Photo Gallery The Confidence Vote
German Chancellor Schroeder clambers into his limousine on his way to the Bundestag to seek a vote of confidence in his government.
At 8 a.m., the chancellor and Social Democratic Party leader Hans Muentefering meet with parliamentary party members to explain their reasons for seeking new elections.
An uncertain future: Schroeder wants new elections as a referendum on the reform agenda his government has pursued during the past two years. He is widely expected to be voted out of office.
Before proceedings get under way, the finishing touches are added to the chancellor's desk in the Bundestag.
Schroeder took just seven minutes to explain to coalition partner, the Green Party, his reasons for calling a confidence vote he intends to lose.
The Chancellor appears a condemned man as he makes his way to the parliamentary chamber to announce his decision.
The Bundestag is packed to the rafters, with everyone desperate to see the historic confidence vote.
Chancellor Schroeder's wife, Doris, watches solemnly from the visitor's gallery as her husband delivers his speech.
"My request has one unmistakeable aim. I wish to request that the president permit the dissolution of parliament and order new elections," Schroeder told the assembled parliament.
A litany of failures: Customers follow the chancellor's speech in a Frankfurt electronics store.
Interior Minister Otto Schily and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer congratulate the chancellor on his speech to the Bundestag.
Angela Merkel, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union, is expected to be the next Chancellor of Germany.
Schroeder congratulates Joschka Fischer on a bombastic speech in which he compared Merkel to a souffle, which once pricked, would soon appear to be mostly hot air.
Fischer's no-holds-barred tirade against the opposition put a smile back on the weary chancellor's face.
The faces look friendly, but they are queueing to deliver a vote of no confidence in the man they surround.
Schroeder's wife Doris turns to greet her mother-in-law. The chancellor's mother is all smiles, despite her son's current strife.
Pleased as punch: Angela Merkel gets exactly what she wants -- new elections and a real chance at becoming Germany's first female Chancellor.
Schroeder leaves the Bundestag at midday to go and inform President Horst Koehler that he has lost the vote of confidence.
Schroeder asked the president to dissolve the Bundestag. Koehler has 21 days to decide if deliberating losing a confidence vote is legal under the German constitution.
