A strong showing for the far-right AfD party in the German elections may be contained by a surge in liberal urban voters turning out to stop them, early indications suggest.

The anti-immigration and anti-Islam Alternative fur Deutschland is expected to be the first far-right party to win MPs in the Bundestag for half a century when polls close today – but the party may not fare quite as well as expected if early turnout figures are to be believed.

Numbers released by the German federal returning officer in the early afternoon show turnout across the country was roughly static at 41.1 per cent, compared to 41.4 per cent in the most recent previous elections in 2013.

But the overall national picture appears to be disguising a shift on the ground, with voters turning out in force in many wealthier urban areas, while poorer and more rural areas associated with the AfD see lower turnout.

The state of Hesse, which contains the city of Frankfurt, the well-to-do financial capital of continental Europe, saw turnout substantially up, from 40 per cent at 2pm on election day 2013 to 45.9 per cent at the same time this year.

Meanwhile Thuringia, the so-called “green heart of Germany”, saw turnout as of 2pm down to just 50.9 per cent. It was 55.6 per cent at the same time the same year.

Turnout in wealthy the wealthy port city of Hamburg was up, while the former coal mining and industrial area of Saarland saw a fall in turnout.

The German capital Berlin – which is poorer than the rest of the county – appeared to buck the trend of urban areas having significantly higher turnout. It was roughly static at 27.2 per cent, up just 0.1 per cent on the last time as of 2pm.

Turnout in cities like the wealthy finance capital Frankfurt is markedly up on the 2013 elections (Reuters)

Higher turnout in urban areas would likely favour more established parties such as the liberal FDP and Greens, who do well in cities – barring a major reversal of previous trends.

AfD sources in Berlin said they expected their results to average between 11.4 per cent and 14.6 per cent – with stronger showings in former East German areas.

With polls open until 6pm local time there is still plenty of time for voters in other areas to get turn up at polling stations, however, and the picture could change.

German election 2017 Show all 14 1 /14 German election 2017 German election 2017 German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) poses for a selfie with a boy before addressing an election campaign rally of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Kappeln Odd Andersen/AFP German election 2017 German Social Democrat (SPD) and chancellor candidate Martin Schulz speaks during an election campaign stop on September 20, 2017 in Gelsenkirchen. Schulz trails Chancellor and Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel by double digits Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images German election 2017 Sahra Wagenknecht, top candidate of the left-wing Die Linke party for upcoming general elections, gives a speech during a session at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin on September 5 John MacDougall/AFP German election 2017 Top candidate for the Greens for the 2017 German federal elections, Cem Ozdemir, speaks during an election campaign rally of the Alliance '90/Greens in Stuttgart, southern Germany on September 20, 2017, during the final days before Germans head to the polls Thomas Kienzle/AFP German election 2017 Leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) and main candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Christian Lindner gives a speech during the party congress in Berlin on September 17 Odd Andersen/AFP German election 2017 Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland, co-lead candidates of the right-wing, populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party, speaking to the media on Islam, immigration and crime next to an AfD poster that reads: 'Crime Through Immigration, The Refugee Wave Leaves Behind Clues!' on September 18, in Berlin Tobias Schwarz/AFP German election 2017 People listen to German Chancellor and Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel speak at an election campaign stop on September 19, 2017 in Schwerin Getty German election 2017 Refugees from Syria prior to the arrival of German Chancellor and Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel at an election campaign stop on September 19, 2017 in Schwerin Sean Gallup/Getty Images German election 2017 The audience cheers whilst listening to German Social Democrat (SPD) and chancellor candidate Martin Schulz speaking during an election campaign stop on September 14 in Munich Joerg Koch/Getty Images German election 2017 German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds up a tomato as she addresses an election campaign rally of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Lingen on September 13 AFP/Getty Images German election 2017 Alexander Gauland, top candidate of Germany's anti-Islam, anti-immigration AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) party for upcoming general elections, walks past supporters as he attends an election campaign event in Nuremberg Daniel Karmann/AFP German election 2017 British politician and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage speaks at an event held by the German right-wing, populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party as AfD leading member Beatrix von Storch looks on on September 8, 2017 in Berlin Sean Gallup/Getty Images German election 2017 Martin Schulz (C), chancellor candidate of the German Social Democrats (SPD), looks on in a fest tent at the Gillamoos amusement fair on September 4, 2017 in Abensberg, Germany. Politicians, among them elections candidates, from Germany's major political parties are attending the fair today in what is an an annual tradition Johannes Simon/Getty Images German election 2017 An Alternative for Germany (AfD) campaign poster is vandalised in Berlin. Germans go to the polls on September 24th, with the AfD widely expected to garner enough votes to enter the federal parliament. Campaign poster reads: 'New Germans? we'll make them ourselves.' AFP

German politicians, including the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, urged voters to go to the polls this morning.

"It has perhaps never been as clear that the elections are about the future of democracy and Europe," he wrote in the tabloid newspaper Bild.