Editing Thuringia (section)

==Politics==
===National===
Thuringia is a stronghold for the far right [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD), the party emerged as the largest in Thuringia in the [[2021 German federal election|2021 national elections]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-populist-afd-no-gains-small-losses/a-59330183|title=Germany's far-right populist AfD: No gains, small losses|agency=Deutsche Welle|date=27 September 2021|accessdate=31 October 2021}}</ref> In 2017 the party got 22.7%, in 2021 they got 24.0%, and in 2025 they surged to 38.6%.

===State===
Thuringia is notable for being the first and only state in Germany where the communist party that ruled former [[East Germany]] until 1989, [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke), and the new [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD) have seen their first-ever first place finish in a state election. Die Linke in [[2019 Thuringian state election|2019]], and the AfD in [[2024 Thuringian state election|2024]].

====List of minister-presidents of Thuringia====
{{main|List of minister-presidents of Thuringia}}

====September 2024 state election====
{{See also|2024 Thuringian state election}}
The [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD) became the largest party with 33% of the vote (and 36% of the seats), its best ever performance and the first time it placed first in a state election in Germany. The incumbent governing coalition suffered dramatic losses; the Left had split up, with new [[Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht|Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW)]] becoming the more popular part, while the remaining Left lost more than half of its support and fell to fourth place on 13%. The 130+ year old SPD, which since late 2021 rules Germany under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, recorded its worst result in any postwar state election, barely passing the [[electoral threshold]] of 5%. The other two parties of the [[traffic light coalition]] in Berlin, [[Alliance 90/The Greens|Greens]] and the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP), did not pass the threshold and lost all of their seats, which contributed to the break-up of that coalition on November 6th. The [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU) recorded small gains and came second with 24%. The newly-founded [[Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht|Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance BSW]] debuted in third place at 16%.<ref name="DW">{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-afd-we-have-a-clear-mandate-to-govern/a-70105904|title=Germany's far-right AfD: 'We have a clear mandate to govern'|date=1 September 2024|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=1 September 2024|archive-date=1 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901221728/https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-afd-we-have-a-clear-mandate-to-govern/a-70105904|url-status=live}}</ref>

The AfD in Thuringia became the first [[Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present)|far-right]] party in Germany since World War II to win a state election.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-far-right-elections-victory-afd-cdu-olaf-scholz/ | title=German far right wins first major election since World War II | date=September 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/1/germanys-far-right-party-likely-to-make-gains-in-eastern-region-elections |title=Far-right AfD wins eastern state in Germany's regional election |access-date=2 September 2024 |archive-date=1 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901224334/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/1/germanys-far-right-party-likely-to-make-gains-in-eastern-region-elections |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/01/germany-far-right-afd-elections/]</ref> However, they were left out of the governing coalition, which is made up of the CDU, the BSW and the SPD, with the Left offering "constructive opposition" (basically they offer some input on the coalition's agenda and provide necessary votes).<ref name="a296">{{cite web | title=Thüringen: Brombeer-Koalition macht Linken Angebot | website=ZDFheute | date=2024-12-10 | url=https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/thueringen-koalition-linke-einbindung-100.html | language=de | access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref>
{{Election results
|image=[[File:2024 Thuringian Landtag.svg]]
|firstround=Party-list
|secondround=Constituency
|party1=[[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD)
|party2=[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU)
|party3=[[Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht]] (BSW)
|party4=[[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke)
|party5=[[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD)
|party6=[[Alliance 90/The Greens]] (Grüne)
|party7=[[Free Voters]] (FW)
|party8=[[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP)
|party9=[[Action Party for Animal Welfare]] (APfT)
|party10=[[Values Union]] (WU)
|party11=[[Family Party of Germany|Family Party]] (Familie)
|party12=[[Bündnis Deutschland]] (BD)
|party13=[[Pirate Party Germany]] (Piraten)
|party14=[[Ecological Democratic Party]] (ÖDP)
|party15=[[Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany]] (MLPD)
|votes1=396704
|source=[https://wahlen.thueringen.de/datenbank/wahl1/wahl.asp?wahlart=LW&wJahr=2024&zeigeErg=Land Results]
|electorate=1655343
|electorate2=1655343
|invalid=10354
|invalid2=29704
|votes2=285141
|votes3=190448
|votes4=157641
|votes5=73088
|votes6=38289
|votes7=15371
|votes8=13582
|votes9=12113
|votes10=6780
|votes11=5722
|votes12=5508
|votes13=3718
|votes14=2389
|votes15=1342
|seats1=3
|seats2=12
|seats3=15
|seats4=8
|seats5=6
|seats7=0
|seats8=0
|seats6=0
|seats9=0
|seats10=0
|seats11=0
|seats12=0
|seats13=0
|seats14=0
|seats15=0
|votes1_2=408011
|votes2_2=397927
|votes3_2=28478
|votes4_2=180207
|votes5_2=92510
|votes6_2=19092
|votes7_2=33405
|votes8_2=18706
|votes10_2=4192
|votes13_2=449
|votes14_2=2196
|votes15_2=617
|seats1_2=29
|seats2_2=11
|seats3_2=0
|seats4_2=4
|seats5_2=0
|seats6_2=0
|seats7_2=0
|seats8_2=0
|seats10_2=0
|seats13_2=0
|seats14_2=0
|seats15_2=0
|party16=Other
|votes16_2=2696
|seats16_2=0
|totseats1=32
|totseats2=23
|totseats3=15
|totseats4=12
|totseats5=6
|totseats7=0
|totseats8=0
|totseats9=0
|totseats10=0
|totseats11=0
|totseats12=0
|totseats13=0
|totseats14=0
|totseats15=0
|seats16=0
|totseats6=0
|totseats16=0
|sc1=+10
|sc2=+2
|sc3=+15
|sc4=–17
|sc5=–2
|sc6=–5
|sc8=–5
|total_sc=–2}}

=== Local government ===
Thuringia is divided into 17 districts (''Landkreise''):

{{Div col|colwidth=16em}}
* [[Altenburger Land]]
* [[Eichsfeld (district)|Eichsfeld]]
* [[Gotha (district)|Gotha]]
* [[Greiz (district)|Greiz]]
* [[Hildburghausen (district)|Hildburghausen]]
* [[Ilm-Kreis]]
* [[Kyffhäuserkreis]]
* [[Nordhausen (district)|Nordhausen]]
* [[Saale-Holzland-Kreis]]
* [[Saale-Orla-Kreis]]
* [[Saalfeld-Rudolstadt]]
* [[Schmalkalden-Meiningen]]
* [[Sömmerda (district)|Sömmerda]]
* [[Sonneberg (district)|Sonneberg]]
* [[Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis]]
* [[Wartburgkreis]]
* [[Weimarer Land]]
{{div col end}}

[[File:Thuringia, administrative divisions 2024 - de - colored.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Map of Thuringia showing the boundaries of the districts|Districts of Thuringia]]

Furthermore, there are five urban districts:

* [[Erfurt]] (EF)
* [[Gera]] (G)
* [[Jena]] (J)
* [[Suhl]] (SHL)
* [[Weimar]] (WE)

{{clear}}