Protesters in Berlin gathered outside CDU headquarters.Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany on Thursday to protest the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany on Thursday after a controversial motion demanding migration reforms was passed in parliament the previous day with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The AfD party is polling at about 20% before Germany's February 23 elections, a record for a party. The mainstream conservative CDU/CSU alliance leads with about 30%.