Björn Höcke shielded his eyes from the bright lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.
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 second largest city in the state of Brandenburg, for the party’s final rally before a regional election on Sunday that could determine the fate of Germany’s government.
