Conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected Germany’s chancellor in a second-round parliamentary vote on Tuesday, after failing to secure the necessary support earlier in the day.
Merz needed at least 316 of the 630 members of parliament to vote in his favour. He got 325 votes.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Merz had fallen short of six votes for absolute majority in a massive blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history.
As it was a secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, it was not known who had refused to support Merz - either MPs from his centre-left coalition partner or his own conservatives.
After hours of uncertainty in the Bundestag, the parties and the president of the Bundestag agreed to hold a second vote, which Merz then won with 325 votes, a majority of nine.
His coalition with the Social Democrats should have had enough seats in parliament from the start but it appears 18 MPs who had been expected to back him dissented during the first vote.
There was a prevailing mood of confusion in the parliament in the hours after the vote.
Under Germany's constitution, there is no limit to how many votes can be held but in practice another defeat for Merz would have meant a headache for his Christian Democrats, its sister party the Christian Social Union and their partner the Social Democrats.
No chancellor candidate in the 76 years of Germany's post-war democracy has lost a Bundestag vote before.
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner was initially said to be planning a second vote on Wednesday, but Christian Democrat General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said it was important to press ahead.
"Europe needs a strong Germany, that's why we can't wait for days," he told German TV.
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