Pressure was mounting on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday to calm the voter anger that fuelled a far-right party's most significant election win since the Nazi era.
Members of Mr Scholz's party called the state election results in Germany's former East a “final wake-up call” and a moment for “humility and reflection” in his government.
Some MPs within Mr Scholz's three-party coalition hinted he should resign after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) topped the poll in the state of Thuringia.
Although opposing parties will probably work together to keep the AfD out of power, its victory broke a taboo in post-1945 Germany and led to finger-pointing across the political spectrum.
The election result came 85 years to the day since Germany invaded Poland, ushering in the Second World War and Thuringia is particularly symbolic as an early electoral stronghold of the Nazis.
The AfD in Thuringia is regarded as particularly radical. Domestic intelligence treats it as extremist and its leader, Bjorn Hocke, has convictions for using Nazi slogans.
The party campaigned vigorously on immigration and crime at the regional polls in Thuringia and in Saxony, where the AfD came second. The votes were for regional governments but were overshadowed by national concerns.
Mr Hocke, one of the AfD's most prominent figures, seized on an Islamist knife attack in Solingen nine days before the election to drive home his message that a “multicultural experiment must be stopped”.
Germany votes in state elections – in pictures
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Leader of left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, Sahra Wagenknecht, left, and Thuringia's BSW top candidate Katja Wolf, third right, at the party's election night at the Dompalais in Erfurt, eastern Germany, on September 1. AFP -
Top candidates of the new German left-wing party Buendnis Sahra Wagenknecht in Saxony, Sabine Zimmermann and Joerg Scheibe, on stage after the first exit polls for Saxony's state elections during the party's election night at Hotel Penck in Dresden, Germany. AFP -
Joerg Urban, lead candidate of the far-right party Alternative for Germany, speaks to AfD supporters. EPA -
Bodo Ramelow, Thuringia Premier and member of the leftist Die Linke political party, casts his ballot in the Thuringia state elections in Erfurt, Germany. EPA -
Thomas Kemmerich votes in the state election in Saxony, at a polling station in Weimar, Germany. AP -
Alternative for Germany party faction chairman in the regional parliament of Thuringia and top candidate for the 2024 Thuringia state election, Bjoern Hoecke, left, casts his ballot in Bornhagen, Germany. EPA -
Katja Wolf, BSW, casts her vote for the state election in Thuringia, at a polling station in Eisenach, Germany. AP -
Madeleine Henfling, The Greens, casts her vote for the state election in Thuringia, at a polling station in Ilmenau, Germany. AP -
Stefan Hartmann (Die Linke) casts his vote for the state election in Saxony, at a polling station in Leipzig, Germany. AP -
Sabine Zimmermann (BSW) casts her vote for the state election in Saxony, at a polling station in Werdau, Germany. AP -
Petra Kopping, SPD, casts her vote for the state election in Saxony, at a polling station in Grimma, Germany. AP -
Juliane Nagel (Die Linke) casts her vote for the state election in Saxony, at a polling station in Leipzig, Germany. AP -
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) State Premier and Saxony top candidate Michael Kretschmer stands next to his wife Annett Hofmann, as he casts his ballot during the Saxony state election in Dresden, Germany. Reuters -
Mario Voigt (CDU) casts his ballot paper for the Thuringia state election at the polling station in Jena, Germany. AP -
People visit a polling station to vote in the Saxony state election, in Dresden, Germany. Reuters
Discontent with Mr Scholz's government, which has been plagued by infighting and economic malaise, was also seen as a crucial factor.
Ministers announced a package of policies on migration, extremism and knife crime last week in what was seen as a desperate last-ditch bid to calm populist anger.
“After such a devastating defeat for the coalition parties, it should be time for a bit of humility, reflection and sorting things out,” Michael Roth, a senior MP from Mr Scholz's Social Democrats, said on Monday.
Some within the coalition appear to be “cheerfully carrying on as before”, he said. “That is like committing suicide for fear of death.”
Wake-up call
A second Social Democrat, Sebastian Roloff, said the “terrible results” in Thuringia and Saxony should be a “final wake-up call”.
“Politics, and that certainly includes the government, needs to take the concerns of the population more seriously,” he said.
Exit polls showed the AfD was especially popular among those in economic hardship. The party is strongest in the former East, where resentment at the wealthier West still lingers and racial tension has been high.
Support for coalition parties was near rock bottom. The Social Democrats came fourth and fifth in the two contests. The Greens won no seats in Thuringia, and the liberal Free Democrats no seats in either state.
Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy leader of the Free Democrats, said the results showed the coalition had “lost its legitimacy”.
“When a substantial part of the population refuses to support it in this manner, that must have consequences,” he said. “People have the impression that this coalition is damaging the country.”
Christoph Hoffmann, another liberal MP, said Mr Scholz should “clear the way” for his more popular Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius.
Mr Scholz responded, calling the results worrying, speaking in his parliamentary capacity as a Social Democrat.
“Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country's reputation,” he said.
The coalition could suffer another defeat when a third eastern state, Brandenburg, goes to the polls on September 22.
Germany's next general election is in September 2025 and there are growing doubts whether the coalition will survive until then, although it still has a comfortable majority in parliament.
Majorities in Thuringia and Saxony will be harder to attain. The centre-right Christian Democrats are in pole position to lead new coalitions, but working with the AfD is against customs and the next-strongest party, the left-populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, is hardly a natural partner.
Tino Chrupalla, one of the AfD's two national leaders, said it was “ready and willing to talk to all parties”. He said there would be “no politics without the AfD”.
