Protesters in Berlin gathered outside CDU headquarters.Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany on Thursday to protest the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties.

The AfD party is polling at about 20% before Germany's February 23 elections, a record for a party. The mainstream conservative CDU/CSU alliance leads with about 30%.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the headquarters of Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) in Berlin on Wednesday evening to protest against the conservative bloc pushing through a motion to tighten migration policy with the help of votes from the far right.