BERLIN — Almost half of Germans want Greece to leave the euro, and a majority back Chancellor Angela Merkel in her insistence that the country where the debt crisis began must hold to its austerity obligations, a poll showed.

Forty-nine percent of Germans say they would welcome a Greek exit from the euro area, according to the survey taken by Forsa for Tuesday’s Stern magazine. Only 39 percent want Greece to remain in the 17-member monetary union, the poll showed.

Greeks go to the polls June 17 for the second time in six weeks after a May 6 election empowered parties opposed to the German-led austerity drive and failed to produce a coalition majority