"The ruling Social Democrats (SPD) seemed to be trying to move further to the right and away from any social-democratic policies. Despite all these efforts, Olaf Scholz lost to his counterpart from the Christian Democrats (CDU), Friedrich Merz, a rich banker, Merkel’s former runner-up and soon the new Chancellor of Germany. The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now the second-largest party." German elections: On the way to a new Reich? https://freedomnews.org.uk/2025/02/26/german-elections-on-the-way-to-a-new-reich/