Winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives need at least one coalition partner to govern and face potentially months of difficult negotiations before a stable government is likely to emerge.

Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, but his victory may not deliver the stability many voters had hoped for. The 2025 election marks a major turning point for Germany, with a sharp rightward shift and the collapse of the center-left.

Most mornings, my husband Stefan and I have coffee in bed while we look at the news. While I open up Slate, the New York Times, and New York magazine, Stefan, who moved to New York from Berlin a year ago,