Berlin  - The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is something of a grand old dame of the European left, having been founded as an explicitly socialist party in 1869 - the height of Germany's industrial revolution.

After World War Two, the SPD took their time to adapt to the new mood of the German population, which was focused on getting rich and staying out of politics, and it was not until the 1960s that the party jettisoned its more radical aspects and swept to power with the popular former West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt as Chancellor.

Since then the SPD has had two further chancellors, including Angela Merkel's immediate predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder. Popular due to his refusal to get sign Germany up for the Iraq war, Schroeder however alienated many inside his own party by bringing in swingeing welfare cuts.

In the aftermath of the so-called Hartz IV cuts, many on the left wing of the party abandoned the SPD to join The Left, partly made up out of former Communists from the old East Germany, and significantly splitting the left-of-centre vote.

The SPD are still strong, however, in traditionally working-class or labour areas, such as the Ruhr region and Bremen. Rural support in the protestant north of Germany is also solid, and perhaps surprisingly the SPD has ruled the city of Munich - in the heart of Catholic, conservative Bavaria - almost uninterrupted since WWII.

Going into the 2009 election, the party - under popular chairman Franz Muenterfering, and the less charismatic chancellor-candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier - have struggled to combat the matronly appeal of Chancellor Merkel.

Steinmeier has built the SPD platform on his "Germany Plan", which promises full employment by 2020, mainly by re-directing the Germany's still formidable industrial sector towards green technologies - in which it is already a world leader.

Other goals include the introduction of a minimum wage, free education from kindergarten to university, an end to nuclear power generation, and tougher rules for the financial sector in the wake of the global recession.

The party suffered from a minor scandal in July, when the SPD health minister was found to have ordered her chauffeur-driven limousine to accompany on holiday to Spain, which helped keep opinion-poll ratings in the low 20s. The party also had a fairly disastrous European Parliament election in May.

Steinmeier's robust performance in a TV "duel" against Merkel on September 13, however, has boosted polls a little, giving the SPD the glimmer of hope that they might make it back into government - perhaps even with Merkel's CDU - for a further term. (dpa)