On one side of the conflict are the more conventional conservatives, many of them disgruntled Christian Democrats who abandoned the CDU in protest at Ms Merkel's liberal policies, especially on immigration. On the other is the Wing, a hardline group led by Mr Kalbitz and Björn Höcke, one of Germany's most controversial politicians. A firebrand whose rhetorical style has been likened — even by people in his own party — to that of Joseph Goebbels, Mr Höcke, who is the AfD's leader in Thuringia, is adored in the east and loathed in large parts of the west, where he is seen as a dangerous nationalist.
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