Third of Germans believe in conspiracy theories: poll
September 6, 2020
Lower levels of education and voting for the far-right AfD make people more prone to supporting conspiracy theories, a new poll shows. About one-third of people in Germany believe that "secret powers" control the world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
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About one-third of people in Germany believe that "secret powers" control the world, according to a new poll published on Sunday.
Some 11% of respondents said it was "definitely true" that secret powers control the world, while 19% said it was probably true.
Of those who thought the world is controlled by a secret elite, 13% said the shadowy groups included commercial enterprises, banks or "the financial capital."
A total of 12% named secret services such as the CIA, Mossad or Russia's now-dissolved KGB. Some 11% spoke of "rich people," "rich families" or named individual families such as the Rockefellers or the Jewish family of the Rothschilds.
One in six could not answer the question about which secret powers were involved.
However, 27% of respondents said this statement was probably incorrect, while 35% said it was definitely incorrect. The remainder did not know or were not willing to say.
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AfD voters more likely to believe conspiracy theories
The survey was compiled by Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation and carried out by Infratest dimap, which polled 3,250 people by phone between October 2019 and February 2020, before coronavirus restrictions.
People with higher levels of education were less likely to believe in such conspiracy theories. One in five people who graduated from high school or university said they agreed with the statement.
Living in east or west Germany, being young or old, or being male or female did not affect belief in the statement.
However, those who voted for the far-right nationalist AfD party were particularly prone, with 56% of them considering the statement to be certain or probably correct.
Conspiracy theories and their origins: From the Freemasons to the Twin Towers
Are plane 'chemtrails' poisoning us all; and who was really behind 9/11? An exhibition titled 'Conspiracy theories — then and now' at the Dalheim Monastery shows how such beliefs emerge and are maintained.
Image: LWL/www.hoffmannfoto.de
9/11: Inside job?
Who was really behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York? Was it the US government, meaning the Twin Towers were subject to a controlled explosion? Was it a Jewish conspiracy, with some claiming that Jews did not go to work in the World Trade Center that day? An exhibition titled "Conspiracy theories — then and now" at the Dalheim Monastery shows how such beliefs emerge and are maintained.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Anti-Semitic propaganda
In the so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," 12 Jewish leaders allegedly layed out their plans to conquer the world in writing. In reality, the 1903 document (pictured here in the exhibition at the Dalheim Monastery) is a work of fiction by Sergej Nilus, an anti-Semitic Russian writer and publisher. The protocols are a central part of modern day anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Image: LWL/www.hoffmannfoto.de
Nazi conspiracy-fueled ideology
The idea of a Jewish conspiracy was also a central part of Nazi ideology. The Nazis spread alleged revelations gleaned from the fake Protocols of the Elders of Zion for their own purposes, reprinting them in their weekly "Der Stürmer" (The Attacker) propaganda newspaper.
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum/S.Ahlers
Fear of negative energy
People who believe in the barcode conspiracy probably have a special pen in their pockets when they approach a checkout counter to neutralize what they believe is negative energy radiating from the barcode. The barcode information supposedly aims to reduce the world population. Some companies even go so far as to print a line through the barcode to keep their customers happy.
Image: LWL/www.hoffmannfoto.de
Secret societies
Those seeking to explain major political events and revolutions have often invoked grand conspiracies. In the wake of the 1789 French Revolution, secret societies such as the Freemasons and Illuminati were seen as the all-powerful rabble-rousers. Pictured is an Illuminati Minerval class medal currently on show at the "Conspiracy Theory - Past and Present" exhibit that runs through March 22, 2030.
