GERMANS ARE a brooding bunch. After all, their language gave the world “angst”. After five years of trouble some may even be feeling a sense of Niedergeschlagenheit (literally, beaten-downness). Covid-19 was followed in 2022 by war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices and cooling Chinese demand for German wares. Europe’s biggest economy last grew year on year in the first quarter of 2023—and then only by a downbeat 0.2%.
