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Tieng Anh Vui
Stephen Evans explains how the Bundestag election works
Voting is about to start in Germany's parliamentary elections, with polls suggesting Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats may emerge with the largest number of seats.
But Mrs Merkel's coalition partners, the Free Democrats, may not gain the 5% vote share required to win any seats.
If so, Mrs Merkel may have to consider a coalition with her main rival Peer Steinbrueck's Social Democrats.
A coalition of Centre-Left, Left and Green parties is also a possibility.
Voting is due to open at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and close at 20:00.
Elections in Germany are often followed by a period of several weeks of coalition talks before the final shape of the government emerges.
On Saturday, the main parties concluded their campaigns with large rallies. Mrs Merkel held a large event in Stralsund and Mr Steinbrueck appeared at an rally in Frankfurt.
Addressing a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) rally in Hanover on Friday, Mrs Merkel asked for votes to continue with her government's policies into 2017.
"Please vote for the CDU on Sunday," she said, "so that we can continue our solid policy for you, for your children, for your families and friends."
Peer Steinbrueck - whose opposition SDP party is trying to deny Mrs Merkel a third term - has sharpened his attacks on his rival, accusing her of skirting the country's big challenges.
During Angela Merkel's eight years in office, she has protected Germany from a global financial crisis and the possible break-up of the euro.
If re-elected, she will be the only major leader to have survived such turbulent times.
Only Helmut Kohl and Konrad Adenauer of Germany's post-war chancellors have won a third term.
But Angela Merkel and her advisers remain cautious. Although her conservative party, the CDU/CSU, will get the largest number of votes, she is not guaranteed an absolute majority.
The Green Party - who may play some part in an eventual governing coalition - has criticised Mrs Merkel's government for raising taxes.
The Free Democrats (FDP), whose best-known member is Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, has seen its fortunes decline sharply since the last election in 2009, when it won nearly 15% of the vote.
Analysts say the party, traditionally more liberal than the CDU/CSU, has struggled to stand out from its more powerful coalition partner on economic policy.
If the Free Democrats (FDP) do badly, as expected, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) may find themselves looking to other small parties to form a broader, more fragile coalition.
According to an average of opinion polls tweeted by the London-based @electionista monitoring site, the CDU/CSU will get 38.6% of the vote to 25.8% for the SPD and 6.4% for the FDP.
Some analysts also see the possibility of a government led by Mrs Merkel which includes the Social Democrats (SPD), whose leader served as finance minister under Mrs Merkel in a previous grand coalition.
Under another scenario, a new party largely formed from disaffected CDU members could get enough votes to be regarded as a different coalition partner. Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD), as it is known, is avowedly anti-euro and could prove a difficult partner.
German coalitions explained in cake
The election is one of the most important in years because of Germany's dominant role in the eurozone.
With the biggest population of any EU state, it enjoys a GDP that far outstrips the economies of its partners and is crucial to decisions on tackling the eurozone's debt crisis.
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