Ingmar Björn Nolting





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Borderlines  (2024)

Görlitz, close to the Polish border, has become a symbol of the political shift to the far-right in eastern Germany. The political and social upheavals following reunification, the economic decline of the Lausitz region, and the crises of recent years have left deep marks. Once the industrial backbone of East Germany with its vast lignite mines, the region now struggles with economic uncertainty, depopulation, and a noticeable shift to the far right. During the European elections, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist party, secured 40.1% of the vote in Görlitz, marking the highest percentage for any district nationwide. The city has become one of the AfD’s strongholds. A region where the party, deemed extremist by domestic intelligence, is supported not so much as a form of protest but rather out of genuine conviction.

In Görlitz, a region where immigration levels remain lower than in much of Germany, simmering frustrations over government spending on asylum seekers, migrants, and military aid for Ukraine have begun to dominate the political conversation. Many residents feel the government's priorities are skewed, fueling discontent ahead of a pivotal state election in September 2024. Michael Kretschmer, the Christian Democratic governor of Saxony, has positioned his party as a stabilizing force amid these turbulent sentiments, describing it as a “rock in the waves.” In a bid to shore up support from across the political spectrum, he has issued a stark appeal to voters: rally behind the center-right to prevent extremist factions from gaining power. This election, more than any since German reunification, has taken on outsized significance, framed by both politicians and analysts as a decisive battle over the identity and future trajectory of eastern Germany.

My work is a visual exploration of a politically divided region that has become a symbol of the challenges and transformations facing eastern Germany as a whole. Today, 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, eastern Germany is often portrayed as a problem child - economically sidelined, disillusioned with democracy, and a thorn in the side of the established parties. But is that really the case?

To find out, I made several road trips through the region in August 2024, in the weeks leading up to the state elections in Saxony, working on a socio-political portrait of a region in decline, searching for answers on the political extremes.

Shot on assignment for The New York Times