Musk's Gigafactory Village Where Alternative for Germany Is Succeeding

Grünheide (Germany)In Grünheide, a town of 9,000 inhabitants in former communist Germany where tech billionaire Elon Musk has built Tesla's first factory in Europe, the far-right was the party that received the most votes in the federal elections on 23 February. Alternative for Germany (AfD)

Marc, who like Elon Musk believes that only the AfD can save Germany, welcomes the anti-immigration programme of the far-right party. The young man, who does not want to give his surname, is in favour of "expelling foreign criminals and not bringing so many [foreigners] into the country so that jobs become available."

Grünheide, located halfway between Berlin and Poland, is a young German who has 32.5 percent of the vote. "I voted for the AfD," explains 18-year-old Marc in the centre of Grünheide. The young man, who does not want to give his surname, attributes the far-right party's success in the region to the fact that many eastern Germans are "fed up" with the policies of the traffic light coalition, which consists of the Social Democrats of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Greens and the Liberals. It is no exception in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The AfD was the most voted party in all five eastern German states, where it received between 32 and 38 percent of the vote. The record vote for the AfD is held by Karlsdorf, a town in Thuringia, where 73.3 percent of the 117 inhabitants voted for the far right.

The AfD, which has made immigration its main campaign issue, is strongest in eastern Germany, where curiously fewer immigrants live: for example, only 7.5 percent of the inhabitants of Brandenburg, the federal state where Grünheide is located, are foreigners, compared to 23.3 percent in Berlin. "The AfD stirs up people's fears. In regions where there are fewer foreigners, more people vote for the AfD. It doesn't make sense, but it's populism and people listen to them," explains Thomas Grünert, a resident of Grünheide who voted The Left, the equivalent of Podemos in Germany.

More convinced and less vote of punishment

The party of right-wing extremist Alice Weidel is increasingly winning over Germans, not only in the east, but also increasingly in the west. "Many people believe that what the AfD stands for is correct. So the belief that voters of the Alternative for Germany vote for them primarily in protest is naive," says Julia Reuschenbach, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin). "The number of protest voters is decreasing, while the number of those who say they are convinced by what the AfD says, what it stands for and what it demands is increasing," Reuschenbach explained at a meeting with the Association of Foreign Press.

Tesla's gigafactory and its controversial owner Elon Musk are dividing Grünheide. Musk has insulted outgoing Chancellor Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during the election campaign. He said Scholz, with whom he opened the Tesla factory in 2022, is a "donkey" and an "incompetent idiot." Musk considered Steinmeier to be an "anti-democratic tyrant," after the head of state denounced attempts of foreign interference in the German election campaign.

AfD's change of position on Tesla

The owner of Tesla and the social network X called for people to vote for the Alternative for Germany during his election campaign. This far-right, anti-immigration and Eurosceptic party advocates closed borders and mass expulsions of foreigners. In Grünheide, 12,500 people from 150 countries work at the factory, producing 5,000 Teslas. Made in Germany

Interestingly, the Alternative for Germany was opposed to the construction of the factory. "What does Tesla think it is? Where would we end up if we handed our country over to every American billionaire to destroy at will?" local AfD leader Kathi Muxel asked in 2021.

However, Musk's support for the AfD during the election campaign has caused the party to do a 180-degree turn when it comes to talking about the impact of this electric car and battery manufacturer on the region. "Tesla is an important economic factor, employer and taxpayer in the region," Steffen John, economic policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group in Brandenburg, now believes.

The Tesla factory, which occupies 300 hectares of land, is "both a curse and a blessing" for Grünheide, according to the Social Democrat Pamela Eichmann, chairwoman of the municipal council. "There are positive aspects: jobs for the region, increased tax revenue for the municipality and national and international attention for our town," she explains in the ARA. But there are also "negative aspects: deforestation and infrastructure reform. Citizens fear water shortages and increased impact on flora and fauna."

The factory is located two kilometres from the centre of Grünheide. Many of its workers live in Berlin or nearby Poland and travel to the factory by car or train. Buses leave for the factory from the bleak Fangschleuse station on the outskirts of the town. Few Tesla workers pass through the centre of Grünheide. The employees waiting for the shuttle are reluctant to speak to the press about the German elections, Musk or the far-right's victory in eastern Germany. Many fear losing their jobs if they speak out. Many are foreigners who do not speak German.

"Traffic has increased by 150%. The microclimate has changed. And the light pollution is enormous. I live 10 kilometres from the factory and at night we have the sky lit up. It's incredible," says Manu Hoyer, a member of the Initiative, in a café in the village.

Tesla now wants to expand the factory by another 170 hectares. That means 100 hectares of forest will have to be cleared to build a freight station, warehouses and a kindergarten. "But who pays for it? The taxpayers, not Tesla," complains Hoyer about the plans to build a new train station closer to the factory and even further away from the village.

Several residents of Grünheide list rising rents and housing prices as negative impacts of the opening of the Tesla factory in the region. In a recent referendum, the majority of Grünheide residents voted against the expansion of the plant. The no to Tesla's expansion is "a historic victory" for the protection of forests and waters, not only in Grünheide, but also throughout Brandenburg and Berlin, according to Hoyer, who shows, on a drive, the environmental impact that the factory has had on the region.

"I was elected by the citizens, not by Tesla. I will continue to work for the interests of the citizens of Grünheide. I have always found it important to intervene between the citizens who are in favour of this implementation and those who are against it," concludes the municipal council president.