The overwhelming majority of Germans would welcome the nationalisation of large segments of the economy, including its energy, transport and financial infrastructure, according to a new opinion poll that underlines the strength of popular opposition to free-market liberalism in Europe’s largest economy.

The poll also reveals a deep rift between German voters and their government after Angela Merkel, chancellor, rejected plans by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, to create a sovereign wealth fund to take stakes in France’s key companies in order to protect them from foreign buyers.