German Chancellor Merkel and leader of the CDU party stands in front of her election campaign tour bus at the CDU’s headquarters in Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party CDU stands in front of her election campaign tour bus before a CDU board meeting in Berlin September 16, 2013. Merkel’s allies of the Bavarian Christian Social Union party CSU swept to victory in a state election in Bavaria on Sunday, regaining the absolute assembly majority they lost in 2008 and providing a show of conservative strength for the chancellor a week before Germany goes to the polls. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY – Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) – RTX13N3L