Inside the race to succeed Angela Merkel
As Chancellor Merkel closes in on re-election in Sunday's poll, talk is turning to what happens when Germany's pre-eminent politician retires
It is heresy even to pose the question to the chancellor's supporters before Sunday's general election and, if she does win a third term, the answer will remain evasive. But some Germans are asking anyway: who can succeed Angela Merkel?
"Angela the Great", as one magazine dubbed her, looks certain to be re-elected, the main doubt being whether her centre-right coalition gets a new lease of life or she has to govern with the centre-left. Both scenarios are fine with the public, pollsters say, as long as "Angie" stays in charge.
But two credible media sources recently reported that she will serve only two or three years of any new four-year term. The reports, denied by Merkel, will make it hard for her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to keep a lid on succession talk for long.
Three potential heirs are widely touted - Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Lower Saxony's former premier David McAllister and Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere - though all deny any such ambition. None has Merkel's command of the party, or her ability to glide over daily politics and win elections.
Smiling benignly from giant posters or offering reassurance in bland campaign speeches, the popular 59-year-old chancellor leaves it to underlings to debate policy details with struggling Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Peer Steinbrueck.
A majority of Germans say they feel comfortable under her steady, homely leadership, and many are in no hurry to know who comes after her. Party leaders avoid the issue publicly.
"Either Merkel wins the election and there won't be a discussion for a few years, or she loses and the cards will have to be reshuffled completely," said a member of the CDU's top governing board, speaking on condition of anonymity.