The polls are open across Germany in an election that could shape Europe’s response to the new Trump administration in the US, the Russia-Ukraine war and security across the continent.

The election pits the incumbent chancellor against the opposition leader, the vice chancellor and, for the first time, a leader of a far-right party.

Germany’s electoral system rarely gives any party an absolute majority and opinion polls suggest that no party is anywhere near one this time.

Two or more parties will most likely form a coalition in the coming weeks.

Top campaign issues were the German economy, still Europe’s largest but struggling, and irregular migration.

The election comes seven months ahead of schedule after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition in early November.

Mr Scholz lost a confidence vote on December 16 and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ordered the parliament to be dissolved on December 27, saying a new election was the only way to give the country a stable government capable of tackling its problems.

It is only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule after a confidence vote under Germany’s post-Second World War constitution.

The candidates are Mr Scholz, opposition leader Friedrich Merz, vice chancellor and environmentalist Greens candidate Robert Habeck and co-leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel.