Details added (first version posted on 12:23)
The office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been sealed off after the discovery of a suspicious package, Reuters news agency reported citing a police spokesman.
An image from the scene showed four yellow postal crates abandoned in heavy snow outside the chancellory in Berlin, with police sealing off the area while they assess the situation. The mail box was later discovered to be harmless, and police have given the all-clear.
"We are investigating a suspicious package," a police spokesman told Reuters earlier. An eyewitness also informed the agency there were four yellow plastic crates visible in the sealed-off area.
The spokesman added that the package had been discovered in the course of a routine patrol at 8:30 local time.
Several hours later, the police informed reporters that "the experts found nothing suspicious."
Four yellow crates resembling mail boxes were described by eyewitnesses as being inside the sealed off area. The German channel N24 earlier cited police as saying the objects were indeed mail.