An era is coming to an end: Angela Merkel President of the Christian Democratic Union. That’s what the German press says. And that seems to be the first result of yesterday’s regional elections in Hesse. While votes are still being counted, it is clear that both CDU and SPD made huge losses: Angela Merkel’s party (27.1%) lost 11.3%, while the SPD lost 10.9%, equalling 19.8%, like the Greens. However, the Greens achieved that percentage through an 8.7% increase on the previous elections. AfD (Alternative for Germany – Eurosceptics ) got 13% (+9%), and FDP (liberals) 7.5% (+2.5%). Even the Left (Linke) increased, by 1.1%, equalling 6.3%. Therefore, now Angela Merkel is in the limelight, and lots of German newspapers say the same thing: “Angela Merkel ready to step down as CDU leader”, is the headline of Zeit online this morning; “Merkel to resign from CDU presidency”, says the Frankfurter Allgemeine. Der Spiegel analyses vote: “youth and highly educated people chose the Greens”, while “the AfD benefited from electors’ dissatisfaction”. In Hesse, now they are trying to understand which coalition may have parliament majority (69 seats are necessary, and the CDU will get 40 of them). A Greens-CDU coalition is possible; however, these elections will also have consequences on the central government and the future of the Grand Coalition.