Gott Sei Dank

Thank God. The Germans are relieved. For a while there things were starting to look way too positive.

Post-Brexit-wise.

Positive trend in German exports to Britain no cause for optimism – DIHK.

German exports to Britain this year could grow for the first time since 2015, statstics office data showed, but the DIHK business association said the numbers did not mark a turn for the better, especially in light of Britain’s current turbulence.

Germans And Their Knives

This happens here all the time. When is Germany finally going to introduce stricter knife control laws?

2 killed in stabbing in southwest Germany, suspect detained – Police say two people have been killed and another seriously wounded in a stabbing in southwestern Germany.

The 25-year-old suspect, a Somali citizen, initially fled the scene and was detained in a drugstore…

German Fracking Doesn’t Stink

Not like that yucky US-Amerikan fracking does.

German of the day: Wir sollten Fracking ernsthaft in Erwägung ziehen. That means “We should seriously consider fracking.”

Reinhard Ploss was head of chip company Infineon, now he heads the German government’s Future Council. Here he talks about how Germany should respond to the energy crisis and why robots are the future.

Now That We Face A Crippling Shortage Of Natural Gas…

Let’s turn off our remaining nuclear power plants too.

We have a reputation for being gründlich (thorough), after all.

Germany’s scramble to revamp its energy policy – Germany woke up too late to the risks of energy dependence on Russia. Moscow’s natural gas shutoff may make it one of the hardest-hit EU economies.

At a dinner at the German embassy in London on October 23, 1980, German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt shocked British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when he told her that West Germany relied upon the Soviet Union for 14 percent of its daily natural gas consumption. “That was very dangerous and unwise,” she said. Mr. Schmidt responded, “My dear Margaret, the Russians have always been the most reliable suppliers. They need us as much as we need them. There is no danger at all.” For nearly 40 years, the chancellor’s optimistic assessment appeared accurate, and Germany’s dependence on Russian gas only kept increasing.

We Not Only Supply You With Nuclear-Generated Electricity Already

(just like the Czech Republic). We’ll supply you with gas now too.

France starts sending natural gas directly to Germany – Technical adjustments were necessary as the single pipeline between the two countries was originally intended only to deliver gas (from Russia) from Germany to France.

If you haven’t noticed, Germany’s Green doesn’t stink.

Fun fact for you CO2 fans out there: The Germans generate 10 tons of CO2 per capita per year (some call it the “Carbon Footprint”), the nuclear-friendly French only do 6.

Putin Forced Us To Become Energy Dependent On Him

It wasn’t our fault, Mom. The other kids were jumping off the bridge too. That’s why we’ve got this recession now, see?

Germany blames Putin for pushing economy towards recession – Vice-chancellor Robert Habeck signals ‘substantial downturn’ in the coming quarters.

Habeck (Greens) blamed the gloomy forecast on Vladimir Putin’s attempts to use energy as a tool to destabilize Europe. Habeck said forecasts would have been worse if Berlin had not taken action to soften the blow.

“The numbers are bad.”

The Majority Of Germans Were Also Confident That The Energy Supply From Russia Was Secure

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Majority of Germans confident energy supply to remain secure through winter, survey shows.

Nearly two thirds of Germans believe that power supply in Europe’s biggest economy will remain secure over autumn and winter, a survey showed on Tuesday, as Berlin scrambles to compensate for falling Russian energy imports.

Do As I Say And Not As I Do

Or, if you prefer, no more German Alleingänge (going it alone)… After this one. Promise.

Tensions flare over the EU’s new irresponsible big spender: Germany – Countries say Berlin has a burden of responsibility not just to pour billions into its own economy — when German mistakes created the crisis.

Ten years ago, when Europe was in the throes of the eurozone crisis, Germany led the drive for austerity. Now the rest of Europe is fuming about Germany’s heavy spending on energy subsidies that they fear could exacerbate the Continent’s politically explosive rich-poor divide. It hardly helps these growing tensions that it was Berlin’s misguided dependence on Russian gas that helped trigger the bloc’s energy crisis in the first place.

German Of The Day: Vertrauensfrage

That means a question of trust – or a vote of confidence.

Happy German Unification Day or something.

Democracy thrives on trust. But especially in eastern Germany, this trust is dwindling – in politics, in the state. Why?

And it’s better in western Germany? Not really.

Only 39 percent of East Germans are satisfied with democracy as it functions in Germany. In the west, the figure is 59 percent. In the east, only about 32 percent believe that politicians care about the good of the country. In the west, the figure is 42 percent.

Gas Consumption Too High?

Well, we’ll fix that by subsidizing its use to encourage consumers to consume even more.

No need to thank us. We’re from the government and we’re here to help.

German gas consumption too high, says energy regulator – Germany’s network regulator, whcih would be in charge of gas rationing in the event of a supply emergency, on Thursday said that household consumption was too high to be sustainable.