Germany’s post-war recovery was an economic miracle.
It didn’t just put the nightmare Nazi years behind it. The modern country rose from the ruins with astonishing speed, rebuilding shattered cities and transforming companies like Mercedes-Benz, Bayer and Siemens into titans.
Germany was on the rise in a good way. And then it all started going wrong.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended the cheap gas Nord Stream dream, plunging the country into an energy crisis so severe that politicians were pressing their thumbs and hoping for a warm winter.
The social contract also shattered as frustration with high levels of immigration and a decline in living standards stoked tensions that fuelled the rise of the right wing AfD party.
But signs of trouble were visible long before the covid pandemic pushed us over the brink.
Journalists Will Wilkes and Chris Reiter have spent decades reporting on Germany’s problems, and they lay it all out in Broken Republik.
Will Wilkes has spent his working life writing about Germany, from terrorism to economic crises to the resurgence of the far right. He currently writes for Bloomberg and has previously written for Market News International and The Wall Street Journal.
Chris Reiter is a Berlin-based senior editor for Bloomberg. He covers economics, politics and business news, and has previously reported for Reuters and Dow Jones Newswire.
We spoke about Germany’s worrying lack of national identity, its reliance on structure to manage interpersonal relations, and why it has Europe’s worst social mobility.
Don’t worry, it’s not all bad news. I came away from this book with renewed respect for German culture and a bit more hope for the future. Listen to our conversation to find out why.
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