Thuringia is traditionally a stronghold of the far-right AfD party, which polls suggest could become the second strongest in the central federal state's parliament.
ADVERTISEMENTMore than 4,000 protesters gathered on Sunday in Erfurt to voice their concern with the rise of the far right's popularity in the German federal state of Thuringia.
The central German state is traditionally a stronghold of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which polls suggest could become the second strongest in the regional parliament.
“Despite our work teaching history and politics, at the moment about 30% of the people in Thuringia are prepared to vote for the AfD. But, of course, that cannot make us give up," said Jens-Christian Wagner, the director of the Buchenwald Memorial.
Buchenwald, located near the Thuringian city of Weimar, was a Nazi German labour death camp during World War II.
Around 56,000 prisoners — about one-quarter of the camp's total inmates — were systematically murdered there from 1937 until its liberation by the Allied forces in 1945, most of them members of the Jewish community.
The conservative party Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a part of the national ruling coalition with the centre-left SPD and the Greens, is 2% behind the AfD, a recent poll showed.
Saxony and Brandenburg are also due to hold state elections on 1 and 22 September, respectively.
The two account for 10% of Germany’s population. However, their election results, together with Thuringia's, are expected to have a major influence on national politics.