Sebastian Hartmann, an SPD Member of Parliament and one of the first speakers, said those taking part in the demonstration wanted to protest peacefully against “a right-wing smear campaign and division of society.” Referring to the AfD party conference Hartmann said: “People are gathered in the town hall who claim to be the ‘silent majority’ in this country.” The party is meeting in Troisdorf to prepare for the federal elections.

Police said on late Saturday afternoon that the demonstration passed without incident and that at its height from the morning onwards, around 400 people had gathered to “peacefully make their protests known.”

“The AfD wants to provoke, wants attention – should we therefore stay silent?” said Robert Wendt (Greens). He was alluding to divisions within local politics. Critics from the CDU and the FDP had said they wanted to stay away from the demonstration because it would draw attention to the right-wing populists, but representatives from both parties were present. Troisdorf’s mayor, Klaus-Werner Jablonski (CDU) warned of right-wing populist tendencies and said people, freedom and free movement must be protected.

Sven Schlesinger (Left Party) reminded people that the industrial town of Troisdorf would never have become such an important business location in the region without its many new citizens, starting with the guest workers in the sixties. Further, Schlesinger said: “Without these fellow citizens, Germany would not be a world leading exporter.”

Several speakers criticised AfD’s politics as backward-looking, discriminatory and nationalistic. Some put this in a broader context by referring to Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen or Geert Wilders.

The police cordoned off a large area around the town hall and were supported by riot police from Bonn, Cologne and Aachen.

(Original text: Dominik Pieper and Michael Wrobel. Translated by Kate Carey.)