As the Social Democrats have managed to edge ahead of the AfD in the Brandenburg vote, we look at the big winners and losers and what happens next.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in an election in Brandenburg on Sunday, seeking to build on gains in other eastern states this month and beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in a traditional stronghold.

Germans in the state of Brandenburg were voting in a regional election on Sunday with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish first, building on successes in other eastern states and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in one of their traditional strongholds.

Germany has avoided having a far-right party as the strongest force in a second state on Sunday, just weeks the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party in post-war history to win an election.

German voters head to regional elections on Sunday in a formerly communist eastern state where the far-right AfD party is narrowly ahead in the polls. In the state election in Brandenburg, the AfD hopes to replicate the strong gains it made in the east three weeks ago when it won a parliamentary vote in Thuringia and came a close second in Saxony.