Hard to say for sure, there are so damned many of them here in Germany. This year’s “Die Ängste der Deutschen 2009” (German Fears 2009) study seems to indicate that the fear of the year is, understandably, the economic situation.

But then some of the other top fears get broken down by region: The Bavarians are worried most about natural catastrophes, the Hessians lose sleep over terrorist attacks and the Berliners are apparently frightened silly about becoming invalids, dependent on care (a Pflegefall), which, if you stop to think about it, they needn’t be. They already are.

“Aber das durchschnittleiches Angstniveau ist nicht gestiegen.”