Abstract
The federal election in Germany on September 26 has changed the country. After 16 years as Chancellor, Angela Merkel did not run again, and her party suffered a historic defeat at the polls. The Social Democrats (SPD) received the highest number of votes (25.7%), suggesting that their candidate Olaf Scholz (up to now Finance Minister in Angela Merkel's governing coalition), will succeed her as Chancellor. However, to get there his SPD must form a new coalition - and the most likely partners are the Greens (who had their best ever results with 14.8% of the vote) and the "Market Liberal" Free Democrats (FDP) who also got a slight lift in the votes (11.5%). That will not be easy. We asked faculty and students with an interest in Germany/Europe to help us understand the results and what this will mean for Germany, for Europe, and for transatlantic relations going forward.