The four smaller German parties - the Left party, the Green party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Free Democrats (FDP) - clashed in a TV debate on Wednesday night.

The four parties are all hoping to come third in the September 24 national elections. The latest polls show them garnering between 8 and 10 percent of the vote, with the AfD currently in the lead at 10 percent.

With the two big parties - Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) - having been in a Grand Coalition for years now and with their positions increasingly similar, all eyes are on the smaller parties to shake things up, serve as kingmaker or join a three-party coalition, which would be a first at the federal level.

Read more: What you need to know about germany's political parties

Ahead of the debate, viewers were able to vote on what topics would be discussed. Here's what dominated the debate:

Immigration and refugees

Predictably, the populist, right-wing AfD candidate, Alice Weidel, blamed refugees for negatively affecting security. Weidel claimed that just 0.5 percent of refugees coming to Germany were actually eligible for asylum. Hence she says the AfD favors stricter border controls.

The Green Party candidate, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, wants to keep the borders open and pointed out that she grew up in the former East Germany, where people knew what it was like to be fenced in. She also stressed that Islamist radicalization often happened in Germany and wasn't necessarily coming from migrants who came to the country in the last few years.

The Left party co-leader, Katja Kipping, is also in favor of granting asylum to those in need. Her party also demands an end to Afghans being deported to their home country.

The FDP candidate, Christian Lindner, reiterated one of the key demands of the liberal, business-friendly party - an immigration law similar to Canada's, so Germany can decide who is needed to boost the workforce and help curb a shortage of skilled workers.

Read more: Meet the German parties' top candidates

German election campaign placards Christian Democratic Union (CDU) After three terms in office, Chancellor Angela Merkel is no stranger to election posters. With a budget of 20 million euros, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is pinning up some 22,000 placards across Germany. The use of a deconstructed German flag brings out the party's patriotism, while the main focus of slogans is on issues such as security, family and work.

German election campaign placards Social Democrats (SPD) The Social Democrats are keeping it classic with their long-time red, square logo. Posters concentrate on topics such as education, family, pension, investment and wage inequality. At the end of their 24-million-euro campaign, the SPD is planning a final crusade ahead of election day, which still remains under wraps.

German election campaign placards Free Democratic Party (FDP) More than 5 million euros have been spent on the liberal FDP's poster campaign. With their black and white photoshoot, the FDP have gone for thoroughly modern marketing, with one man at the center: Christian Lindner. Voters, however, will have a hard time reading the text heavy posters. "Impatience is also a virtue," reads the slogan.

German election campaign placards The Green Party The Greens have remained faithful to their cause and focused on classic topics such as the environment, integration and peace. "Environment isn't everything. But without the environment, everything is nothing," says the slogan. A mainstay on all of the posters is the party's sunflower logo.

German election campaign placards Alternative for Germany (AfD) The prize for most controversial placards goes, without doubt, to the right-wing AfD. From afar, the poster showing a smiling, pregnant woman seems innocent until the slogan becomes legible: "New Germans? We make them ourselves." In another poster, set against the background image of three bikini-clad women, the AfD asks: "Burkas? We like bikinis."

German election campaign placards The Left Party The Left party have certainly given their best to use as many fonts as possible. In a combination of font and wordplay, this slogan one reads: "[Colorful] People. Decisively against right-wing hate." Affordable rents, fairer pensions and an end to arms exports are the main issues for the leftist party. Author: Kate Brady



Policing

All four parties demand more police to combat terrorism amongst other things.

FDP: People identified as potential threats to national security should be under constant surveillance, demands increase of 15,000 police

Greens/Left party: demand better pay, especially in the lower ranks of the police force

AfD: wants to introduce police body cameras, increased use of DNA analysis

Read more: Wahl-O-Mat app pairs voters with political parties

German political parties you've never heard of The Animal Protection Party In Germany, animal rights activists block off whole highways to make sure toads can cross them safely. So it's no wonder that a party like "Human Environment Animal Welfare" exists. But maybe the larger Green Party has taken the wind out of the animal protectors' sails a bit. In 2013, they could only sway around 140,000 out of Germany's almost 62 million eligible voters.

