Protest against German far-right AfD in state capital ahead of poll

Hundreds of people were participating in a protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday in the city of Erfurt, capital of Thuringia, the day before the election to the regional parliament there.

A demonstration march, called for by the alliance "Auf die Plätze" (On Your Marks), was moving through the city centre to the main Cathedral Square, or Domplatz, where the AfD - which is riding high in the opinion polls - plans to hold its rally to mark the end of the election campaign.

Alongside local firebrand AfD member and top candidate Björn Höcke, the party's federal chairwoman Alice Weidel is also expected to attend.

A new state parliament is due to be elected in Thuringia on Sunday following a heated election campaign.

"We will not allow the AfD to dominate the election weekend with their extreme right-wing agitation, intimidate people and misuse our city as a stage for their propaganda," stated the alliance.

Already a week ago, thousands had taken to the streets in Erfurt to protest right-wing extremism and a shift to the right in politics.

The latest election polls in Thuringia have shown little movement in the values of the individual parties: The AfD was ahead with values between 29% and 30%, followed with a significant gap by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the new populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance BSW, and the hard-left Die Linke (The Left).

A total of 1.66 million Thuringians are eligible to vote in the state election on Sunday.