In two German states, both in the former communist eastern part of Germany, the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party won historic amounts of votes in recent state elections.

In Thuringia, the AfD is now the largest party after it got 33 per cent of all votes, well ahead of the second biggest party (24 per cent for the Christian Conservative CDU). Many Germans and Europeans are in shock about this result.

This is the largest electoral success for a German far right political party since the Nazi era. The AfD deliberately plays with Nazi iconography and references. They have countless neo-Nazis in their ranks. The AfD in Thuringia is headed by its most controversial figure, Bjoern Hoecke.

All major parties declared their unwillingness to build a coalition government with the AfD. The only coalitions possible then are almost comical. The centre-right Christian Conservatives (CDU) would be in a coalition with a hodgepodge of very left parties.

Hardly a recipe for political stability.

Let’s examine Thuringia through the demographic lens. Believe it or not, there might be a few lessons for Australians.

Since German reunification in 1990, demographic indicators haven’t been kind to Thuringia.

Even before the collapse of the Berlin Wall the state didn’t grow, but its population has been dropping since 1990 (from 2.7 million to 2.1 million).

The most educated and driven former East Germans were in high demand in the employment centres in the West. Women in Thuringia outperformed men in education and were more likely to leave for the employment centres in the West.

Today, in Thuringia among 20 to 40-year-olds (roughly the partnering stage of the lifecycle), men outnumber women by 12 per cent. The odds for men in Thuringia of finding a partner are even worse considering that the remaining women on average are still more educated than the men.

One hangover from the old days when women were locked out of the workforce is referred to by sociologists as the upwards social mobility of women. In olden days, the only way for a woman to climb up the social ladder was to........

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