Called «Die Kanzlerin direkt,» or «The Chancellor Direct» the podcast will feature Merkel's thoughts on mostly political topics, although the first video is to be available Thursday and address the World Cup, which opens Friday in Munich and runs through July 9.

Subsequent videos will be made available each Saturday at www.bundeskanzlerin.de.

The idea is «to be true to the original democratic principle and make information available to everyone so that they can form their own opinions,» government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.

Since taking office in November, Merkel, a physicist by training, has worked to increase Germany's profile as a high-tech country, increasing funding for research and development.