Germany's political middle falls apart. Will Europe's center hold?

For decades, the overwhelming majority of German voters stuck loyally to the two centrist parties that have dominated political life since World War II. But familiarity has bred contempt.

October regional elections in the states of Bavaria and Hesse have shown those voters coming unstuck, fanning out instead to non-traditional parties on both right and left. And the shifting allegiances have thrown German politics into unprecedented doubt – already leading Chancellor Angela Merkel to announce plans to leave Germany's political stage.

But as a long-time bedrock of European stability, a now politically uncertain Germany will

‘A completely re-drawn political landscape’Less time for European policy-making?