With the upcoming local elections in eastern Germany, the savings banks are at risk of having a large number of AfD politicians on their boards of directors. According to forecasts, the AfD is expected to storm town halls and local councils, and this will be reflected in the composition of the supervisory bodies of savings banks under municipal ownership. This is because, in addition to employee representatives, representatives elected by the district councils, city councils and special-purpose association assemblies, usually local politicians, sit on the boards.

It all starts this Sunday in Thuringia, where the party categorised by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as „proven right-wing extremist“ is preparing to become the strongest force. All the scandals, internal squabbles and even the tasteless statements made by Björn Höcke do little to change the party's popularity. In polls for the state elections, which are due in the autumn, it is persistently in the lead and would reach around 30%, far ahead of the CDU with 20% and the Left Party and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance with 16% each. In Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, where local elections will be held on 9 June, the AfD is also the strongest or second-strongest force according to the polls.

The strength of the AfD in eastern Germany is a dilemma for local savings banks. On the one hand, as the German Savings Banks Association (DSGV) and the regional associations have demonstrated, they want to take a stand as democrats, and distance themselves from the right-wing populist and extreme right-wing behaviour of the AfD, while maintaining the necessary political neutrality. The party is also a location risk, as it scares away investors, which is bad for business.

On the other hand, the boards of the savings banks strive for a prosperous coexistence with the boards of directors that control them, regardless of party or ideology. They must also fear incurring the wrath of customers with an affinity for the AfD. In addition, they have to fight endless battles with party supporters who see a critical stance towards the AfD as further proof that, according to their crude view of the world, savings banks are merely the system's agents. For savings banks in prosperous regions such as Baden or the Rhine-Main area, where the AfD tends to poll in the single-digit percentage range, this may be a long way off, but employees and managers of a district savings bank in a structurally weak region in Saxony or a municipal savings bank in Thuringia will have to come to terms with this.

Experience with AfD members on savings bank committees is still rare. Last year, the first AfD district councillor in Germany was elected in Sonneberg, Thuringia, and became a member of the Board of Directors of Sparkasse Sonneberg. The Hesse-Thuringia Savings Banks Association had no positive or negative experiences to report in this regard.

Hoping for a chance once in office is something that no great hope should be placed in. Unlike the Left Party (Die Linke), which used to be seen as an anti-capitalist spectre, but has long since proven itself to be supportive of the state in the East, the AfD has become increasingly radicalised. And asking supervisors to check the professional qualifications and personal reliability of board members and directors is not a viable option. Party affiliation plays no role for them, as long as the party is considered to belong to the democratic spectrum.

Boards of directors are democratically legitimised, and therefore also include AfD members as long as the party is not banned, which is currently rather unlikely. Even if it hurts, the AfD must be tolerated. As savings banks president Ulrich Reuter once aptly put it, friendly dealings with AfD representatives, or good service, are not necessarily required.