Sahra Wagenknecht

**Sahra Wagenknecht** (born **Sarah Wagenknecht**; ; 16 July 1969) is a German politician, economist, author, and publicist. Wagenknecht was a member of the federal executive committee of the PDS from 1991 to 1995 and from 2000 until it merged with the WASG in 2007. In the successor party, she represented The Left, and was able to expand her influence. There, Wagenknecht, who had long presented herself as a communist, was considered a leading figure of the Communist Platform. From 2004 to 2009, she was a Member of the European Parliament and from 2010 to 2014 one of the party's deputy chairs. From September 2009 to March 2025, Wagenknecht was a member of the German Bundestag. There, she served as deputy chair of the Left Party parliamentary group from 2011 to 2015, and subsequently as co-chair of the parliamentary group with Dietmar Bartsch until 2019, simultaneously serving as leader of the opposition until 2017. At the party's founding in January 2024, she became co-chair of the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party), together with Amira Mohamed Ali, a position she relinquished in November 2025. She was the BSW's candidate for Chancellor in the 2025 federal election, but the party narrowly missed the 5 percent hurdle and the party was not elected to the Bundestag.

## Early life 
Sahra Wagenknecht was born on July 16, 1969, in Jena, the daughter of an Iranian father and a German mother. Her mother, Gudrun Wagenknecht, worked as an art dealer and gallery owner for the State Art Trade in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Wagenknecht's father studied in West Berlin. Wagenknecht saw her father regularly until she was about three years old, before he returned to Iran and contact stopped.

When she first became a member of the Bundestag in 2009, she changed the official spelling of her first name from Sarah to Sahra, in accordance with the Persian name (), which corresponds to the original naming by her parents.
### Childhood, school days and first political activity 
Wagenknecht initially grew up with her grandparents in Göschwitz, a district of Jena; when she started school, she moved to East Berlin to live with her mother on Oderberger Straße in Prenzlauer Berg, which at that time ran along the Berlin Wall. During her school years, she became a member of the Free German Youth (FDJ) and graduated from the Extended Secondary School (EOS) “Albert Einstein” in Berlin-Marzahn in 1988 with the Abitur. She found the pre-military training for pupils, which was common in East Germany, extremely stressful, according to her own account: she could no longer eat anything, which the authorities interpreted as a political hunger strike. Despite her good grades, she was not allowed to study at university. She was expected to learn to work collectively and was assigned a job as a secretary at Humboldt University of Berlin, which she resigned after two months. Without state support, Wagenknecht then gave private lessons in Russian. During this time she read philosophical works, especially by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. In early summer 1989, she joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in order, according to her own statements, to transform socialism, which she said was stuck in a dead end, and to oppose opportunism. She viewed and described the simultaneous change and peaceful revolution in East Germany as a counter-revolution.

## Education and doctorate (1990–2012) 
After the political changes in East Germany, she studied philosophy and modern German literature at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Humboldt University of Berlin, beginning in the summer semester of 1990. This study was published as a book in 1997.

According to her own account, she began her dissertation in 2005 on the topic of "The Limits of Choice. Saving Decisions and Basic Needs in Developed Countries" in the field of economics. In August 2012, she submitted her work to Professor Fritz Helmedag of Microeconomics at Chemnitz University of Technology. Two months later, she passed her oral examination for a PhD in Economics. with the overall grade of magna cum laude in the German system. In October 2013, Campus Verlag published her dissertation.
## Party career PDS/Die Link (1991–2023) 
In 1991, Wagenknecht was elected to the National Committee of the newly formed Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which replaced the SED following the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Additionally, she joined the Marxist-Leninist branch of the PDS called the Communist Platform. On January 8, 2024, Wagenknecht, together with Amira Mohamed Ali, became co-chairs of the newly founded BSW party, which emerged from the association. However, the BSW failed to gain entry into the Bundestag with just 4.98 percent of the vote, meaning that Sahra Wagenknecht also lost her seat in the Bundestag. Furthermore, the party was to be renamed the "Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason".

