Who Is Friedrich Merz of Germany?

The man most likely to replace Olaf Scholz as chancellor of Germany after the coalition government fell on Monday earned his fortune working in the private sector before returning to politics at 63.

That business background may be encouraging for many Germans as the political turbulence bedeviling one of Europe’s most powerful economies has been caused, in part, by the country’s stagnant economy.

If the polls hold, Mr. Scholz’s successor as chancellor could be Friedrich Merz, the now 69-year-old leader of the rival conservative-centrist Christian Democratic Union. He is offering to get the German economic engine humming again after years of stagnation.

“You are leaving the country in one of the greatest economic crises in postwar history,” he said to Mr. Scholz in front of lawmakers on Monday, shortly before he voted against him in the confidence vote.

“He’s trying to bring back the Germany that works,’’ said Sudha David-Wilp, the Berlin-based regional director of the German Marshall Fund, a research organization. She added that Mr. Merz was looking to create an environment “where the economy is producing and there’s high growth.”

How Germany got here

Mr. Scholz’s loss of the vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday means the end of his coalition government and an early vote for a new legislature, most likely by February. Polls show that many Germans hold him responsible for the failures of his squabbling, three-party coalition, which included the Greens and the Free Democrats.