Sean Gallup/Getty Images A man holding a German flag attends a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall at the Bernauer Strasse memorial on August 13, 2011 in Berlin, Germany.
- A German politician from the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) resigned and converted to Islam.
- Arthur Wagner stepped down on January 11, the group wrote in a Facebook post, and said the decision came as a surprise.
- The party touts an anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform.
Arthur Wagner, a German politician from the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), has resigned and converted to Islam, according to a party spokesman. Wagner confirmed his resignation to the German publication Der Tagesspiege.
Wagner was a leading member of the AfD in Germany's eastern state of Brandenburg. He left the party on January 11, AfD chairman Andreas Kalbitz wrote in a Facebook post, adding the decision came as a surprise.
Kalbitz told CNN that Wagner had previously been active in the party's Christian wing.
Wanger joined the AfD in 2015 and was a member of the Brandenburg committee responsible for religious communities and activities.
The party had become the third most popular party in Germany since last year's federal election, during which it won 12.6% of the vote.