Photo Gallery Election in Berlin
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit (left) has won a third term in Sunday's elections in the city-state. Here he is seen at a television appearance with his rival leading candidates, Frank Henkel of the center-right CDU and the Greens' Renate Künast.
SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel embraces Wowereit after the election result was announced. The SPD was the strongest party with around 28.5 percent of the vote.
The Pirate Party, which advocates Internet freedoms, has won seats in a German state parliament for the first time after getting around 9 percent of the vote. Here, members celebrate on Sunday evening.
The victory is a boost for the Social Democrats.
SPD supporters celebrate the result in Berlin's Kulturbrauerei on Sunday evening.
The FDP will no longer have any seats in the Berlin city-state parliament after getting less than 2 percent of the vote. Here, FDP supporters react to the exit polls.
The Greens came third in the election but are the SPD's preferred coalition partner.
Harald Wolf, leading candidate of the Left Party. The Left Party had ruled in coalition with the SPD but that pairing is now out of the question following the Left Party's relatively poor showing.
Renate Künast, the Greens' top candidate, admitted her party had "wanted more."
Christoph Meyer, the FDP's leading candidate, admitted the result was a "bitter defeat" for his party.
Wowereit celebrates his victory on Sunday evening. Observers attributed the SPD's success largely to Wowereit's personal popularity.
