BERLIN, Jan. 6 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has injured her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident in Switzerland and will have to cancel several meetings, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday.

The accident happened in the alpine Engadine region of eastern Switzerland during Merkel's Christmas holiday in December. Her fall occurred "at lower speed," Seibert said.

Merkel first thought it was just a bruise. After her return to Berlin, the chancellor sought medical treatment and it was determined she suffered "a severe bruise linked with an incomplete bone fracture in her left rear pelvic area."

Seibert said Merkel now needs help with walking and will have to remain lying down as much as possible in the next three weeks.

"The chancellor is fully capable of acting as well as communicating," the spokesman added. "Now she is following doctors' advice to allow an optimal healing from the fracture."

As a result, several meetings have been cancelled, including a visit to Poland scheduled for Wednesday and a meeting with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Thursday in Berlin.

According to Seibert, the chancellor will be working from home mostly, but still intends to chair Wednesday's cabinet meeting, the first gathering of her new "grand coalition" government this year.

Merkel's injury comes just days after German racing legend Michael Schumacher's life-threatening skiing accident in France.

Merkel had expressed her concerns over Schumacher's fall through her spokesman.

"Like millions of Germans, the chancellor and government members were extremely dismayed when they heard about Michael Schumacher's serious skiing accident," Seibert said. "We hope that he can overcome the injuries and recover."