It’s been nearly two years since Jan van Aken and Ines Schwerdtner — formerly editor of Jacobin’s German edition — took over as cochairs of Germany’s democratic socialists, Die Linke. The duo won a large majority at a party congress in October 2024, arguably less a reflection of their universal support than of the party’s dire state at the time. With its polling numbers hovering at around 3 percent and the breakaway formation Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht looking set to drive the party out of parliament, no one else seemed up for the job. When snap elections were announced a few weeks later, its fate appeared sealed.

Things couldn’t look more different today, ahead of Die Linke’s party congress this weekend in Potsdam. With a renewed emphasis on economic populism, vastly improved social media outreach and aggressive door-to-door campaigning, the party defied expectations In the February 2025 federal election by capturing a number of strongholds both old and new while more than doubling its membership. Its crop of young, charismatic leaders like Heidi Reichinnek and Schwerdtner became breakout stars online, helping to establish the party as the most popular force among young voters.

The turnaround represents a glimmer of hope in an otherwise grim political climate, as reflected in the slogan “organizing hope.” But hope only gets you so far. Though Die Linke continues to hover at around 11 percent (no small feat for a party that was on its deathbed two years ago), recent state elections saw it fail to pass the 5 percent threshold, its first electoral setback since the federal election, and eerily reminiscent of its string of losses in western Germany in the early 2010s. If that weren’t bad enough, even though the Social Democrats (SPD) continue to bleed support after joining yet another government led by the Christian Democrats (CDU), their decline has merely propelled the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to first place in most national polls.