German police have found two adults and three children shot or stabbed to death in a family home in a town south of Berlin.

They were called to the house in a suburb of Koenigs Wusterhausen after being alerted by witnesses who had seen lifeless bodies in the house, according to a statement from police and prosecutors.

They found two adults, both 40, and children aged four, eight and 10, dead from gunshot and stab wounds.

Police said they had opened a murder investigation but gave no further details.

German media reported that all five had been in quarantine due to Covid-19.