The front-runners to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor have faced off in a prime time election debate in Germany. 

German voters will next month go to the polls to elect a new government. For the first time in 16 years, Merkel won’t be on the ballot, with the 67-year-old retiring. Her decision has left open a wide field of candidates vying to replace her. 

In Sunday night's debate, three candidates squared off in front of a national audience for the first time. It included Merkel's conservative CDU successor Armin Laschet, the center-left SPD's Olaf Scholz and the Green Party's Annalena Baerbock.

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Lingering questions over Laschet

The debate follows weeks of intense campaigning from all sides. Laschet, once the favorite to succeed Merkel in the Chancellery, has seen his party's popularity erode to almost level-pegging with its left-wing opponents. 

The fall has been driven by a collapse in his popularity ratings. Facing internal pressure over poor poll numbers, he used Sunday's debate to attempt to inject some much-needed energy into his campaign. 

"I have always felt headwinds. Even now. But don't we all feel it, the wind of change blowing in our faces? In such moments we need steadfastness, reliability and an inner compass," he said.

Center-left surge

The leader of the center-left SPD party, Olaf Scholz, has been the biggest beneficiary of Laschet's stumbles, overseeing a steady rise in opinion polls to overtake the incumbent CDU. 

He used the debate not just to sell his political experience, but also to stress the importance of Germany's presence on the world stage. 

"There needs to be clear support towards NATO, for transatlantic cooperation. There needs to be a clear support of a strong sovereign European Union," he said. 

"There needs to be clear affirmation to a solid budget for the economy to grow, for internal security – those are all issues that are important to all of us, and everybody needs to have an answer to that," he added. 

Germany going Green?

The prime time coverage also provided Green Party candidate Annalena Baerbock an opportunity to sell a fresh vision for Germany. Her party has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years, as climate change and protecting the environment become pressing issues of concern for larger swathes of the electorate.

She used the debate stage to target the other two candidates as being out of touch with a new generation of voters. 

"The stand on climate protection is vital for me in every coalition negotiation," she said. 

"The next German government must set the course for climate neutrality in our country. And I think it just became very clear that this is obviously not the position of the CDU."

Less than a month to go

The candidates will debate twice more before voters head to the polls on September 26.

The high-profile exchanges could well provide crucial opportunities to convince undecided voters that they're the ones to lead Germany into a new, post-Merkel era.