Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in German elections on Sunday, but her victory was clouded by the historic entry of an openly anti-immigration hard-right party into parliament, exit polls showed.

Merkel's conservative bloc garnered between 32.5 and 33.5 percent, well ahead of the second placed Social Democratic Party with 20-21 percent, national broadcasters ARD and ZDF said in separate exit polls. The hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) clinched third spot, obtaining between 13 and 13.5 percent of the vote, they added.