Conservative parties and far-right AfD lead in polls, with CDU’s Friedrich Merz likely to become chancellor

Germany goes to the polls on 23 February for a snap federal election that, barring mishaps, will set the course of the EU’s largest and most influential member state, and the eurozone’s biggest – if faltering – economy, for the next four years.

Here is a guide to what is at stake, how the system works, who the main players are and what may be the eventual outcome.