By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) -Polls opened on Sunday in the German state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to finish first, aiming to build on recent successes in other eastern states and surpass Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in this traditional stronghold.

Germany's ruling party narrowly won the Brandenburg election, edging out the far-right AfD. The AfD saw a historic win in Thuringia earlier this month.

The results will come as a relief to the party of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which is set to finish first and gain seats.

Here's a quick roundup of the four main things we learned from this weekend's elections in Saxony and Thuringia.

Germany's Social Democrats won in the eastern state of Brandenburg, pushing out the far-right AfD in a tightly contested race.

Germany has avoided having a far-right party as the strongest force in a second state on Sunday, just weeks the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party in post-war history to win an election.

The narrow win by Olaf Scholz’s party came in a state election, the third in a series that was seen as a reflection of the national mood and a snapshot of the government’s popularity.

Germans in the state of Brandenburg were voting in a regional election on Sunday with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expected to finish first, building on successes in other eastern states and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in one of their traditional strongholds.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats narrowly beat the far-right AfD in a state election Sunday in the formerly communist east, a rare bit of good news for his party.Scholz's centre-left SPD won around 31 percent in the state of Brandenburg against the anti-immigration,

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats will seek coalition talks with upstart left party BSW, as working with the far-right runner-up AfD has been ruled out. Follow DW for more.