Overview

• A party spokesperson confirmed the congress for July 4–5, 2026, at Messe Erfurt in Thuringia.
• The meeting is described as a routine electoral gathering at which the federal executive will be newly chosen.
• Interior Minister Georg Maier called the site choice deliberate and warned of likely counter-demonstrations, urging civil society to show opposition.
• It remains unclear whether co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla will run again, and Björn Höcke has advocated a single-leader model but has not previously stood.
• Local authorities and the venue are preparing security plans, with Messe Erfurt noting a legal duty to rent space, and reports recall a 2014 AfD congress in Erfurt followed by a rightward shift.