In 2000, Wagenknecht called for an overcoming of capitalist production relations. In an article in the "Lifestyle" section of Zeit Online, Marc Kayser recorded Wagenknecht's "dream" of an encounter with a time traveler who described the basic features of a "different society". However, Wagenknecht rejects a return to the socialism of the GDR. In her view, essential public services such as housing, education, healthcare, water and energy supply, banking, and key industries should be publicly funded in order to overcome "the dictates of returns and stock prices." Based on the Basic Law, especially Article 14, paragraphs 2 and 3, and Article 15, Wagenknecht also sees possibilities for a different economic order beyond capitalism. Within the Left Party, Wagenknecht belonged for a long time, until 2010, to the Anti-Capitalist Left and the Communist Platform , where she was also a member of the Federal Coordinating Council.

Wagenknecht expressed understanding for the economic policies of Cuba and Venezuela. In a 2006 press release, she stated that "the continued existence of the Cuban system represents a glimmer of hope for those in the so-called Third World who are the losers in a market- and profit-oriented globalized world." Similarly, in 2008, she defended the nationalization of the oil production facilities of the US corporation ExxonMobil, which had been decided by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Wagenknecht herself described her vision of a new economic policy in her 2013 book "Freedom Instead of Capitalism" as "creative socialism." She meant by this a "market economy without capitalism" and a "socialism without a planned economy," and distinguished herself from communism. In fact, Wagenknecht invoked leading thinkers of ordoliberalism, whose ideas are otherwise more commonly represented in the FDP (Free Democratic Party). For example, in 2013, during the financial and euro crisis, Wagenknecht proposed debt relief and certain subsequent measures to end the euro crisis, while simultaneously generating economic growth and regulating the financial markets. Christian Rickens called this "fundamentally liberal."

### Social policy 
Wagenknecht calls for “social security that guarantees human dignity.” To this end, “the Hartz IV standard rates [for 2017] should be increased to €560 per month and humiliating harassment abolished.” The current rules regarding what constitutes acceptable employment are incompatible with the Basic Law. “The Hartz system [must] be overcome in order to prevent even more people from being subjected to a vicious cycle of disenfranchisement and impoverishment.” A “proper unemployment insurance” must protect against social ruin “until the person concerned has found a new job.” 

In the 2010s, Wagenknecht criticized the Left Party's compromises regarding its participation in state governments, such as cuts to social benefits and privatizations in Berlin, and rejected the Left Party's "cozy approach towards the Social Democrats and Greens" due to the "deep political differences" with the SPD and the Social Democrats and Greens.

She considers the Riester pension scheme a failure. While this is widely agreed upon, she believes there is a lack of "political courage to dismantle it and strengthen the statutory pension system." She calls for raising the pension level back to 53% and lowering the retirement age back to 65. To finance this, she proposes including civil servants and the self-employed in the statutory pension insurance scheme. She cites the Austrian pension system as an example of a possible alternative for Germany.

### Family policy 
In early June 2015, Wagenknecht, along with 150 other prominent figures from the cultural and political spheres, signed an open letter to the Chancellor demanding equal rights for same-sex civil partnerships with same-sex marriage. In 2017, Wagenknecht endorsed marriage equality.
### Immigration policy 
Wagenknecht opposes the demand of many members of the Left Party for open borders. In her opinion, this only benefits the elites in industrialized countries, who profit from the resulting increase in labor migration and " dumping wages ." A large majority does not benefit from this and should be protected from such low wages. It also harms the countries from which emigration occurs: "Because it is mostly people with better education from the middle class who emigrate."
### Refugee policy and relationship to the AfD 
In January 2016, Wagenknecht pointed to “capacity limits”. and “limits to the public’s willingness to accept refugees,” for which she was criticized by some members of her party.

In an interview in March 2016, she said:

She also criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy as "planless," Wagenknecht warned against "pitting the poor against the poorest," since Germany exports weapons to conflict zones and US drone strikes are carried out "with logistical support from Germany." Merkel's foreign policy, in the form of supporting the "oil wars of the US and its allies," is the reason for the existence and strength of the Islamic State.

