The German city of Nordhausen is best known as the location of the former Nazi concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora.

On Sunday, a mayoral election again put the focus on the municipality of 42,000 people over fears that a far-right candidate would win the vote 鈥� a prospect the town ultimately seems to have avoided.

Preliminary results Sunday night showed Joerg Prophet, a candidate from the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, losing the race to incumbent mayor Kai Buchmann, who is not affiliated with a political party.

After an initially close race while votes were counted, Buchmann had 54.9% of the vote, compared with 45.1% for Prophet, according to the news agency dpa.

The results were a surprise after Prophet entered the race as the frontrunner: Earlier this month, he won 42.1% of the vote in the first round of the election, far ahead of Buchmann and other candidates.

Despite Prophet鈥檚 apparent loss, Sunday鈥檚 election underscored recent gains nationally for the AfD and the increasing influence it has on the political discussion in Germany. It also raised concerns about the normalization of far-right rhetoric in places like Nordhausen, drawing criticism from Holocaust survivors and those who work to combat discrimination.

鈥淭he significance of the election in Nordhausen extends far beyond (its) borders,鈥� Felix Klein, the German government鈥檚 antisemitism commissioner, told the Funke Media Group.

The AfD was founded as a euroskeptic party in 2013 and first entered the German Bundestag in 2017. Polling now puts it in second place nationally with around 21%, far above the 10.3% it won during the in 2021.

The party has seen its support grow for a number of reasons. Its politicians have seized on frustration with the German government鈥檚 climate and energy policies, such as the plan to replace with greener alternatives.

What鈥檚 more, a spike in the number of entering Germany in recent months has put political attention back on the topic of migration, which has long been the AfD鈥檚 signature issue.

鈥淭he AfD mobilizes their support with two fearful narratives related to cultural and economic modernization: Both migration and climate policies are turned into a threat to people鈥檚 cultural identity and lifestyle,鈥� said Johannes Hillje, a Berlin-based political consultant who tracks far- and extreme-right rhetoric in Germany.

That strategy has proven successful in recent months. In addition to growing its support nationally, the AfD earlier this summer: An AfD candidate was elected county administrator in the eastern city of Sonneberg in June, and in July, the party won its first mayorship in the town of Raguhn-Jessnitz.

The AfD鈥檚 strength, particularly in eastern Germany, has prompted discussions among other parties about whether and how to cooperate with it. Despite a longstanding taboo against collaborating with the far right, the center-right Christian Democrats in Thuringia made headlines when they recently passed new tax legislation with AfD support.

In Thuringia, the state in which Nordhausen is located, the AfD is both especially strong and especially radical. Recent polling puts the party in first place in Thuringia, where most surveys have its support above 30%.

, the AfD leader in Thuringia, is the symbolic face of the party鈥檚 furthest-right faction. Germany鈥檚 has placed the AfD鈥檚 Thuringia branch under formal observation.

Hoecke has espoused revisionist views of Germany鈥檚 Nazi past. In 2018, he referred to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin as a 鈥渕onument of shame鈥� and called for the country to perform a 鈥�180-degree turn鈥� in its memory culture.

As a result, there was a particular significance to the prospect of an AfD mayor in a city like Nordhausen, given the work that has been done there to preserve the Mittelbau-Dora camp as a site of memory and to rebuild trust among Holocaust survivors.

鈥淚t鈥檚 inconceivable that the last survivors of the concentration camps and their families (鈥�) could be welcomed in Nordhausen by a mayor from the ranks of a party whose political program consists of calls for xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, antigypsyism, nationalism and revisionism,鈥� an international committee of survivors of Mittelbau-Dora and the nearby Buchenwald concentration camp said in a statement.

With three important state-level elections in Germany鈥檚 east on the horizon in 2024, including in Thuringia, there is increasing pressure on Germany鈥檚 other political parties to combat its rise.

Winning posts like mayorships and growing its support nationally helps normalize the AfD in the German political landscape, and puts increasing pressure on parties like the CDU to collaborate with it 鈥� which experts argue would only strengthen and legitimize the AfD鈥檚 far-right positions.

鈥淚t鈥榮 a huge strategic mistake to help the AfD to have political impact,鈥� Hillje said. 鈥淭his will mobilize their supporters even more.鈥