Brandenburg stakes Last-minute push by German far right in key regional election

B jörn Höcke shielded his eyes from the lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.

- Kate Connolly

Flanked by the slogans "It's time for real change" and "It's time to save our country", the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Thuringia swept into Cottbus, the secondlargest city in Brandenburg, for a final rally before a regional election tomorrow that could determine the fate of Germany's government.

Fresh from an election victory three weeks ago in which his party secured 33%, Höcke beamed at the rally participants, addressing them as "fellow patriots".

"I see a lot of women and young men," he said. "It used to be only old white men who were concerned about the future of ... our beloved German Fatherland. Now everyone recognises they're affected by the fatal politics of the cartel parties." The crowd, numbering a couple of thousand and holding banners reading "Fed up to the back teeth" or "Get the red rats out", in reference to the Social Democrats (SPD), in power in Brandenburg and Berlin, roared with approval.