German Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured her Pelvis on Monday in a cross-country skiing accident.
The 59-year old was forced to call off some of her official appointments and foreign visits, her spokesman said.
(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN STEFFEN SEIBERT, SAYING:
"The Chancellor contracted severe bruising and a so called partial fracture in her left back pelvic ring while cross-skiing over her Christmas holidays. This makes it necessary for her to lie down a lot or use a walking device respectively for the next three weeks."
But Merkel WILL lead her first cabinet meeting of 2014 on Wednesday.
She began her third term last month after sealing a "grand coalition" of conservatives and centre-left Social Democrats.
The news of her accident comes a week after Germany was shocked by the far more serious skiing accident of former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.
