Image source, Getty Images

We're now closing our live page, so let's have a quick recap of a busy election day in Germany:

• Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term - but support for her CDU/CSU alliance has dwindled, and it's the party's worst result in close to 70 years

• Martin Schulz's centre-left SPD came a poor second - the party's worst performance in the post-war era

• right-wing nationalist AfD party is set to come third, securing its first representation in parliament

• a tough period of bargaining to form a coalition lies ahead for Mrs Merkel, as the SPD has said it will be in the opposition

• the most likely scenario is of a "Jamaica" coalition, so-called because of the colours of Jamaica's flag. It includes the black CDU/CSU, the yellow, business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), and the Greens

That's it for the time being - thanks for staying with us. You can still follow all the latest developments on this and other news on the BBC News website and read our analysis here and here.

So, what does Sunday's electoral shake-up mean for Germany?

Here's our explainer.

Jenny Hill
BBC Berlin correspondent

Angela Merkel looked exhausted, strained, as she arrived at her party headquarters this evening.

Emerging from her car, she arranged her face into a smile - first for the cameras and then for the party faithful at the CDU headquarters.

The chancellor knew she’d most likely win this election. But it’s not the victory she or her party had hoped for.

It’s the conservatives' worst election result under her leadership. A verdict, perhaps, on her decision to open Germany’s doors to a million refugees.

Read more from Jenny here

Early official results from the eastern state of Saxony show - albeit with five of 16 districts in - that the AfD has so far got the most party votes.

Germans have two votes at the election - the first to choose the local candidate of their choice, the second to choose their preferred party.

Image source, Other

Chancellor Merkel's CDU/CSU alliance looks set to have won the election with its second smallest share of the vote of the post-war era.

Despite being the largest party, the CDU/CSU won around 33% of the vote.

Only in 1949, when the party won 31% under Konrad Adenauer (but still led the next government of then-West Germany) have the conservatives captured such a small share of the vote at a federal election.

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Image source, ARD

Image source, Getty Images

Time to treat yourself after a long election day? Cupcakes decorated with the CDU logo have been laid out at the party's headquarters in Berlin.

Der Spiegel's Sebastian Fischer spells out eight lessons from Sunday's elections:

West German broadcaster WDR tweets footage from Cologne:

...and here's how voters migrated between different parties - according to this chart:

This graphic, retweeted by British historian Niall Ferguson, shows who has lost and gained votes compared with 2013.

It does look like a big swathe of CDU/CSU ("Union") voters have deserted the party - to the benefit of the AfD.

Danny Aeberhard
Europe analyst, BBC World Service

The Christian Democrats and Social Democrats were accused beforehand of running a soporific election campaign.

If so, this was the wake-up call.

The seemingly cosy consensus of their grand coalition has been wrecked. They have haemorrhaged support, with smaller parties benefiting.

The chancellor is back at the party headquarters to thank her supporters.

The BBC's Tom Grundy has sent these tweets from a protest rally outside the AfD headquarters in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Angela Merkel responds: "Not sure how Mr Meuthen is able to tell whether someone is a German passport holder or not simply by looking at them, I'm not able to do that."

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

More from the post-election discussion.

Jörg Meuthen, an AfD spokesman, says: "The Bundestag needs to make policies in the interest of the German people.

"I want to stress that we accept people with a history of migration, as long as they are fully integrated into German society.

"Furthermore, and if Merkel keeps defending the legality of her decisions in 2015 [on taking migrants in], then she should have to be part of a parliamentary inquiry into the legality of those decisions.

"We do not accept racism and xenophobia, in fact these sentiments don't exist in our party."

But he went on to say:

"In some German inner cities that I visit, I see only isolated Germans on the streets."

Angela Merkel may have won again but she had hoped for a better result and tough coalition talks are now expected.

So, the winner doesn't take it all, tweets the BBC's Gavin Lee from the CDU's headquarters.

First reaction to the post-election debate in Berlin attended by Germany's political party leaders.

Spiegel's Mathieu von Rohr describes SPD head Martin Schulz's performance as "defensive and awkward".

The journalist says he "looks like a bad loser".

Asked about the possibility of forming a minority government, Mrs Merkel says she wants to build a stable government for Germany - Reuters news agency.

In the post-election TV debate, Martin Schulz (right) tells Angela Merkel she is "the biggest loser", despite his own party's sorry showing in the polls.

Image source, Reuters