German Chancellor

Her conservative CDU/CSU bloc has seen its worst result in almost 70 years but will remain the largest in parliament.

Its current coalition partner, the social democratic SPD, says it will go into opposition after historic losses.

The nationalist AfD has won its first seats and is set to be the third party, a result that sparked some protests.

Dozens of demonstrators have gathered outside the right-wing, anti-Islam party's headquarters in Berlin, some with placards saying "Refugees are welcome".

Protests have also been held in Frankfurt and Cologne.

The election will also bring a far-right party into Germany's parliament for the first time in more than half a century.

Mrs Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU alliance won 32.5 percent of the vote, making them the largest parliamentary group, an exit poll for broadcaster ARD indicated. However, that was down from 41.5 per cent in the last election, in 2013.

Support for the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), currently junior partners in a so-called "grand coalition" with Mrs Merkel, slumped to 20 percent - a new post-war low. The SPD ruled out a re-run of that tie-up.

Activists say police in the republic have arrested and tortured dozens of people in an anti-gay crackdown.

Mrs Merkel raised the issue during her first visit to Russia since 2015, which saw her hold talks with Mr Putin at his summer residence in Sochi.

Relations between the two nations have been strained over Syria and Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.