Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time and will close at 6 p.m., when vote counting will begin and exit polls will be released.
Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are expected to win and return to power.
However, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party appears set to achieve its best result on record.
Merz's CDU/CSU bloc has consistently led in polls but is unlikely to secure an outright majority, given Germany’s fragmented political landscape, the Reuters news agency reported.
This will likely require coalition negotiations, potentially leaving unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a caretaker role for months, creating a leadership vacuum amid pressing domestic and international challenges, political analysts said.
Sunday’s election follows the collapse last November of Scholz’s coalition government—comprising his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP)—after a dispute over budget spending.
The SPD is on track for its worst result since World War II, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the AfD is projected to take second place for the first time in a national election, though it remains unlikely to enter government as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with it.
The election campaign has highlighted deep divisions over migration and has been overshadowed by vocal support for the AfD from members of US President Donald Trump's administration, including Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk, news outlets noted.
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Source: Reuters, IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl