Bär warns AfD rule in Saxony-Anhalt could damage research, calls for national support system

Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär warned that an AfD-led administration in Saxony-Anhalt could cause serious damage to the scientific sector. She highlighted the region’s important institutions, including the Bauhaus and the Leopoldina, and cited the AfD’s criticism of the Bauhaus as a "misstep of modernity". Bär explained that if the state withdrew full funding, the Leopoldina might lose its library of Albert Einstein’s original manuscripts, a loss the federal government and the other fifteen states could not fully compensate.

To protect research freedom, she advocated for a cooperative support system that would absorb displaced university staff in other states. She added that the scientific community, together with federal and state authorities, has maintained a consistent position over the last half-year. The AfD’s program also calls for ending funding for gender studies and post-colonial research, replacing them with a focus on "critical Islam research".