Germans gloomy on economy, Merkel support firm

  The Forsa Institute survey, published in the Stern weekly, also showed Merkel's junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), which has said Greece should quit the euro, reaching the five percent threshold needed to enter parliament.

Fifty-seven percent of those polled had a pessimistic view of Germany's economic outlook, while only 12 percent were optimistic - a gap of 45 points which is the widest margin since October 2008 when the global financial crisis hit.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, has weathered the euro zone debt crisis relatively well so far, with exports to non-European markets booming and unemployment touching 20-year lows, even though a rash of recent data have pointed to a slowdown.