CSD in Saxony-Anhalt: Police Provide Protection Against Right-Wing Threats

Safety is also an issue at the Naumburg CSD. The police have been marching along here for years – because right-wing extremists used to hunt participants.

Publication Date: August 1, 2026, 20:23

One week after the attack on the Berlin CSD, 700 people demonstrated at the CSD in Naumburg. Photo: David Muschenich

By David Muschenich – From Naumburg (Saale)

Before the CSD in Naumburg on the Saale could set off, the police had to push aside a red-yellow vehicle barrier. Officers secured all access roads to the market square. Around 700 people gathered there this Saturday lunchtime for the fourth CSD in the Burgenland district.

The attack in Berlin, in which a suspected Islamist killed one person and injured 31 others, occurred exactly one week ago. But safety has been a topic surrounding the queer parade in Naumburg for longer – not just since the Berlin CSD.

A History of Threats

At the very front of the Pride, Martin Helmrich-Knabe, together with other revelers, held a banner with the CSD's motto: "Colorful grapes instead of brown plums." This alludes both to regional wine-growing and to the regional right-wing extremism problem.

Helmrich-Knabe co-organized the CSD. Since the first CSD in the Burgenland district in 2023, the police presence has increased year by year, he said. "And not because we want to hurt anyone. Quite the opposite, because we need protection."

In the first year, there were fewer officers. "Then there were right-wingers who hunted the participants," Helmrich-Knabe said in a calm voice. He himself has not experienced any attacks. "Luckily, but it does happen that you get insults."

This year, however, it remained quiet at the CSD in Naumburg. Police officers walked alongside the demonstration for the entire route. There was no counter-demonstration, no heckling neo-Nazis.

CSDs in Rural Areas

Also present in Naumburg was Grit Merker, contact person for queer people at the police in Saxony-Anhalt. She cited the attacks on the first CSD in the Burgenland district in 2023 as the reason for the police presence at queer parades in Saxony-Anhalt. "Since then, we have actually been present at every CSD with many more officers."

At the beginning, the CSD in Naumburg remembered the victims with a minute of silence. Nevertheless, speeches conveyed a determination not to let the joy of the Pride parade be taken away. Several artists performed, and people danced exuberantly – although a second topic dampened the mood and was repeatedly mentioned in speeches: the state election on September 6.

Political Concerns

The AfD has been leading in polls in Saxony-Anhalt for months with over 40 percent and hopes for a sole government. If that happens, the AfD will take action against acceptance for queer people in Saxony-Anhalt, it writes in its election manifesto.

When it comes to family models, the party sets strict limits. A "normal family" consists only "of man and woman, from whom children come." The acceptance of "sexual deviations and non-reproductive lifestyles" is blamed for the declining birth rate. According to its manifesto, the AfD wants to restrict access to information about queer life. In schools, it plans to ban rainbow flags.

When it started raining again, participants opened colorful umbrellas. Despite the unpleasant weather, about as many people as in previous years came to the CSDs in the Burgenland district.

Marko traveled from Saxony. Photo: David Muschenich

"Came to Support Smaller CSDs"

Susa fears attacks from the right-wing spectrum. Photo: David Muschenich

A bit further back in the demo, Susa from Leipzig walked with a rainbow flag. She preferred to keep her last name to herself. She came to Naumburg to support a smaller CSD again. She herself "always has a bit of worry and fear." Of what? "A bit of counter-demonstrations. Or whether..."