A set of bumper local elections has thrown Germany, and its government, off balance. Chancellor Friedrich Merz may now be a man on borrowed time. His coalition government is in crisis.
But this breakdown of business as usual in Germany has been brewing for years. It's a nation wrestling with new, uncomfortable and unresolved realities. Think of certain stereotypes about Germany, and think again.
A country dominated by boring, consensus-driven politics? A confident, powerhouse economy at the cutting edge of car-making? A nation that can be used as a byword for impressive efficiency?
The trains don't even run on time. Many Germans I've spoken to feel their nation has drifted away from the things that once anchored their identity. And the question of what next is, as yet, unanswered.
That uncertainty is currently embodied by a beleaguered chancellor weakened by bruising regional election results. In the last fortnight, Friedrich Merz's party was beaten to first place in Berlin, pummelled in the polls in Saxony-Anhalt and pushed out of parliament altogether in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A lifeline for Merz is that no-one, within his own centre-right CDU party, is yet willing to challenge the chancellor openly despite persistent rumours of a Kanzlertausch (chancellor swap).
But he is on thin ice, with record low approval ratings among voters who often describe him as arrogant and out of touch. It is a problem that in government circles is sometimes more politely referred to as a "communication" issue. Those who back the Chancellor say it is time to double down on much-needed reforms, alongside its centre-left SPD coalition partner, and find a better way of talking to people.
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