The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, has called off a political rally due to security reasons.
As state elections in Bavaria are approaching, a spokeswoman of the politician told dpa on Tuesday that "there had been an incident two weekends ago. Miss Weidel and her family were taken from their private home to a safe place by security authorities because there were growing indications that her family would be attacked."
As a precaution, she decided to refrain from public appearances.
The AfD had invited Weidel to be the keynote speaker for the German Unity Day in Mödlareuth - a German village situated partly in Bavaria and partly in Thuringia, which used to be seperated by the German border between East and West.
The rally was supposed to be the highlight of the party's election campaign in Bavaria.
Weidel addressed her supporters in a video message: "I would have loved nothing more than to be there with you today, but I can't."
She called on voters to teach the Bavarian state government, led by Markus Söder of the Christian Social Union (CSU), a lesson in the upcoming Sunday election.
The sister parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and CSU had also invited people to celebrate German Unity Day in the village.
Meanwhile, there were numerous counter-demonstrators who called for democracy and open-mindedness and against right-wing extremism.
According to police information, a total of 5,000 to 6,000 people came to the town, while everything remained calm.
Germany's other parties have vowed not to cooperate with the AfD, but have seen its poll numbers rise to around 20% nationally.
The far-right party's popularity has been highest in the six states that made up the former communist East Germany.
