A clear majority of German MPs have voted to legalise same-sex marriage, days after Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped her opposition to a vote.

The reform grants couples now limited to civil unions full marital rights, and allows them to adopt children.

Mrs Merkel’s political opponents were strongly in favour. But the chancellor, who signalled her backing for a free vote only on Monday, voted against.

The bill was backed by 393 lawmakers, 226 voted against and four abstained.

The German legal code will now read: “Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex”, AFP news agency reported.

Following Friday’s vote, Mrs Merkel said that for her marriage was between a man and a woman. But she said she hoped the passing of the bill would lead to more “social cohesion and peace”.

How did this sudden vote come about?

During her 2013 election campaign, Mrs Merkel argued against gay marriage on the grounds of “children’s welfare,” and admitted that she had a “hard time” with the issue.

But in an on-stage interview with the women’s magazine Brigitte on 26 June, she shocked the German media by saying, in response to an audience member’s question, that she had noted other parties’ support for gay marriage, and would allow a free vote at an unspecified time in the future.

The usually-cautious chancellor said she had had a “life-changing experience” in her home constituency, where she had dinner with a lesbian couple who cared for eight foster children together.

As the news spread on Twitter, supporters rallied under the hashtag #EheFuerAlle (MarriageForAll) – and started calling for a vote as soon as possible.

Mrs Merkel’s current coalition partners – the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who are trailing Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in opinion polls – then seized the political initiative.

They called for a vote by the time parliament went into summer recess at the end of the week – prompting Mrs Merkel to complain she’d been “ambushed”.

Does same-sex marriage have popular support?

Yes – a recent survey by the government’s anti-discrimination agency found that 83% of Germans were in favour of marriage equality.

The day after the Republic of Ireland voted to legalise gay marriage in May 2015, almost every German newspaper splashed a rainbow across its front page.

“It’s time, Mrs Merkel” Green party leader Katrin Goering-Eckhart said then. “The Merkel faction cannot just sit out the debate on marriage for everyone.”

Angela Merkel voted against legalising same sex marriage. Nevertheless, she’ll go down in history as the chancellor who made it possible. Friday marks a historic victory for the political left who’ve fought for years to bring the bill before parliament.

The bill is one of the very last measures to come through parliament before the September general election. By voting against it, Mrs Merkel has appealed to the more conservative members of her electorate. But, by allowing it to happen, she’s cemented her growing reputation as a defender of liberal values and, perhaps more importantly, seen off an issue which might have come to haunt her later on.

If Mrs Merkel wins a majority in September, she’s likely to seek coalition with parties who’d already indicated that same sex marriage legislation would have been a condition of partnership. BBC