Following the sexual assaults in Cologne in early 2016, Wagenknecht stated: "Anyone who abuses their hospitality forfeits their right to it," and was largely criticized for this within her party and parliamentary group: The right to asylum, she argued, cannot be forfeited. She received praise, however, from the AfD.

At the Left Party's convention on May 28, 2016, Wagenknecht was pelted with a pie by activists from the "Antifascist Initiative Pies for Misogynists." The activists justified their action by claiming that Wagenknecht, like the AfD, was translating "popular anger into political demands." Her party colleagues condemned the attack and rejected the accusations.

Wagenknecht faced more criticism in early October 2016 for her joint interview with AfD leader Frauke Petry, in which – despite Wagenknecht's attempts to distance herself – common ground on European and refugee policy was revealed. The :de:Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the organizer of the interview, also wrote that the two were "often closer than one might think." Ulrike Herrmann , an editor at taz , who had described it as a "right-wing consensus discussion," was subsequently accused by Wagenknecht's husband, Oskar Lafontaine, of "right-wing smear journalism" by a "neoliberal propaganda press." Based on the interview, CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber referred to Sahra Wagenknecht and Frauke Petry as "the twins of populism in Germany."

Following the attacks in Würzburg and Ansbach in the summer of 2016, Wagenknecht drew a connection to the lack of controls in the reception of refugees and once again positioned herself against the federal government's refugee policy. Her statements again drew sharp criticism, some from within her own party. MP Jan van Aken accused Wagenknecht of arguing with false claims. He stated that Wagenknecht's remarks were incompatible with her position as parliamentary group leader of The Left in the Bundestag. He called for her resignation. Even after Wagenknecht softened her stance following initial criticism, her party reacted with clear rejection. According to Bernd Riexinger, her statements are "of course unacceptable." They were compared in some parts of the press to those of the AfD.

In a controversial interview with Stern magazine in January 2017, Wagenknecht accused Angela Merkel of "shared responsibility" for the Berlin terrorist attack due to her opening of the borders to refugees and her austerity measures regarding the police. Observers subsequently accused her, once again, of ideological proximity to the AfD. In July of the same year, she advocated for dismantling the so-called "firewall" and for engaging in talks with the AfD. She stated that common ground had already been explored at the state level in Thuringia. Björn Höcke expressed his satisfaction with these statements.

Following the classification of the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Wagenknecht stated in early May 2025 that it was “a fact [...] that the parties of the self-proclaimed ‘democratic center’ have been pushing forward an authoritarian transformation of our society for years, restricting freedom of expression, combating unwelcome political forces with undemocratic means, and generating massive pressure to conform.” The dispute over the recount of the votes in the 2025 federal election after the narrow defeat of the BSW (German Association for Social Justice) also belonged “in the same context of the erosion of the rule of law and democracy.”

Historian and journalist Tobias Becker considers it too simplistic to accuse Wagenknecht of being close to the AfD or of nationalist politics because of her positions, since Wagenknecht simultaneously advocates for more refugee and development aid, fairer trade policies, and an end to Western interventionist wars. Her statements are motivated by an understanding of the concerns of those who are disadvantaged by migration, that is, those who work in the low-wage sector and experience the effects of migration differently than higher earners.

Klaus Weber, however, in his book Wagenknecht – German People & National Socialism, sees considerable overlaps in Wagenknecht's central concepts (living space, sense of community, tribal ties) with those of Björn Höcke in his analysis of how Wagenknecht views society.

Political scientist Benjamin Höhne said in July 2025 that Wagenknecht had always expressed skepticism regarding a firewall and a clear stance against the AfD. He also sees her signaling of willingness to talk as an option for dissatisfied members of the party to switch to the other party.
### Relationship to Stalinism and East Germany 
In 1992, Wagenknecht, in her article "*Marxism and Opportunism*," assessed the economic development of the Soviet Union during the "Stalin era" positively, insofar as it involved the "development of a country centuries behind into a modern superpower within a historically uniquely short period." Through this "impressive modernization policy of Stalin" poverty, hunger, illiteracy, semi-feudal dependencies, and the most severe capitalist exploitation were overcome.

