The pirate politician: Olaf Scholz shares picture of himself wearing eye patch

German Chancellor hurt himself while jogging

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's injuries included red scrape marks around his eye. BPA

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is “excited to see the memes” after posting a photo of himself sporting an eye patch after injuring his face while jogging.

Mr Scholz suffered minor injuries in the incident at the weekend, which included red scrape marks around his eye.

Sharing a picture of himself on Monday on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Thanks for the well wishes. It looks worse than it is!

“Excited to see the memes.”

And there were memes aplenty, many comparing him to a buccaneer.

They ranged from one featuring an eye patch-wearing cartoon pirate brandishing a cutlass, to others showing a pirate at a ship's wheel, and Mr Scholz wearing a hat with a skull and crossbones on it and holding a sword.

There were also many messages wishing him a speedy recovery, with his post racking up over 9,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments shortly after it was published.

Despite the injury, Mr Scholz – who has been a regular runner for several years – was in good form, his spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.

He also planned to attend his scheduled appointments this week, including a tour of the IAA car show in Munich on Tuesday and a speech in parliament on Wednesday.

“He's doing well under the circumstances,” Mr Hebestreit told a regular press briefing.

“He was in a good mood this morning, although he still looks a little battered.”