Inclusion Criteria:

• Hypertension (office systolic blood pressure > 135 mmHg), untreated or poorly controlled but stable antihypertensive regimen for ≥ 4 weeks
• Presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus or target organ damage (echocardiographic or electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy or microalbuminuria )

• Presence of a metabolic syndrome, i.e at least two of the following [(from letter (a) to letter (d)] in patients with organ damage or at least one of the following [from letter (b) to letter (d)] in patients with diabetes mellitus:

  (a) impaired glucose tolerance (fasting plasma glucose 110 -125 mg/dl) (b )raised serum triglycerides (&#8805; 150 mg/dl) or comitant use of statins for this indication (c) low HDL cholesterol (males: < 40 mg/dl, females: < 50 mg/dl) (d) waist circumference >102 cm in men and >88 cm in women

• Age: 18-75 years
• Negative pregnancy test in females
• Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Concomitant treatment with AT1-antagonists e.g. losartan, eprosartan, telmisartan) or calcium-antagonists (e.g. amlodipine, felodipine, isradipine, nifedipine, nimodipine).
• Concomitant treatment with any other antihypertensive medication that cannot be safely withdrawn at entry (i.e taken on a stable regimen for &#8805; 4 week) and that won't possibly be kept stable over the whole duration of the study.
• Concomitant treatment with known cytochrome P450-3A4 inhibitors (e.g cimetidine, anti-HIV protease inhibitors e.g. ritonavir, azole anti- mycotics eg. Ketoconazole, digoxin, quinidine, tacrolimus) or inducers such as anti-epileptic drugs (eg. phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbitone) or rifampicin
• Concomitant treatment with potassium sparing diuretics.
• Malignant, severe or labile essential hypertension, orthostatic hypotension
• Cardiovascular shock
• Evidence of secondary form of hypertension, including coarctation of the aorta, hyperaldosteronism, renal artery stenosis or pheochromocytoma
• Myocardial infarction or unstable angina within the previous 12 months
• Severe cardiac valve disease
• Severe rhythm or conduction disorder:
• Cerebrovascular ischaemic event (stroke, transient ischaemic attack) within the previous 12 months
• History of intra-cerebral haemorrhage or sub- arachnoid haemorrhage within the previous 12 months
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus
• Proteinuria (determined by uristix)
• BMI > 34
• Uncorrected hypokalemia or hyperkalemia, potassium outside the range 3.0 to 5.5 mmol/l
• Sodium depletion and/or hypovolemia
• Gastrointestinal disease resulting in the potential for malabsorption)
• Liver disease or transaminase (AST, ALT) levels > 3 x the upper limit of normal range.
• Renal failure, creatinine >2.0 mg/dl
• General exclusion criteria: any malignant disease that has required treatment within the last five years, dementia or psychosis, history of non-compliance, alcoholism or drug abuse, treatment with any other investigational drug in the 30 days prior to entering the study, pregnancy and lactation, known state of allergy or hypersensitivity to nifedipine or any other dihydropyridine or to telmisartan, any surgical or medical condition which at the discretion of the investigator place the subject at higher risk from his/her participation in the study or are likely to prevent the subject from complying with the requirements of the study or completing the trial period, history of non compliance to medical regimens or subjects unwilling to comply with the study protocol.