Dr Oliver Hartwich: Shades of 1933 in German state elections

On Sunday, Germany experienced a political earthquake. For the first time since 1933, a far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), became the largest party in a state election. In Thuringia, the AfD won 32.8% of the vote, gaining 9.4 percentage points on its previous performance.

This happened mere days after a knife attack at a festival in Solingen killed three people. The attacker, Issa Al H., was a 26-year-old Syrian who had lived in Germany since 2022 despite his claim for asylum being rejected. Unsurprisingly, this terrorist attack dominated the final week of the campaign. It put immigration and security at the centre of debate – right where the AfD likes to have it.