Last week, thousands of unapologetic fascists and their sympathizers marched through Chemnitz, a city of 250,000 people in the eastern state of Saxony. Triggered by the suspected murder of a thirty-five-year old Cuban-German man by two asylum seekers, the protests mobilized unprecedented numbers of anti-immigration militants. Groups of fascist thugs harassed and shouted at locals who looked like they were not white, chanting “Foreigners out!” Local police appeared either overwhelmed or uninterested in doing anything about it.

What happened in Chemnitz did not begin yesterday. It represents a qualitative escalation of an ongoing radicalization and growth of the far right across Germany. This is facilitated by the electoral successes of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which soared to over 12 percent of the vote in the 2017 general election. While migrant numbers have in fact fallen significantly over the last three years, public anxiety about immigration has continued to rise, as the question becomes ever more central to German politics.

Even amidst the general rise of the far right, the events in Chemnitz set a particularly dangerous precedent. They reflect the putschist fantasies of fascist ideologues, intent on promoting a violent vision of political change. Through street movements, the AfD, and organizing efforts within the German state’s own security apparatus, these far-right forces are actively working to prepare their dreamt-of “revolution.”