Germany's far-right AfD wins first city mayor election

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has won its first mayoral election in a city.

AfD leader Alice Weidel described the result in Pirna, Saxony, as "historic".

Tim Lochner, a former carpenter, won 38.5 per cent after a run-off vote against two right-wing candidates on Sunday.

The party's victory is being seen across Germany as a bellwether before key state and local elections next year.

The victory also came days after the party in Saxony was officially labelled "extremist" by the country's intelligence services.

While at the local level it has previously won seats on councils, it has repeatedly lost mayoral elections in large towns and cities.

However, its share of votes has been on the rise nationally and the result in Pirna is being seen as symbolically important.

Germany holds regional elections next September in three eastern states, including Saxony.

Nationally the AfD is polling at around 20 per cent, but sits at more than 30 per cent in the formerly communist east.

All other parties say they will refuse to form coalitions with the AfD.

However, if the AfD wins the most votes, the conservative CDU party will come under pressure from right-wingers to cooperate.

A strong result for the party could also make it almost impossible for others to form a stable government.

Local councils will also go to the polls next year - this is where AfD candidates known in local communities tend to do well.

Such elections are a key part of the party's strategy of "normalisation", and by cooperating with other parties on such a grassroots level, the AfD hopes to remove stigma and eventually form coalitions on a regional - and maybe one day, national - level.

With its winding cobbled streets, pastel-coloured medieval houses and scenic landscape, Pirna is renowned in Germany as a popular tourist destination.

However, the town harbours a dark past: It is the site where, in 1940 and 1941, the Nazis murdered around 15,000 mentally ill and disabled people by gassing them.

Such killings are now seen as the precursor to the death camps and the Holocaust.

Christoph Heubner, from the International Auschwitz Committee, an association of Holocaust survivors, said it was "difficult to bear" that Pirna was the first place in Germany to elect an AfD mayor.

He condemned other parties for failing to work together in the run-off vote to prevent the far-right winning, and criticised non-voters who helped the AfD secure victory.

Mainstream politicians are now trying to draw lessons from Pirna on how to deal with a more popular and increasingly radical AfD.

Mr Lochner's victory came days after the AfD in Saxony was classified by the intelligence services as "extremist" for its anti-migrant rhetoric and attempts to undermine democracy.

Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former AfD member of the Bundestag, is on trial for alleged involvement in a far-right plot to overthrow modern German democracy.

After his win on Sunday, Mr Lochner was asked if the "extremist" classification was a problem for him.

His answer: "No."