Tens of thousands demonstrated across Germany against far-right extremism on Saturday, with major rallies held in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich, almost a week after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's historic election win.
Sunday's election win for the AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election, where they earned 44% of the vote, brought Germany's far right closest yet to gaining power since World War II.
In Dusseldorf, around 20,000 people took part in a protest march "against the AfD and right-wing hatred," according to police and organizers, while organizers said a further 25,000 marched in Hamburg.
In Berlin, several marches against the normalization of right-wing politics converged on the city's town hall. Police put the number of participants at 18,000, while organizers said 32,000 took part.
In several cities, rallies were also held as part of the nationwide initiative demanding that Germany's Constitutional Court review parties suspected of being or confirmed to be far-right extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. These demonstrations, organized by the group PRÜF, which translates as proof or check, take place on the second Saturday of each month in German state capitals.
The largest of these rallies on Saturday was in Munich, where police said around 12,000 people gathered. Around 2,000 came together in Mainz, around 1,500 in Saarbrücken and around 1,100 in Magdeburg. Protests were also held in Leipzig and Saarbrücken.