BERLIN (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Germans surrounded Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office Saturday in an anti-nuclear demonstration that organizers said was the biggest of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

The protest, which organizers said drew 100,000 people, could help to mobilize growing grass-roots opposition to Merkel’s ruling center-right coalition, which has suffered a slump in popularity since taking office last October.

Near the start of the protest, police said there were close to 40,000 demonstrators. They declined to give a later estimate.

In a peaceful march around Berlin’s government quarter, protesters converged on Merkel’s chancellery to call for a stop to her unpopular plans to extend the lifespans of Germany’s nuclear power stations by an average of 12 years.

Waving banners with slogans like “shut down the government now,” demonstrators trudged through rain to urge Merkel to backtrack and uphold a pledge made by her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder to switch off Germany’s nuclear power plants by 2021.

“There’s not been such a big (anti-nuclear) demonstration in one place since 1986,” said Jochen Stay, one of the protest’s main organizers. “We’ve made it very clear today that a broad majority of the population is against this nuclear cult.”

Anti-nuclear sentiment came to a head in Germany after a reactor meltdown in Ukraine in April 1986 at the Chernobyl power plant, the world’s worst civil nuclear disaster. The accident was at the forefront of many protestors’ minds in Berlin.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Greens, who are riding a wave of record support, may take control of a state government for the first time next year, co-leader Cem Oezdemir said on Thursday, and deal a severe blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Oezdemir told Reuters that surveys showed the center-left Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) could oust Merkel’s conservatives from the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, one of Germany’s biggest, in a March election.

“We now have poll results that show it could be enough (to rule) together with the SPD,” Oezdemir, 44, said in an interview.

A survey by pollster Infratest Dimap published last week showed 27 percent of Baden-Wuerttemberg voters backing the Greens, and 21 percent the SPD, which would suffice for a majority — and turn the tables on the traditionally bigger SPD.

“As far as the question of the state premier goes, it’s quite simple. The party ahead at the end is usually the one to have the state premier,” he said. “But we’re not that far yet.”

Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have ruled the state, which is home to carmaker Daimler and software giant SAP, since 1953. With a population of nearly 11 million, the state has an economy the size of Poland’s.

The Infratest poll showed the CDU securing 35 percent of the vote in Baden-Wuerttemberg and their Free Democrat (FDP) allies 5 percent — the minimum needed to enter parliament in Germany.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s political establishment voiced relief on Friday after the resignation of central banker Thilo Sarrazin, who has inflamed the country with outspoken comments on race and religion.

Sarrazin said he would quit the Bundesbank’s board from the end of September after his comments on Muslim immigrants and Jewish genes drew censure from Chancellor Angela Merkel on down and prompted the central bank to seek his dismissal.

His resignation, announced late on Thursday, means President Christian Wulff will no longer have to decide whether to approve the bank’s request, an awkward choice that threatened to expose Merkel to a backlash from conservative voters.

Wulff, nominated by Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said through his spokesman he welcomed Sarrazin’s decision and the “mutual solution that had been found with the Bundesbank.”

Sarrazin, 65, has dominated headlines over the past fortnight for his trenchant criticism of Turkish and Arab immigrants, some of which he set out in a new bestselling book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany does away with itself).

Newspaper Financial Times Deutschland wrote “Sarrazin does away with himself” — a play on the title of his book.

“Sarrazin thus saves himself and Germany a demoralizing legal battle over his sacking. Wulff will be spared a very tricky decision — whether or not to sign off on it,” it wrote.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Over the past year, Thilo Sarrazin has upset Jews, Muslims, the poor and all of Germany’s main political parties — and become a bestselling author backed by broad swathes of the German public.

Sarrazin said he would quit the Bundesbank’s board from the end of September after his divisive remarks on race, religion, and immigration earned him censure from Chancellor Angela Merkel and prompted the central bank to seek his dismissal.

His resignation, announced Thursday, means President Christian Wulff no longer has to decide whether to approve the Bundesbank’s request, an awkward task that threatened to expose Merkel to a backlash from conservative voters. Sarrazin, a former finance minister of the city of Berlin had long been outspoken, but recent claims that Jews shared a particular gene and Muslim immigrants were lowering the intelligence quotient of German society proved a tipping point.

Uproar over his contentious musings culminated last week with the publication of the banker’s new book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany does away with itself), and Sarrazin is now under police protection following threats to his life.

Sarrazin’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) have also begun proceedings to expel him, though the 65-year-old has said he aims to “go to his grave” a member of the SPD. Polls show the party has been hurt by the debate over whether to eject him.

Having inflamed opinion in 2009 with disparaging remarks about Germany’s large Muslim population, Sarrazin’s book makes a number of claims that have been seized on by far-right parties as a vindication of their own policies.

In 2009, Sarrazin — who has been compared to Geert Wilders, the head of the Netherlands’ anti-immigration Freedom Party — was stripped of some of his duties at the Bundesbank after comments in a magazine interview:

BERLIN (Reuters) – The Bundesbank’s decision to ask the German president to dismiss a divisive board member has put him and his ally Chancellor Angela Merkel in a jam: they’ll be damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.

Central banker Thilo Sarrazin has exposed deep rifts in Germany over the integration of immigrants with disparaging remarks about Muslims and theories on Jewish genes, prompting political leaders to pile pressure on the Bundesbank to act.

The central bank last Thursday duly requested that President Christian Wulff remove board member Sarrazin, an unprecedented step for which Merkel said she had “great respect” — though it may have far-reaching consequences that could weaken her hold on power.

As the dust settles from the protest kicked up by Sarrazin, Merkel and her allies have become more guarded about criticising the 65-year-old, reflecting a growing awareness of the support he enjoys among voters and the legal threat he poses.

