Almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new poll has exposed the enduring political divisions in Germany.

The nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has surged to first place in the former communist east, with 23 per cent support.

But it has failed to make a similar breakthrough in the former west, where it is in fourth place with just 12 per cent.

The figures for the Green Party, which is in second place in the national polls, are almost a mirror image of the AfD’s.

In the former west, the Greens have 25 per cent support, but in the east it is they who are mired in fourth place with just 13 per cent.

Just three months ahead of national celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, the findings of the poll for Bild am Sonntag newspaper have laid bare the deep divide that persists across the old Cold War border.

The AfD looks set to dominate the headlines in the run-up to November’s anniversary, with the polls suggesting it could come first in regional elections in three eastern states this autumn.

The party's anti-migrant platform has proved highly effective in the former communist east, where the city of Chemnitz saw violent protests last year.