A double-digit score for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a Berlin city vote would be seen around the world as the rebirth of the Nazis, the mayor of the German capital has warned.
The right-wing AfD has gained support as voters become increasingly uneasy with Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy, which saw about one million migrants arrive in Germany last year.
A poll by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen for broadcaster ZDF that was published on Thursday showed the AfD was set to get 14 per cent in Sunday's vote in Berlin, historically a left-wing stronghold.
"It would be seen around the world as a sign of the return of the right-wing and the Nazis in Germany," Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, a Social Democrat (SPD), wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
"Berlin is not any old city - Berlin is the city that transformed itself from the capital of Hitler's Nazi Germany into a beacon of freedom, tolerance, diversity and social cohesion."
The centre-left SPD runs the city of Berlin in coalition with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
The AfD won a shock 20.8 per cent in an election in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern two weeks ago, meaning the party is now represented in nine of Germany's 16 state assemblies.
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