Germany's election winner Friedrich Merz wants to form a government quickly in order to revive a moribund economy, hike defence spending and tackle diplomatic challenges ranging from a confrontational Trump administration to ending the Ukraine war.

Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

The next German government faces calls to loosen borrowing rules, slash energy costs and spur innovation. It won’t be easy.

Here are five key takeaways. Look at an election results map of Germany, and you could almost have travelled back in time to the Cold War, when an iron curtain divided communist East Germany from the west.