Angela Merkel is to be given a traditional send-off after 16 years as Germany's Chancellor, but with a surprisingly non-traditional element. 

Among the three songs she has chosen to be played by a military band at the ceremony on Thursday evening is Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen (You forgot the color film) by 1980s punk rocker Nina Hagen, who began her career in the East, before emigrating to West Germany.

An orchestral arrangement of the song, first released in 1974, was specially written by a music corps clarinetist for the ceremony.

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Touching 1960s ballad Fuer mich soll's rote Rosen regnen (It should rain red roses for me) by Hildegard Knef and the hymn Grosser Gott, wir loben dich (Holy God, we praise thy name) completed Merkel's selection.

Soldiers in full regalia and carrying flaming torches will take part in the carefully choreographed event, accompanied by a marching band performing traditional military music and Merkel's own playlist.

The ceremonial send-off comes just days before Germany's parliament is due to officially elect Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as Merkel's replacement, putting the center-left politician in charge after 16 years of conservative-led rule.

Known for her regular attendance at Bayreuth opera festival, dedicated to the composer Richard Wagner, Merkel surprised military band leaders and political commentators alike with her unusual playlist.

Asked at a press conference Thursday about the pick, Merkel said it harked back to her younger days in communist East Germany.

"The song was a highlight of my youth... The song also came from East Germany and, coincidentally, it is still played in a region that used to be my constituency. So everything fits today," she said.

Merkel was born in the port city of Hamburg, but her father, a Lutheran clergyman and a schoolteacher, moved the family to a small-town parish in the East at a time when tens of thousands were headed the other way.

The military ceremony, known as a grosser Zapfenstreich, has its origins in the 16th century and is the highest tribute paid by the German army.

The rapid increase in coronavirus cases in Germany in recent weeks means attendance at the ceremony in front of the German defence ministry in Berlin will be limited.

Guests will be required to show they have protection from COVID-19, present a negative test and wear a mask.

One of Merkel's last acts as chancellor has been to announce measures to restrict public activities of people who are unvaccinated.