German political parties you've never heard of The Republicans This one is slightly confusing. Germany has its own Republicans - the REP, as they're known here, have no relation to the party of US President Donald Trump. German Republicans are right-wing nationalists who call themselves "conservative patriots" and say they're fighting to "preserve our culture and identity."

German political parties you've never heard of The Party Yep, this party's simply called The Party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of German satire magazine "Titanic." The party head is Martin Sonneborn (pictured), who won The Party a seat in the European Parliament in 2014. Maybe this can improve The Party's results in the upcoming Bundestag election. In the previous one, it claimed fewer than 79,000 votes.

German political parties you've never heard of Referendum Party For the party "Starting now... Democracy through referendums - politics for the people," Switzerland is a big role model. Politicians in the German Referendum Party want all political decisions made by the people. They say this would democratize the "rule of the parties" and would lead to policies focused on the voter instead of pharmaceutical or banking lobbyists.

German political parties you've never heard of Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany The MLPD is a small party even though half of Germany was once Communist: While the country was divided from 1949 to 1989, East Germany was ruled by the Socialist Unity Party. Today, the far-left MLPD doesn't play a role in German politics. In the last Bundestag election they got a mere 24,000 votes.

German political parties you've never heard of Christians for Germany "Alliance C - Christians for Germany" is a Christian party that was created in 2015 when the Christian-fundamentalist Party of Bible-abiding Christians and the Party for Labor, Environment and Family merged. The party advocates what they see as biblical values: citizen freedom, the rule of law, marriage, family and the preservation of God's creation.

German political parties you've never heard of The Humanists In a country so often governed by Christian Democrats, perhaps it’s no surprise that a party called The Humanists is only running in one state. Founded in 2014, with fewer than 200 members, its motto is "freedom, fairness, progress." The party’s lengthy program addresses aspects including an end to government funding for churches in Germany.

German political parties you've never heard of V-Partei³ Voters almost across the board can vote for the V-Partei³ (the V-cubed party) - the party for "Veränderung" ("change" in English), Vegetarians and Vegans. Founded in 2016 at the Veggieworld trade fair in Munich, the party has about 1,200 members. By 2030, they’d like to see all butchers go out of business, true to their motto: "We love life."

German political parties you've never heard of Alliance for an Unconditional Basic Income Several countries have launched basic income pilot projects and the new German party Alliance for an Unconditional Basic Income is also asking for just that: a basic income for everyone, no matter whether they work or not. Voters in all 16 federal states can cast their ballot for this alliance - even if it remains up in the air how the party would finance such an income, and how much it would be.

German political parties you've never heard of Bergpartei Despite its name, the Berlin-only Bergpartei (mountain party) has nothing to do with climbing. In an alliance with the Über-Party, it’s finally made the electoral roll at the fourth attempt. Members describe themselves as "artists, former squatters, job hoppers, media guys and other creative people" - and for a lack of funds, these leftists design their own campaign posters.

German political parties you've never heard of DU - The Urban Another Berlin-only party is the spanking new The Urban, a Hip-Hop Party: 253 members and counting, hoping to propagate what links them, the essence of hip-hop music - respect, a sense of community and creativity. The party program has a special focus on anti-racism and anti-discrimination.

German political parties you've never heard of The Pensioners You won't see this group on the ballot in the 2017 Bundestag elections anymore: the German Pensioner Party has retired. In the 2013 elections, it got a mere 25,000 votes and in 2016, party officials disbanded it for good. Author: Carla Bleiker, Dagmar Breitenbach



Jobs and pay

Left party: demands a 12-euro minimum wage and an end to short-term contracts as well as a 1,050-euro guaranteed monthly pension.

FDP: favors facilitating home ownership as a means to avoid being poor in old age. True to its roots, chairman Lindner demanded lower taxes.

AfD: also demands lower taxes, but also an end to temp work.

Greens: rejected Lindner's home ownership policy, pointing out that many people could never save enough to enable them to own their own home. Also favors a guaranteed pension and a higher minimum wage.