Since 1989–90, sporadic but intense protest movements, centred in the east, have transformed German political parties, even those with West German origins. This article examines four major eastern protest movements: (a) the peaceful demonstrations of autumn 1989; (b) the anti-Hartz IV protests of summer 2004; (c) the burgeoning neo-Nazi free fellowships (freie Kameradschaften) of the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s; and (d) Pegida rallies in 2014–16. It addresses the following questions. First, in what ways did eastern protest shape German parties and party systems? Second, why did the protest movements have such a varying impact on party politics?
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David F. Patton (2017) studied this question.