The last few years haven’t been easy for Die Linke. Following the 2021 elections, in which the party barely scraped back into parliament, Germany’s left-wing party descended into a two-year faction fight, ultimately ending in the very public departure of leading figure Sahra Wagenknecht in October 2023. By then, its polling numbers had dipped to historic lows, and poor results in one state election after another seemed to reinforce an inevitable downward trend.

Yet against all expectations, the last few months have seen the party’s fortunes take a sudden turn for the better. Ahead of this Sunday’s federal election, Die Linke’s polling numbers have doubled and it seems likely to return to parliament with a significantly larger group of MPs. By zeroing in on a few core economic demands while positioning themselves as the only party opposing further restrictions to asylum and migration, Germany’s democratic socialists have found a new lease on life, and not a moment too soon.

Alongside top candidates Jan van Aken and Heidi Reichinnek, whose fiery speeches have become something of a social media phenomenon in recent weeks, one of the most prominent faces of the campaign is Gregor Gysi. The seventy-seven-year-old lawmaker, who played a pivotal role in establishing the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) following German reunification, had intended to retire after some thirty-five years in politics. Instead, he is throwing his hat into the ring one last time as part of what’s called “Mission Silver Locks.” The name refers to the silver-haired old-timers, including Gysi, that the party is running in its eastern heartlands, in the interest of ensuring that it wins local-level seats.