German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweeted a pirate photo of himself on Monday wearing a black eye patch and dark red bruises on the right side of his face — the result of a jogging accident over the weekend.
“I’m excited to see the memes,” the chancellor wrote in the caption.
To allay any concerns about his health, Scholz smiled slightly in the photo, which appears to have been taken at the chancery, and also wrote: “Thanks for the well wishes, it looks worse than it is!”
Scholz fell while jogging on Saturday and suffered bruises on his face, forcing him to cancel some appointments this weekend, the government said.
His spokesman told reporters in Berlin later on Monday that the chancellor was doing well given the circumstances.
“He was in a pretty good mood this morning, but still looks a bit battered,” said Steffen Hebestreit, adding that the photo was published “so everyone can get used to what he will look like over the next two weeks.”
On Sunday, the 65-year-old German leader canceled appointments in the region of Central Hesse, where state elections will be held on October 8. However, he was expected to attend public performances in Berlin later on Monday.
Local media reported that Scholz fell while running in his hometown of Potsdam, 28 kilometers southwest of the German capital.
Scholz has been leading Germany since December 2021. He was previously Minister of Finance and Labor and Mayor of Hamburg.
In a profile on his party’s website, Scholz says he hated sports when he was at school, but got a taste for it from his wife Britta Ernst. “Today I jog as often as I can,” he says.
Scholz says he tries to find time to jog, row or walk two to three times a week and also enjoys cycling.
