Peter Kuras’s analysis of the rather dire situation Germany faces right now is spot-on (Tractor chaos, neo-Nazis and a flatlining economy: why has Germany lost the plot?, 6 February). Back are the dreaded times of the sick man of Europe, only stopped 20 years ago by the Agenda 2010 reform package of the social democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Who is an outcast not only in his party these days, being Vladimir Putin’s friend. Endless rows of tractors from the Brandenburg Gate to the Siegessäule, where Barack Obama spoke to the masses in a much brighter 2008, are the solidified image of the muck the country is stuck in.
And then there is the stiff seriousness of German politics. In August 1919, the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, successful precursor of magazines like Life, published a funny image of President Friedrich Ebert and his defence secretary, Gustav Noske, in trunks on the beach. The scoop made the front page; the young republic was outraged. Lloyd George must have felt the hypocritical quake in Downing Street.
Not much has changed over the last 104 years. While Germany was always extremely serious about the Vergangenheitsbewältigung (getting over the evil past and being loved by humanity again), talented humour left the country in 1933, never to return. What is needed is a clever comedian, a Jon Stewart, to face down all the stuff coming our way 2024. Because, come on, you can’t take Sahra Wagenknecht seriously.
Thorsten Wulff
Berlin, Germany
• It gets bleaker still. Having recently relocated to Berlin from London, I am shocked by the increased level of poverty in parts of Berlin. Away from the hipster bars in Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, it’s a very different picture. Homelessness and drug addiction have risen dramatically, and nowhere is it more obvious than on public transport. Parts of the underground lines U8 and U7 have an almost dystopian feel as they are frequented by drug users and dealers, making for a very unpleasant and unsafe wait at some stations.
Carola Gartner
Berlin, Germany