“It’s a lose-lose situation,” said Ulrich von Alemann, a political scientist at the University of Duesseldorf. “The legal foundation for the dismissal appears shaky. But Wulff has been clever to seek the government’s view on the matter first.”

Following Wulff’s request, the chancellery asked the finance ministry to submit a legal assessment of Sarrazin’s conduct. The ministry has yet to signal when its review will be complete.

If removed from office, Sarrazin has intimated he will fight the decision, raising the prospect of a bruising court case that may turn the provocative banker into a hero and raise questions over whether Merkel and her ministers acted correctly.

BERLIN, Sept 2 (Reuters) – German central banker Thilo Sarrazin has divided public opinion with remarks about Muslim immigrants and comments about the genetic make-up of Jews, prompting calls for him to step down.

Leading politicians have called for the Bundesbank to dismiss the 65-year-old, who has dominated headlines in the public furore surrounding the launch of his book, “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany does away with itself).

The Bundesbank has met to discuss Sarrazin’s fate this week, but has yet to announce a formal decision.

Following are some questions and answers about the case and why it has sparked such outcry in Germany.

WHAT CAUSED THE CONTROVERSY?

Much of the anger has focused on a chapter in the book Sarrazin devotes to immigrants and their integration in Germany, whose population is ageing and shrinking. Excerpts from the book featured in German media include the following:

“In every European country, due to their low participation in the labour market and high claim on state welfare benefits, Muslim migrants cost the state more than they generate in added economic value. In terms of culture and civilisation, their notions of society and values are a step backwards.”

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) – German public opinion is deeply split over the fate of a central banker whose disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants have triggered a heated debate on race and integration, surveys showed on Wednesday.

Over the past week and a half, Thilo Sarrazin has dominated headlines with criticism of Germany’s large Muslim community, and contentious remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and a host of leading politicians have rebuked the 65-year-old Sarrazin, who has said immigrants of Turkish and Arab origin refuse to integrate, sponge off the state and make the country less intelligent on average.

Germany’s Central Council of Jews and others have urged the Bundesbank to dismiss Sarrazin, but the bank said on Wednesday it had put off a decision over his fate until at least Thursday.

A survey by pollster Emnid for N24 television showed 51 percent of respondents saw no need for the Bundesbank to fire board member Sarrazin, with 32 percent taking the opposite view.

But another poll by YouGov for Bild newspaper said 42 percent considered Sarrazin no longer acceptable for the job, with 34 percent seeing him as still acceptable and 25 percent undecided. Both surveys polled around 1,000 Germans.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble added to pressure on the bank to act, saying Sarrazin had failed in his duties.

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) – A majority of Germans do not believe the Bundesbank should sack a member of its board who has divided the nation with disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Over the past week and a half, the central bank’s Thilo Sarrazin has dominated headlines with criticism of Germany’s large Muslim community, and contentious remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and a host of leading politicians have rebuked the 65-year-old Sarrazin, who has said immigrants of Turkish and Arab origin refuse to integrate, sponge off the state and make the country less intelligent on average.

Germany’s Central Council of Jews and others have urged the Bundesbank to dismiss Sarrazin, but the bank said on Wednesday it had put off a decision over his fate until at least Thursday.

A survey by pollster Emnid for N24 television showed 51 percent of respondents saw no need for the bank to fire Sarrazin, with 32 percent taking the opposite view.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble added to pressure on the bank to act, saying Sarrazin had failed in his duties.

“He has quite obviously failed to meet his obligations: restraint,” Schaeuble said. “This kind of breaking taboos does not bring our country forwards, it only does the opposite.”

BERLIN, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Descendants of Germany’s Muslim migrant workers respond with a mixture of defiance, dismay and laughter to the theories of central banker Thilo Sarrazin, who has spent the past week railing against Muslim immigrants.

Sarrazin sparked strong criticism from the German government and party colleagues in his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) over his comments that Muslim immigrants undermine German society, refuse to assimilate, and sponge off the state.

Turkish-born electrician Halis Soenmez laughts at the mention of Sarrazin’s name, patting the bulge of his stomach to show how well he has integrated in German society.

He says there was no question some Turkish migrants to Germany in the 1960s struggled to fit in — because nobody thought they would stay.

“After three years they were expected to go back. In the 60s, 70s or 80s there was never any talk about integration. That came later,” he said in flawless German with a Berlin accent.

“It’s a different story with later generations though. See, I’ve even got myself a German belly now,” the 45-year-old said.

Sarrazin’s comments have been condemned from Chancellor Angela Merkel down and the Bundesbank has distanced itself from its board member, saying it would consider steps against him.

BERLIN, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Germany’s central bank publicly accused board member, Thilo Sarrazin, of damaging its reputation and warned of further action against him after comments he made about Jews and immigrants.

Sarrazin defended himself at a news conference on Monday in Berlin, denying he had used racial theory, and insisting his conclusions about the danger to Germany from Muslim immigrants were based not on ethnic differences but on cultural heritage.

The central banker, formerly finance minister of Berlin city state, also stood by statistics he said showed that Muslim immigrants were undermining German society.

The Bundesbank said in a statement after an extraordinary board meeting that his views did not reflect those of the central bank and that it wanted to talk to Sarrazin “without delay” and would decide on further steps “soon afterwards”.

“The Bundesbank board is of the view that Dr Sarrazin’s comments hurt the image of the Bundesbank,” the statement said.

Discrimination had no place at the central bank, it said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Sarrazin at the weekend, saying his remarks were “completely unacceptable”, and urged the central bank to act.