Berlin  - Politicians with sex appeal are somewhat rare in the normally staid and predictable world of German public life.

But in less than nine months as a minister, 37-year-old Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has emerged as a new star on the political stage in Europe's biggest economy, rewriting the dictum that politics is "showbusiness for ugly people."

Despite the tough times, Guttenberg has had "a remarkable good start" said German Chamber of Industry and Commerce chief Hans Heinrich Driftmann.

Plucked from relatively political obscurity to takeover over the economics portfolio just as Germany tumbled into its biggest downturn in more than 60 years, Guttenberg quickly took command of events delivering his message with crisp sound bites.

With his smart suits, fashionable slicked-back hair and aristocratic family background, Guttenberg, a self-proclaimed rock music fan has rapidly climbed Germany's political popularity charts to become according to a newspaper poll one of the nation's ten most loved public figures.

A member of the deeply conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg, or "the rocking baron" as he has been dubbed, at one point even overtook Chancellor Angela Merkel as Germany's most popular politician.

Readers of one women's magazine voted Germany's youngest ever economics ministers, the nation's "sexiest politician."

Of course this has all helped to transform Baron Guttenberg into a vote winner for Merkel as she campaigns for second term as Chancellor at Germany's September 27 election.

It also raises the prospects of the Munich-born Guttenberg taking on an even more critical role in Merkel's next government, should, as appears likely she retain the chancellorship.

A photo of a beaming Guttenberg appears on election posters for Merkel's conservative political bloc bearing the slogan "Economics with commonsense."

During his brief term in office Guttenberg has helped to draw up Berlin's fiscal plans to shield the German economy from the fallout from what has been the nation's biggest slump in a generation and to prop up companies battling the crisis.

But despite the bailouts, Guttenberg has been quick to mount an eloquent case for free-market solutions.

"The state is not a gambler with a desire to place bets," Guttenberg said in an interview with the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

More surprisingly, his questioning of state bailouts for struggling German companies does not seem to have dented his popularity in a country that is rather sceptical of neo-liberalism.

It could also be the reason why Germany's opposition seems to have backed off moves to present him in their campaign as the aloof Baron from Bavaria, who is out of touch with the ordinary worker.

Guttenberg has shown himself to be equally at ease enjoying an ale at a beer garden or dressed up in a dinner suit accompanying his stylish wife Stephanie to the opening night of the Bayreuth Richard Wagner opera festival.

The 33-year old Stephanie is a countess and the great-great- granddaughter of Germany's legendary Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

Guttenberg's father was a leading classical orchestra conductor and his grandfather was executed by the Nazis for his role in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler.

More recently, however, Guttenberg popped up at rock concert with a hard-rock AC/DC cover band complete with AC/DC T-shirt.

He also managed to sound quite convincing on the death of Michael Jackson, recalling a concert by the King of Pop he had attended during his younger days.

Billie Jean, it appears is Baron Guttenberg's favourite Michael Jackson song. Thriller said the German Minister for Economics and Technology "was not only a classic but one that is still today highly recommended."

A law graduate, former journalist and the chief executive of the family business, Guttenberg these days divides his time between the family castle in Bavarian and a villa in Berlin. (dpa)