Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17 (IANS): In a first, four German nationals presently holidaying in Kerala, cast their postal votes for their country’s federal elections, at the German Honorary Consulate in the city on Monday.

Rainer Helbing, Uta Helbing, Evelyn Kirn and Veronika Zhuravleva cast their votes at the German Honorary Consulate in the city for the February 23 elections.

This is the first time that German citizens have cast their votes for national elections in Kerala.

Syed Ibrahim, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany to Kerala oversaw the polling by these four German nationals.

The collapse of the Traffic Coalition of the Socialist Party of Germany, Free Democrats and the Greens last November led to an early election, at least seven months earlier.

A host of issues like the emergence of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), the alleged interference of U.S. business tycoon Elon Musk to influence the German voters through his open posts supporting the AfD and increasing levels of anti-migrant trends have turned this year’s elections a highly polarised and volatile.

The polling station, Goethe-Zentrum, was established in 2008 with the primary objective of offering German language classes at levels A1 to C2.

The Indo-German Language and Cultural Society manages the Goethe-Zentrum in Trivandrum and its branch in Kochi.

The centre offers the most modern infrastructure, including air-conditioned classrooms with smart boards and facilities such as a cafeteria, amphitheatre, garden, and self-study room.

Over the years, a large number of German tourists have arrived in Kerala. On average, 5 to 7 per cent of the foreign tourists arriving in Kerala are German nationals.

On the other hand, a good majority of Indian nurses who worked in Germany were from Kerala and presently a good number of Indian students are studying in Germany.