It is still too early to draw any conclusions about the election result because there is so little difference between the major parties.
The Social Democrats SPD currently have a narrow lead according to a first polling station survey by ZDF.
In it, they get 26 percent of the voter support while the Christian Democrats CDU have 24 percent.
At the SPD's vigil in Berlin, cheers and applause are heard, even though it is still extremely even.
- Here it is a huge cheer, now we get to follow how this develops, says Cecilia Gralde, SVT's reporter on site.
Nothing has been determined yet
Preliminarily, the Greens have 14.5 percent and are the third largest party.
The right-wing nationalist party AFD is currently declining to 10 percent from 12.6 percent in the last election.
The left, Die Linke is on the block and balances with 5 percent.
But the polling station survey must be taken with some caution.
Many Germans have voted early and a more certain result can only be expected later tonight.
Different government alternatives
An important question when the election result is ready is what the government alternative that will govern will look like.
- It is currently pointing to three party coalitions to form a majority, with either the SPD, CDU and the Greens or the SPD, CDU and the Liberals FDP, says SVT's former European correspondent Rolf Fredriksson.
After the last election in 2017, it took five months before a government was in place.