According to the latest polls, the party is either fighting for first place with or is ahead of the Christian Democratic Union, which is mired in Covid-related difficulties, including a corruption scandal and dissatisfaction at the slow rollout of the vaccination programme.
Their poll ratings have comfortably eclipsed those of the centre-left Social Democrats over the past 12 months, and a pragmatic leadership has been careful to court the political mainstream on foreign policy issues such as commitment to Nato.
Germany’s Greens have the potential to become the leading force in a rehabilitation of progressive politics in Europe, where centre-left parties have struggled to unite older blue-collar voters with younger generations who have grown up in the post-industrial era.
To promote a fair transition to a green economy, Ms Baerbock and her colleagues have promised a $500bn public spending programme and said they would abandon the so-called debt brake, a constitutional limit on government borrowing.
But convincing electorates and markets that it can be done – and funding the meaningful regeneration of post-industrial regions – is the pivotal task now facing all progressive parties.