The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party has accused Angela Merkel of being worse at her job - because she has no children.

Frauke Petry, who has four children, said the German chancellor was unable to 'see beyond her own lifespan' because she had no offspring of her own.

Merkel, 62, has never had children but her second husband, Joachim Sauer, has two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Frauke Petry (left), who has four children, said the German chancellor (right) was unable to 'see beyond her own lifespan' because she had no offspring of her own

Petry told Germany's Stern newspaper: 'I have four children and Merkel has none.

'Children help people to see beyond their own lifespan and that is exactly what Merkel does not do,' she added.

Supporters of Merkel later took to Twitter to defend the underfire chancellor with one writing: 'It is not the absence of children that is to blame for Merkel's bad policy. Mothers are not better politicians, as Petry shows.'

According to RT, Merkel once suggested that she did not regret not having children, telling n-tv 'It has just happened so'.

It comes as Angela Merkel's party made historic losses in elections for the Berlin state parliament after a mayor warned of a resurgence of Nazis in Germany.

Protesters are pictuted wearing masks showing the faces of Frauke Petry (left) and US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (centre)

Many voters turned to the AfD, which with 13 per cent of the vote will enter the German capital's assembly for the first time, according to initial projections.

Before the election, mayor Michael Müller had warned that a double-digit total for the AfD would' be seen around the world as a sign of the return of the rightwing and the Nazis in Germany'.

On Saturday Merkel announced plans to jettison her 'we can do this' mantra about accommodating refugees as her poll ratings continued to slump.