German poll: A quarter of Germans wish Merkel back

Nearly four years after leaving the post of chancellor, Angela Merkel is still remarkably popular among Germans, as a poll conducted by Civey agency for German local Der Funke newspaper, revealed that one in four citizens wish Merkel to return to the country’s leadership.

According to the poll result, this desire is particularly evident among supporters of the Green Party and the Left, and among young people and city dwellers.

The poll offered a question: “Are you missing Angela Merkel as chancellor?

According to the poll, 25% of respondents answered “yes” or “yes to some extent,” while 68% said “no” or “not to some extent”.

The survey was conducted online from November 4 to 6, 2025, and included nearly 5,000 people aged 18 and over, the results of the poll are representative of German public opinion.

Johannes Finkel, head of the Christian Democrats’ youth union, recently criticized Merkel for what he described as her frequent public statements and told Der Spiegel magazine that “it’s unusual for her to interfere so much in day-to-day politics”.

The relationship between Merkel and the current German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been difficult, with several public criticisms of him, both when he was opposition leader and after he became chancellor.

One of those criticisms was that the decision of the Christian Alliance’s parliamentary bloc to pass a migration resolution in Bundestag with the support of the AfD votes was “wrong”.

However, Merkel recently praised Merz, specifically for his foreign policy in the first months of his term.

Merkel told a podcast for the German magazine Der Spiegel: “As a citizen, I believe that what Friedrich Merz did is good in the first place… Frankly, it’s comforting for Germany to come back to stand out in Europe and the world with appeal and voice”.