In the smallest town in Germany, just one out of 228 eligible voters cast their ballot for Alternative for Germany even as the far-right, anti-immigrant party’s saw historic gains elsewhere in the country during Sunday’s national election.

When Elon Musk posted on X in December that the only thing that could “save Germany” was the AfD, he was embracing a political force that has moved steadily to the extreme right since it was founded in 2013.

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

Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) said on Wednesday they had agreed to start talks on a possible coalition with Friedrich Merz's conservatives but stressed their support was not automatic and hit out at his negotiating style.

Germany's conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) plan to continue exploratory talks next week aimed at forming a new government coalition, after an initial round of discussions on Friday, five days after parliamentary elections.

Germany's conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) have started exploratory talks aimed at forming a new government coalition, following Sunday's federal election. Leading party representatives gathered in a parliament building on Friday morning.