Populist surge piles pressure on Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party on Monday digested another stinging poll loss in Berlin state elections, and the relentless rise of the right-wing populist AfD which rails against her liberal refugee policy.

With one year to go until an expected general election, Merkel's conservatives were licking their wounds after being turfed out of the left-right coalition government in the capital, Germany's biggest city.

It was the fifth regional poll in a row showing losses for the Christian Democrats that Merkel will have to answer for, as voter angst over the arrival of one million refugees and migrants last year continues to shake her once firm standing with the electorate.