Unusually high turnout blocks far-right AfD victory in German state elections

But anti-immigration populists still make gains in east of the country

A sticker reading 'No Nazis' on a campaign banner of the Alternative for Germany (EPA)

Unusually high turnout by voters in two German state elections has managed to block the far-right from seizing first place there, preliminary results suggest.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) had been aiming to top the polls in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony, but a marked surge in people voting this time appears to have relegated them to second place.

The party still made significant gains, however. In Brandenburg, a state adjacent to Berlin, the centre-left SPD remained the largest party with 26 per cent of the vote, while the AfD trailed with 23.5 per cent. In Saxony, the centre-right CDU topped the polls with 32.5 per cent, with the AfD behind on 27.8 per cent.

The AfD increased its vote by 11 per cent and 18 per cent respectively on the last state elections, showing that while it may not be set to dominate German politics, it is seemingly here to stay as a major force - particularly in the East of the country.

"We're satisfied in Brandenburg as well as in Saxony," AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland said, claiming his party had "punished" Angela Merkel's CDU.

The higher-than-expected turnout reflects recent trends elsewhere in Europe. In Sweden last year, the far-right Sweden Democrats were denied a victory in national elections after more voters turned out than in previous years to oppose them than had been expected.

A study from the academics at the LSE Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit, released on Sunday found a significant difference between the composition of AfD support in west Germany and East Germany.

"Neither a high unemployment rate nor living in a neighbourhood with a higher proportion of foreigners corresponds to a greater willingness to vote for the AfD," they found.

"In the West, the AfD scores particularly well where voters have below-average household incomes and/or work in the manufacturing industry.

"Workers and the unemployed, although overrepresented among AfD voters in comparison to other parties, account for only a quarter of the total AfD electorate. The remaining three quarters are salaried employees, civil servants and the self-employed."

The Researchers found that emigration and an ageing population correlated strongly with areas where the AfD did well in the East.

Alexander Gauland said he was pleased with his party's results (Getty)

Luke Cooper, associate researcher at the LSE and Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, said: “The state election results for the AfD in Brandenburg and Saxony are in line with expectations in terms of the overall numbers.

"But a better than expected result for the social democrats in Brandenburg has denied the AfD the victory that many expected. They confirm the AfD’s status as a major force in the East of Germany. This is hugely worrying for Germany’s democratic politics.

“The rise of the AfD is all about migration, but it’s a long way from the standard media narrative. The AfD’s success is really a story about emigration, not immigration. Former East German states which have seen large outflows of young people moving to the West, leaving behind aging populations and stagnating economies, have proven to be particularly fertile electoral ground to the nationalist discourses of the AfD."

Titus Molkenbur, a research consultant at the LSE Conflict and Civil Society research unit, added: “While the AfD’s advance has been successfully contained in western Germany, this isn’t the case in the East.

"The electoral pressure they are bringing to bear on the traditional centre-right is huge. We see a big debate now in the CDU between those that favour cooperation with the AfD and reject the current containment policy. The danger of a slow burn adaptation to extreme right sentiment is very serious.”