had already said before the 2019 state election that the party's participation in the government in the Free State would be " a death sentence for democracy work in Saxony ."