Olaf Schultz: Germany's new Chancellor

Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a "new beginning" for Germany as he took over from Angela Merkel in an official power handover ceremony.

"It will be a new beginning for our country. In any case I will do everything to work towards that," said the 63-year-old.

Often described as austere and even robotic, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz nonetheless managed to inspire German voters in this year's election with a campaign that played on his reputation as a safe pair of hands.

Scholz, 63, was sworn in as Germany's ninth post-World War 2 chancellor on Wednesday, replacing Angela Merkel who is leaving the political stage after 16 years.

The Social Democrats (SPD) had begun the election campaign at rock bottom in the polls, with many completely writing off Scholz's chances of heading the next government -- so much so that he didn't even have an official biography until this week.

But Scholz managed to stage a stunning upset, beating Merkel's conservatives by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue her legacy, even adopting her famous "rhombus" hand gesture on a magazine cover.

Unlike his rivals, he also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes during a campaign that drew on his reputation as a quiet workhorse, using the slogan "Scholz will sort it".

After a shorter than expected bout of post-election coalition haggling, Scholz has now managed to forge an alliance with the Greens and the liberal FDP.