"We are the winners of the evening," said Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) in virtually every interview he gave on election night. Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD's top candidate in Baden-Württemberg, struck the same note: "I am very, very satisfied!"

With 18.8% of the vote, the AfD achieved its best election result to date in a western German state. That success is remarkable, even though the party often gains almost twice that vote share in eastern Germany. Unlike the east, Baden-Württemberg is an extremely economically strong region with many high-paying jobs.

Success in one of the richest regions in the world

Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, SAP, Bosch — many major German multinationals have their headquarters in Baden-Württemberg. The state is characterized by a strong middle class that brings high tax revenues to many small communities, and the party's success indicates that the AfD is now firmly established throughout German society.

The party, which is classified by the German domestic intelligence service as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, was clearly able to score points with its anti-immigrant sentiment and its promises of mass deportations. And in the car-making state of Baden-Württemberg, it accused the other parties of "treason" for allegedly focusing on alternative motors in their transport policy. The AfD, on the other hand, is determined to champion the gasoline engine and likes to fuel doubts about the veracity of man-made climate change.

The AfD was particularly successful among workers: According to analyses by the opinion research institute infratest-dimap, 37% of workers voted for the AfD. Structural change in the economy and fear of job losses seem to have made working people feel that the AfD is a viable option.

"AfD supporters have a different view of the world: a much more pessimistic one," explained communications scientist Frank Brettschneider from the University of Hohenheim on ARD television on election night. "They paint a much more negative picture of the current situation than all other voters, and they agree above all on one statement: Everything used to be better."

AfD: Election victory among non-voters

Overall, the AfD benefited particularly strongly from the high voter turnout. It received around 200,000 additional votes from the non-voter camp, as the pollster Forschungsgruppe Wahlen found.

And yet, the AfD's top politicians did not look particularly happy or satisfied on election night. There seem to be many reasons for this.

For one thing, the AfD failed to achieve its election goal of 25% plus. Simply finishing strongly in elections is not enough for the AfD; it wants to govern Germany. Not just participate in government, but take over the office of chancellor — specifically with party leader Alice Weidel.

Last year, co-chair Weidel seemed unchallenged in the AfD. With angry rhetoric and emotional speeches, she managed to fire up election campaigns. And her radical campaigns for mass deportations, against Islam, and against political rivals were to the party's liking.

But now Weidel seems to be struggling. Numerous problems and scandals are smoldering within the party — and they are also falling at the feet of the party leadership. The sharpest criticism comes from within the party itself: Influential party circles accuse its top officials of weak leadership.

Allegations of nepotism rock the AfD

And there has been unrest within the party caused by accusations of nepotism. In February, it emerged that several AfD parliamentarians were employing friends and relatives in the party offices in the Bundestag and state parliaments.

Since these family members were employed in the offices of other AfD members, the practice is not illegal, but the revelations were not well received by the AfD's grassroots, as the AfD has been trying to distinguish itself in the German party landscape. As a young party, it benefits from the fact that it has not yet had to take on any political responsibility and has therefore not caused many crises.

Indeed, several AfD politicians have in the past thrown accusations of nepotism at their rivals in the other main parties. They like to denounce what they see as a "cartel" of other parties preying on the state. The fact that their own people are now providing their family members with lucrative positions weighs heavily against them.

Weidel has so far refrained from criticizing this practice. And, in contrast to her otherwise pithy demeanor, she has been surprisingly defensive on the issue.

Radical environment 

The conflict is fueled by the political environment that is so important to the AfD. The party does not simply want to be successful, it wants to affect a wholesale ideological change in Germany. It does not dream of seats in parliament, but of a Germany without migrants, without Islam — a white, homogeneous society. The biggest danger to this struggle is perceived by the party's supporters as the lure of money from well-paid seats in parliament.

On election night, the criticism from the party's supporters was already scathing — even in the media close to the party and despite its electoral success. "We now have apparatchiks!" said former Bundestag member Armin-Paul Hampel in a livestream on the far-right online channel Compact TV.

For the AfD, the election success in Baden-Württemberg therefore remains a success with caveats, because the election result also contradicts one of the party's central campaign messages: That Germans have allegedly rejected the policies of the ecologist Green Party. However, the Greens received more votes than any other party and will continue to hold the office of state premier. The AfD, meanwhile, will remain in opposition.

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.