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Thuringia is one of the smallest states in Germany, but Hoecke's national notoriety and unapologetically provocative language, packed with echoes from the 1930s, have given the state's election outsize importance.

The vote comes eight weeks after the AfD made gains in two other elections in the former East Germany, where support for the party's illiberal, anti-immigrant rhetoric is significant. Further deepening that East-West split is Hoecke, who leads a hard-line faction of the party known as the Flugel, or the Wing.

Voter support on Sunday splintered among the three leading parties, preliminary returns showed. The Left Party, led by the popular incumbent governor, Bodo Ramelow, captured 31 per cent of the vote, and Merkel's conservatives drew 22 per cent.

In western Germany, the AfD has flat-lined and seems close to imploding. But in the east, it has become deeply embedded at a grassroots level, establishing itself as a leading political force. Indeed, it came in first on Sunday among younger voters, exit polls showed.