Germany goes to the polls in tense election as far right surges

Brigid Laffanirish political scientist

The emerging 21st-century global order/disorder is not one that suits the EU’s DNA, its history or preferences.”

As Brigid Laffan writes

I know I can't talk about it with my family,

daughter Francezca tells me

Matthias, Holy Roman Emperorson

This bridge and the river are lifelines for the city but no one knows when a new bridge will come,

fumed Matthias (48), a local man on the riverbank earlier this month

It really captures where we are as a country,

says Thomas, a 66-year-old Berliner, peering through the fence

What the political parties are offering are focused on the short term,

said Prof Marcel Fratzscher of Berlin’s influential DIW economic think tank

Don’t you share a moral responsibility for every death to date

a tearful woman from Solingen asked an ashen-faced Scholz in a televised debate last week

It’s sad because they were wonderful years, ... but we’ve been hit hard by the rising raw materials and energy prices”.

said the bearded 75-year-old

We will turn economic policy upside down again, we want to improve conditions for everyone,

he said of a party programme that promises economic stimulus by cutting the tax burden – and social spending

Alice Weidelafd leader

We are experiencing a political paradigm shift,

said Alice Weidel, AfD lead candidate, days after meeting US vice-president JD Vance in Munich

There has long been a consensus in Germany not to co-operate with far-right parties, ... and that has to still apply in the future.”

he said

A lot of my friends are likely going to vote for the conservatives because this government didn't work so well and Merz's international standing is quite good,

said Mike Zeller, 26, a civil servant

I'm completely disappointed in politics, so maybe an alternative would be better,

said retired Berlin bookkeeper Ludmila Ballhorn, 76, who plans to vote AfD, ... adding she was struggling

I'm very confident and, no matter how it turns out, we still have room for improvement,

AfD supporter Julian Adrat, 34, said at a rally of the anti-immigration party Berlin

There is no left majority and no left politics anymore in Germany,

Merz told a raucous beer hall, sketching out a plan to curtail benefits, cut red tape and tighten immigration

Friedrich Merzconservative leader

Tomorrow we will win the elections and then the nightmare of this government will be over,

conservative leader Friedrich Merz told a jubilant crowd in Munich

Friedrich Merzconservative leader

Europe must become stronger again and Germany must become more involved in the European Union,

Merz said

Forming a coalition is likely to be very difficult indeed,

said Jacob Ross, a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations

I hope we don't slide too far to the right and that we can form a strong counterweight to America,

he said

We feel the need to look after everyone’s wellbeing,

says Steffi Klingner-Emmerich, 38

Which we could get if it weren’t for the Brandmauer ... I have little hope this will happen in the next four years but next time round I think they’ll have little choice as the pressure on them will only grow

the car mechanic says, referring to the consensus between parties that they will retain a “firewall” between them and the far-right