Mr. Merz needed two rounds of voting to become chancellor after a surprising defeat in Parliament hours earlier that threatened to hobble his new government.

Friedrich Merz lost the first round of votes Tuesday morning in a historic defeat, but ultimately prevailed hours later on the second ballot.

Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round. The conservative leader had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World War II.