Germany's Election Battlegrounds: Swings, Strongholds and Shocks

Pinneberg outside Hamburg has always backed winning party
Afd targeting districts in east, former industrial cities

View of the Reichstag building which houses the Bundestag Lower House of parliament in Berlin taken on September 23, 2017. Germany goes to the polls for parliamentary elections on September 24, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / John MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

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By Eddie Buckle

September 23, 2017 at 11:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Across Germany, the campaigning is over for Sunday’s election. It’s not just a single national contest: Germans cast two votes, the first for one of 299 directly elected members of the Bundestag from their local district, and the second for a party.

So where can Chancellor Angela Merkel be sure of the most support? Where might the populist Alternative for Germany hope to make inroads? Here are some of the places to watch.