Angela Merkel vowed to get a government in place as soon as possible on Saturday as she recovered from a week-long crisis that threatened to force fresh German elections and could have ended her political career.

In a speech to members of her party, Mrs Merkel said she wanted to avoid a re-run of September's elections, which saw her Christian Democrats reduced to 33 per cent of the vote and left her struggling to muster a coalition government in talks with a range of smaller parties.

“The people voted. And I absolutely do not favor, if we can’t do anything with the result, asking people to vote again,” Mrs Merkel said at a party conference in the Baltic coast resort of Kuehlungsborn on Saturday.

“Europe needs a strong Germany, so it is desirable to get a government in place quickly,” she told the party meeting.

“Now it is no use to grieve things,” she told the party conference.