Pollster : German support for Merkel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter , Wolfgang Schaeuble , European Union, Britain

The survey, by pollster Infratest dimap for national broadcaster ARD, also showed a sharp rise in German support for the EU as for the first time a majority said there were more advantages than disadvantages to being in the bloc.

Some 59 percent of Germans said in the poll published late on Thursday that they were satisfied with Merkel, up from 50 percent in June.

A record 52 percent said that EU membership was advantageous, 13 percentage points higher than in a poll conducted before the British referendum on June 23.

Merkel is the third-most popular German politician after Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) who enjoys 74 percent support and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of her conservatives, at 64 percent.

The poll found that support for Merkel's conservatives had risen to 34 percent, from 31 percent last month. The conservatives, who govern in a coalition with the SPD, won 41.5 percent of the vote in the 2013 national election.

src:reuters