Germany is preparing for a potentially historic moment as the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party stands on the edge of winning an outright majority in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, an eastern German state of around 2.1 million people. Polls suggest the AfD could secure just over 40 percent of the vote — enough, if several smaller parties fall below the 5 percent parliamentary threshold, to govern alone. It would mark the first time since the Second World War that a far-right party has taken power in any German state, shattering a postwar political taboo.

At the centre of the campaign is Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's lead candidate, who has been described by Der Spiegel magazine as