BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her beleaguered rival Martin Schulz embarked on a final push for votes on Friday ahead of a weekend election, both seeking to beat back a challenge from the emboldened hard-right.

The 63-year-old Merkel, who polls say will cruise by a double-digit margin to a fourth term on Sunday, rallied supporters in the southern city of Munich, at the height of the annual Oktoberfest beer festival.

Schulz, 61, a former European Parliament president and leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, took to the stage in a central Berlin square in a last-ditch attempt to turn the race in his favor.