German Of The Day: Sabotage

That means sabotage.

A lot of that going on in and around Germany these days, don’t you think?

Sabotage Hits Trains in Northern Germany, Forcing 3-Hour Halt – A train communications system in Germany was targeted by sabotage Saturday, forcing both passenger and cargo trains to halt for nearly three hours across the northwest of the country, authorities said.

“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it…”

German Of The Day: Allzeittief

That means all-time low.

Buying mood in Germany drops to all-time low – Consumer sentiment in Germany has reached an all-time low due to the high cost of living. The consumer barometer of the German Retail Association (HDE) fell for the third month in a row, reaching a value of 84.14 points in October, the association announced on Tuesday. The value had already fallen to 90.53 at the beginning of the Corona crisis in April 2020 but then temporarily rose again to more than 100.

Consumer pessimism is expected to have a “negative impact on private consumption in the coming months,” the association said.

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.

German Of The Day: Kreislaufzusammenbruch

That means circulatory collapse. That’s one of my favorate fake German illnesses.

Anybody here (generally women) can get it at any time under any circumstances.

12 Illnesses You Can Only Catch in German – There are illnesses that you can only catch in German. No, seriously! If you try to explain these illnesses in any other language, people are going to cock their heads in confusion or outright laugh at you.

German Of The Day: Steuereinnahmen

That means tax revenues.

How’s it go again? The bigger they are, the harder their tax revenues fall? Jeepers. I wonder why tax revenues would be falling in Germany these days. It’s not like businesses are only just beginning to go bankrupt thanks to Germany’s dependency on Russian gas, Green utopian make-believe, skyrocketing energy costs and the resulting crazy inflation. It must be something else.

German tax revenues fall in August for first time this year – Federal and state government tax revenues fell in Europe’s biggest economy during August for the first time this year, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

German Of The Day: Widerspruch

That means contradiction. This is a word that is in constant demand in Germany.

Germany’s Energy Crisis Plan Contradicts Itself – The German government is desperately trying to conserve gas—and subsidizing its use.

Germany’s self-imposed target is to cut back gas use by 20 percent, which is roughly the shortfall caused by Russia’s discontinuation of gas supplies amid its war in Ukraine. Yet…

The federal government has said it will set price caps on gas and electricity by the end of the year. So… Contrary to the greater goal of throttling back consumption, price caps and subsidies will have a positive effect on demand. By easing the burden on consumers, they dilute the price signal to save. “This increases the risk of brownouts and blackouts over the winter,” said Toby Couture of the energy consulting firm E3 Analytics, “as citizens and businesses consume more power than the system can effectively supply.”

German Of The Day: Alarmstufe Rot

That means red alert.

Red alert for the German economy. After months of speculation, it is now official: Russia is turning off the gas tap on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely. Germany is facing difficult times. Not only a cold winter is looming, but an industrial ice age.

German economy to shrink all winter as gas taps are turned off, Bundesbank says – The German economy is contracting already and will likely get worse over the winter months as gas consumption is cut or rationed, the country’s central bank said on Monday.

German Of The Day: Verstaatlichung

That means nationalization.

Sound familiar? Ever more “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help” from the people who created the problem in the first place.

Gas importer Uniper in nationalisation talks with German government – Terms under discussion include increasing state’s holding to 50% as pressure on supplies continues.

The German state took a 30% stake in the group in a rescue package in July, amounting to about €15bn. Credit lines were further extended by about €4bn last month but the situation has worsened since Russia severed gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, forcing Uniper to find alternatives.