also thanks to the 16 years of the Union not wanting to spend money on anything important.

Actually that's way too short sighted, Austerity became German state religion much longer ago. Neoliberal sell-out and wholesale neglect of public property and infrastructure started under Helmut Kohl, and was seamlessly continued under Schröder to be equally seamlessly continued under Merkel. There is no large political party in Germany that is innocent of this crime.

Now that they have collectively sold out and run down the country and are doing little to nothing to remedy their past ~~mistakes~~ crimes, they are acting surprised that this is driving people into the arms of Nazi demagogues.

It's still deplorable to vote for the Nazi scum that is the AfD, but propaganda is a powerful tool and the Nazis are deliberately targeting those who have been shat on by the political establishment for decades by now. That their propaganda is a bunch of lies and they are only going to sell out the country and its people some more doesn't matter. People are stupid and easy to convince with propaganda. Keep in mind how the education system is a part of the public infrastructure that has been continuously and systematically neglected and sold out for almost half a century by now.