Hardliner Bjoern Hoecke running neck and neck with CDU candidate in Thuringia vote, seen as key test of mood in east German heartland following Yom Kippur assault

Polls suggest AfD support has slipped in the wake of the Halle attack, which has fueled concern over growing right-wing threats

Critics says opposition party has brought anti-Semitism, xenophobia back into mainstream politics; Alternative for Germany accuses opponents of exploiting incident to defame it

A 'lost' college dropout with few job prospects, Stephan Balliet made no contact with his neighbors or fellow village residents, spending his days on the computer

AfD party surges in local elections in Brandenburg, Saxony, but exit polls forecast that it won't overtake larger mainstream parties

Euroskeptic, anti-immigration AfD's gains in former Communist areas could destabilize Angela Merkel's fragile coalition with Social Democrats

AfD member Andreas Kalbitz acknowledges being at 2007 event but denies attending with extremist delegation that hung up swastika flag

AfD's Doris Von Sayn-Wittgenstein under fire for ties to society founded by 'Nazi grandma' Ursula Haverbeck-Wetzel

Guide at former concentration camp warns AfD politicians are 'playing with fire' by challenging country's culture of reckoning with its past

Demonstration takes place in heart of eastern city of Dresden, which has also become cradle of Islamophobic movement Pegida and a stronghold for AfD