Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition has plunged in the last week amid turmoil over the leadership of her coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), an opinion poll showed today.
The survey by the Forsa Institute for Stern magazine showed Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, Christian Social Union, tumbling three percentage points to 30 per cent and the FDP losing two points to 3 per cent.
The opposition Greens surged seven points to a record 28 per cent - helped by their uncompromising anti-nuclear position in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster. The opposition Social Democrats (SPD) lost two points to 23 per cent.
The Greens will also lead the government of one of Germany's 16 federal states, Baden-Wuerttemberg, for the first time following their victory there with the SPD last month.
Reuters