Pirate politician: eyepatch-wearing Scholz sparks mirth

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday posted a photo of himself wearing an eyepatch after injuring his face while jogging, triggering a flood of pirate jokes online.

Scholz suffered minor injuries after falling while out running at the weekend, forcing him to cancel some appointments.

The chancellor posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing him wearing a large black patch over his right eye, with red scrape marks visible around the edge.

"Thanks for the well wishes. It looks worse than it is!" he wrote under the picture on his official account.

"Excited to see the memes," he added.

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

They ranged from one featuring an eyepatch-wearing cartoon pirate brandishing a cutlass, to others showing a pirate at a ship's wheel, and 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 tweet racking up over 31,000 likes and more than 6,000 comments by the evening.

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

The German Chancellor was seen later Monday, sporting the eyepatch, at an annual reception at a Catholic Church in Berlin.

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," Hebestreit told a regular press briefing.

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