“MERZ…LECK…” yells(大喊) Heidi Reichinnek, a young leader of Germany’s Die Linke (The Left) party. “Eier!” her younger audience hollers back, erupting in giggles and cheers(爆发出咯咯的笑声和欢呼). Urging Friedrich Merz, the country’s chancellor, to “lick eggs” (ie, balls) is not the sort of thing expected of senior German politicians. But the lively patter of Ms Reichinnek, a social-media superstar with a tattoo of the communist heroine Rosa Luxemburg on her left arm, is one reason why the populist Die Linke is enjoying a moment. Sitting at around 11% in polls (see chart), it hopes to overtake the ailing(处境不佳的) Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition partner to Mr Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU). “Speaking young people’s language isn’t easy,” says Antonia, a fan. “Heidi seems like she can relate to(与…产生共鸣) us.”
“默茨……舔……”德国左翼党年轻领袖海迪·赖希内克喊道。“蛋！”她更年轻的听众们回喊道，爆发出咯咯的笑声和欢呼。敦促国家总理弗里德里希·默茨“去舔蛋”（即睾丸）可不是人们期望资深德国政治家会做的事。但赖希内克女士——一位左臂上有共产主义女英雄罗莎·卢森堡纹身的社交媒体巨星——那活泼的胡扯正是民粹主义的左翼党正春风得意的原因之一。民调支持率约11%（见图表），它希望超越处境不佳的社会民主党（SPD），后者是默茨领导的基民盟（CDU）的次要联盟伙伴。“说年轻人的语言不容易，”一位名叫安东尼娅的粉丝说。“海迪似乎能与我们产生共鸣。”
Just 18 months ago Die Linke looked on the verge of extinction(濒临灭绝). An acrimonious(激烈的) split with Sahra Wagenknecht, a party star-turned-gadfly(惹是生非者), had left it bruised and shorn of many MPs. In eastern Germany, once its heartland(核心区域), its electorate was dying out(逐渐消亡) or turning to the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Yet thanks to skilled organisation, a disciplined campaign focused on rent and redistribution and an unwise(不明智的) decision by Mr Merz to vote with the AfD on anti-immigration measures, Die Linke tripled(增至三倍) its support in weeks, drew 9% of the vote in the general election in February 2025 and saw its membership more than double(翻了一番多). Its success was the most surprising story of the campaign.
就在18个月前，左翼党看起来还濒临灭绝。与党内明星后来变成惹是生非者的萨赫拉·瓦根克内希特的一次激烈分裂，使其伤痕累累，并失去许多议员。在东德——曾经的根据地——其选民要么正在消亡，要么转向极右翼的德国选择党（AfD）。然而，得益于巧妙的组织、一场聚焦租金和再分配的纪律严明的竞选活动，以及默茨先生犯下的一个不明智决定——与AfD一起投票支持反移民措施——左翼党在几周内将支持率翻了三倍，在2025年2月的大选中获得了9%的选票，并且党员人数翻了一倍多。它的成功是那场竞选中最为令人意外的故事。
It also meant that “our electorate and our membership changed completely,” notes Janis Ehling, the party’s campaign mastermind(策划者). Die Linke has become more western, more female and much younger: it is the most popular party among Germans under 24. Ms Reichinnek’s potty-mouthed(满口污言秽语的) speech was delivered at “Unfollow Bundeswehr(① 背景：Bundeswehr 是德国联...)”, an event in Berlin organised to oppose the potential reintroduction of conscription(征兵制). Many of her fans there were too young to vote.
这也意味着“我们的选民和党员构成完全改变了，”该党竞选策划人雅尼斯·埃林指出。左翼党变得更加西部化、更加女性化、也更加年轻化：它是24岁以下德国人中最受欢迎的政党。赖希内克女士那张口污言秽语的演讲是在柏林一场名为“取关联邦国防军”的活动中发表的，该活动旨在反对可能重新引入的征兵制。她在那里有很多粉丝都还不到投票年龄。