German Chancellor Angela Merkel cracked her pelvis during a skiing accident in the Swiss Alps and will have to cut back on her work schedule for the next three weeks, her spokesman said Monday.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters the chancellor suffered what she first thought was just a bruise to her left rear pelvic area while cross-country skiing but doctors later determined it was an “incomplete'' bone fracture that will require her to rest for three weeks.

As a result, Seibert said Merkel had canceled a Wednesday visit to Warsaw, Poland, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has called off his trip to Berlin which had been set for Thursday. Seibert said Merkel would continue to preside over Cabinet and government meetings. 

He said Merkel's fall occurred “at low speeds'' but was unable to say if another person was involved. (AP)