Exit polls show the center-right Christian Democratic Union party leading, with the AfD party heading towards the strongest showing of the far-right since World War II.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats were headed for a stinging defeat and a likely third-place finish.

Polls are open across Germany as the world’s third largest economy chooses a new leader to guide it through an era of febrile immigration debates and souring relations with Washington.