Gerhard Schroeder never knew his father

Mr Schroeder's father, a corporal in the Nazi German army, died in 1944 during fighting in north-west Romania.

Reports say the chancellor will go to his father's grave in a Transylvanian village for the first time next week.

Fritz Schroeder, who was drafted into the army in 1940, died with eight other Nazi soldiers who share the same grave.

He died in October 1944, just months after Gerhard was born. The site of his grave was only discovered a few years ago.

Cancellations

The visit to the small village of Ceanu Mare will form part of a scheduled trip to Romania and Bulgaria.

Witnesses in the village told reporters that Mr Schroeder's father was wrapped in tent fabric and buried in a common grave.

The BBC's Ray Furlong in Berlin says previous planned visits were cancelled.

An earlier plan to visit the site was shelved after the attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington and another attempt to visit last year was also called off.

Next week's visit is expected to be a strictly private affair, closed to the media.

Mr Schroeder will fly in by German military aircraft and spend two hours in the village including a meeting with the local priest, before resuming his official duties, holding talks with Romanian leaders in Bucharest.