It was something like a law of nature for the German economy: no matter how severe the crises are, the industry remains strong, sells its machines and cars all over the world and creates work and tax revenue in this country.
Even during the corona pandemic, it was survival insurance that prevented worse cuts for people.
But now this natural law has been suspended for the time being.
The industry stagnated or even contracted somewhat in the spring quarter.
It is thanks to private individuals that economic output increased at all in the second quarter to a manageable extent.
They went back to the restaurant, the hairdresser and the pedestrian zones more often.
The open question now is how quickly the industry can get going again, which depends above all on whether enough computer chips and other preliminary products arrive in the factories.
The forecasts for this have recently sounded bleak.
It is therefore very uncertain whether the German economy will be as strong as before Corona by the end of the year.