A political gamble backfired spectacularly – bringing the far right closer to power in Germany | Jörg Lau

The CDU's Friedrich Merz has shattered the taboo that had underpinned German politics since the war. The unthinkable is now more possible

The tectonic plates are shifting in German politics. A momentous past week has plunged the country into uncertainty - and not just about the outcome of the snap general election on 23 February. The mainstream parties are at each other's throats, while the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) is jubilant.

The firewall (Brandmauer") against the extreme right, which has held since the end of the second world war, is showing big cracks. Europe's most powerful country may be entering a phase of democratic instability.