BERLIN — A German far-right party that swept into Parliament last year on a wave of antimigrant sentiment will hold a march Sunday through the heart of Berlin to protest against the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, accuses the government of ruining Germany by allowing the mass immigration of refugees.
AfD took 12.6 percent of the vote in September’s national election, coming third behind Merkel’s conservative Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats.
After those two agreed to continue their governing coalition, AfD became the largest opposition party, a role that traditionally accords parties in Germany a prominent platform to promote their positions in Parliament.
But AfD’s novice lawmakers have struggled to grasp basic parliamentary procedures and have stood out mainly with blunt attacks on minorities, particularly Muslims, who made up the majority of the more than 1 million asylum-seekers to enter Germany in 2015 and 2016.
Party coleader Alice Weidel was formally censured by Parliament earlier this month for describing girls who wear Islamic headscarves as ‘‘useless people.’’
Sunday’s rally, starting at Berlin’s main train station and ending at the landmark Brandenburg Gate, is highly unusual for a German political party.
While other parties have in recent years supported protests on a variety of issues — from animal rights to opposing free trade — AfD is the sole organizer of the march headlined ‘‘Germany’s Future.’’
David Bebnowski, a specialist who studies political protest, says AfD appears to be trying to portray itself as a champion of popular anger against the government in Europe’s biggest economy.
‘‘A demonstration is a classic expression of discontent outside Parliament,’’ he said.
Its move to the streets may also be an attempt to align itself more closely with the anti-Islam group PEGIDA, which has held weekly rallies in Dresden in recent years, said Bebnowski, a historian at the Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam.
It also reflects the party’s tactic of provoking opponents to gain attention, he said.
AfD has threatened lawsuits against journalists, rival politicians, and officials who have criticized it, even as it accuses opponents of using ‘‘Nazi methods.’’
On Wednesday, party officials warned that far-left extremists could try to violently stop its rally in Berlin.
More than a dozen groups have announced plans to stage counter-protests Sunday, including artists and a coalition of Berlin music clubs hoping to ‘‘blow away’’ AfD with loud techno beats. Berlin police are reportedly planning to put some 2,000 officers on the streets to keep the peace.
Bebnowski said the march could turn into a public relations disaster for AfD if it fails to prevent neo-Nazi groups and other extremists from joining its event. Party officials say some 100 stewards will watch out for banned symbols and chants.
Yet while the party publicly distances itself from extremism, German media have uncovered that dozens of regional and national lawmakers and AfD staff have links to neo-Nazi groups.
Georg Pazderski, a regional leader in Berlin, said he hopes a large turnout will demonstrate that the party is supported by ordinary people.
