One day after he was sworn in, hundreds of people in Pirna, Saxony, protested against the new mayor Tim Lochner (54) with rainbow flags and banners. In front of the town hall, they held up signs such as "Pirna is colorful", "Human rights instead of right-wing people" and "The difference between 1933 and 2024? Are you" in the air. An action alliance from civil society had called for the rally on the market square under the motto "All together for solidarity and openness" to demonstrate for democracy and diversity, "against the agitation and populism of the AfD and other right-wing extremists". According to the police, the event remained peaceful and trouble-free.
Lochner, a local politician with no party affiliation, had run for the AfD and also won a necessary second round of voting in December. The restorer, formerly a CDU member, has been an active member of the city council since 2014. By his own admission, he does not want to join the AfD. At the end of 2023, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified its state association as a right-wing extremist movement - Lochner did not see this as a problem for himself.
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