The far-right group has learned to communicate in a country where traditional media no longer shape public opinion.

The AfD parliamentary faction, which is jubilant after securing a record 21 per cent in Sunday’s federal elections, also voted to admit Maximilian Krah, who last year sought to downplay the crimes of Adolf Hitler’s SS and faced an investigation over alleged payments from Russia and China.

CDU and AfD voters delivered a sharp rebuke to Berlin’s left-wing ruling coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens. Both the CDU and AfD reject Berlin’s globalist agenda of mass immigration and de-industrializing green energy policies.