After Wagenknecht donated the most beautiful of her blouses, typical of her style, to a raffle for a subscription campaign by the daily newspaper Junge Welt, she was asked in 1996 how many blouses she would donate if the GDR were to re-exist. She replied: "Of course, all the ones I have."

Her stance on Stalinism was considered by some within the Left Party to be too uncritical and was criticized by, among others, Gregor Gysi and the Bundestag member Michael Leutert. The latter spoke out against her candidacy for deputy party chair in 2008 because she did not distance herself sufficiently from Stalinism. Wagenknecht, along with other members of the Communist Platform, spoke out in 2008 against a general commemoration in the form of a memorial stone in the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery inscribed "To the Victims of Stalinism," since fascists had also been among them , but expressed her sympathy for the innocent dead. Wagenknecht herself explained her controversial statements on Stalinism from 1992 in retrospect in 2009 as stemming from “defiance and anger at right-wing falsification of history” and distanced herself from them, since they were “no less one-sided than mainstream historiography, only with the opposite sign.”

In May 2008, she stated in Der Spiegel that she considered the term dictatorship inappropriate for the GDR (which she had previously described as "the most peaceful and humane society that the Germans have created in their entire history"). In a 2009 interview, Wagenknecht critically examined the "repressive political system of the GDR" but rejected characterizing the GDR as an unjust state because this would amount to equating it with the Nazi dictatorship. The GDR was not a democratic state, but true democracy is not possible in today's capitalist system either according to her. East Germany was not a democratic state, but true democracy is not possible in today's capitalist system either according to her. In a taz interview in April 2010, she explained her statements from the early 1990s as a " defiant reaction to this social climate in which one horror story about East Germany chased the next." Their economic system was “over-centralized” and the political repression was “in complete contrast to socialist ideals.” When the PDS declared in 2002 that there was no justification for the deaths at the Berlin Wall, Wagenknecht was the only member of the federal party executive committee to vote against this position. She justified her rejection by saying that the PDS should not allow the SPD to dictate how it should deal with its history.
### Identity politics 
In her 2021 book "The Self-Righteous", Wagenknecht criticized the identity politics of left-wing parties, which she considers a discussion among the economically privileged and which undermines the overall sense of community in society. She argued that identity politics has replaced efforts toward genuine redistribution policies with questions of recognition. Wagenknecht's criticism of "identity politics" and "wokeness" made her a popular interviewee for right-wing media outside of Germany, often seen as a key witness against social democracy, the Greens, and social movements. Eric Gujer, editor-in-chief of the right-liberal "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", conducted a 50-minute interview with Wagenknecht in November 2021 on the topic of "Identity Politics and Cancel Culture – How Self-Righteous Are the Left?" In an interview with the NZZ in April 2021, Wagenknecht had already stated that those who engage in identity politics are “not fighting for minority rights in the sense of equality.” Identity politics, she said, “does not want equality, but inequality; it inflates the differences between ethnicities or sexual orientations into bombastic contrasts.” In the Bundestag debate on April 12, 2024, she condemned the law on self-determination regarding gender registration, passed that same day, as “misogynistic” and “dangerous madness.” It makes parents and children “guinea pigs for an ideology from which only the pharmaceutical lobby and the pharmaceutical industry profit.” As early as June 2023, while still a member of parliament for the Left Party, she warned against the law: “I consider this to be an ideologically driven policy for which one is celebrated in certain sects.” She posed the question, “How well protected are women’s spaces if any man can declare himself a woman at will?” In an interview in April 2024, she said that “there is a problem when normal people with a traditional family no longer feel valued and someone who is white, male, and heterosexual almost has to apologize for it.”
### Corona policy 
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wagenknecht stated in November 2021 that she considered vaccination an individual decision and that only older people and risk groups should definitely get vaccinated. In light of the fourth wave of the pandemic, the German government had intensified its calls for vaccinations to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. She also claimed that "long COVID," meaning the potential long-term effects of a COVID-19 infection, was controversial. Leading members of the Left Party distanced themselves from Wagenknecht's position.  Wagenknecht primarily blamed the strain on hospitals on staff shortages caused by poor working conditions and low pay. In her opinion, COVID-19 policy should focus primarily on addressing these problems.

## References