Tucking into beer and pretzels, the frontrunner to become Germany's next chancellor, conservative millionaire Friedrich Merz, is showing off his folksy side as he invites supporters to his picturesque western hometown of Brilon. His CDU party is leading in the polls but the personal approval ratings of the former corporate high-flyer and hobby pilot are lukewarm. But supporter Bernhard Brieden believes "he is well qualified and good intellectually," adding, "I am confident that Germany needs a man like him to lead it out of the crisis." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES