Germany was hardly the only country to have anti-lockdown protests. But its self-proclaimed “corona rebels” stood out for the level of organization they developed — and their ability to keep up their momentum for months and even years on end. Protests against curfews and vaccines raged throughout the country, and at least two new political parties formed. DieBasis, the more successful of the two, won 630,000 votes in the last parliamentary election in 2021 and claims to have over twenty thousand members.

International media tended to focus on the movement’s overlaps with the far right, particularly in eastern regions where imperial flags and nationalist symbols were a common sight at protests. The former East Germany has, after all, been the far right’s main base since reunification in 1990, with growing support for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) over the last decade. Many eastern Germans still harbor a deep suspicion of the state, making them particularly receptive to notions that lockdowns and vaccine mandates were part of a sinister plan, or at least an unconstitutional government overreach.

But the notion that anti-lockdown protests were simply the latest far-right talking point are complicated by the movement’s remarkable and enduring strength in Baden-Württemberg, one of west Germany’s largest and most prosperous states. It was here, in state capital Stuttgart, that the anti-lockdown protests kicked off, led by Michael Ballweg, a local software entrepreneur with an interest in esoteric philosophy. Beginning with only twenty participants at a rally in early April 2020, by May, the rallies attracted thousands, and they continued to draw large numbers well into the following year.