Germany’s centre-right CDU and CSU parties have won the federal elections with about 28.5 to 29 per cent of the vote according to exit polls, paving the way for CDU leader Friedrich Merz to become chancellor at a time of economic and political upheaval in Europe’s largest democracy.

With Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU union coming on top of the election, coalition talks will come next. Merz seemed keen to get to work right away, saying that "the world isn't waiting for us." Follow DW f

The 69-year-old will be the oldest chancellor since Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of the new Federal Republic of Germany, who took office in 1949 at the age of 73