End of an era: Merkel passes torch to new party leader

“Since Wolfgang Schaeuble has now opened the floodgates, I can say that I am convinced that Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has the best chance to unite the CDU and win elections,” Altmaier told regional newspaper Rheinische Post.

Whoever wins will face towering challenges for the party, which is currently drawing around 28 percent at the polls, far below the around 40 percent enjoyed during Merkel’s heyday.

It has lost support to the right, in the form of the upstart anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, and the resurgent Greens.

Meanwhile Germany’s oldest party, the Social Democrats (SPD) — junior partners in Merkel’s “grand coalition” — are mired in crisis.

Regardless of which course the CDU charts, it is ironically the SPD that could decide Merkel’s fate.

The party has long languished in Merkel’s shadow and could well decide to jump ship before 2021 to seek to avert further vote debacles.