The villagers voted two to one to oust Mayor Norbert Linder, who earlier this year began wearing women's clothes and using the name Michaela.

Earlier the mayor had promised to leave the village and possibly take the case to the German Constitutional Court if the village voted for the dismissal.

Transexuals from around Germany and from France are reported to have come to Quellendorf - population just over 1,000 - to support Michaela Lintner.

"I think society as a whole has some catching up to do," the mayor told journalists before the vote.

The ballot was instigated by eight village councillors who said the mayor's personal problems have led to the neglect of mayoral duties, and brought unwelcome publicity to the village in the province of Saxony-Anhalt.

Devoted husband

Michaela Lintner: "Society as a whole has some catching up to do"

A devoted husband and father of two, Nobert Lintner decided to come out as a transsexual in order to end a miserable double existence - a decision taken with the support of his family.

The mayor intends to undergo sex-change surgery later.

But personal satisfaction has meant professional disaster.

"Many, many people here just avoid me at the moment," she said.

"Some people are lobbying very, very hard against me. They are the ones who just don't understand transsexuality.

"There is so much ignorance about it.

"Some others are quite supportive, but the vast majority just don't want to talk about it. They're afraid of the whole thing."

Gaining notoriety

The mayor's change of gender role plunged Quellendorf into unaccustomed controversy.

Some villagers believe Ms Lintner's private life is her own business, but others say a mayor who has had a sex change reflects on the village as a whole.

Uve Forter, Michaela Lintner's deputy, was among those calling for the mayor to be removed from office.

He denies the campaign against her has anything to do directly with her sexuality, saying that she had neglected her duties, and created a media circus around the sex-change.

"But it's not my fault. It's all the Mayor's fault. If he had stayed normal, none of this would have happened.

"We would have still have our quiet village."

But Ms Lintner hit back, saying the campaign against her revealed an intolerance she believes lies at the very heart of Germany society.

"Eighty percent of transsexuals in Germany are unemployed," she said.