Structural deficits in the Berlin republic were already evident during the asylum crisis. With the vaccination debacle, the lack of rapid tests and no alternative constraints, even loyal Merkel fans now find it difficult to misjudge reality.

And if I have already hiked in the dark valley, I fear no misfortune

The Bible says, but we are walking in a very light valley at Tegernsee, and down there, along my usual bike route, lives a local politician whose goings-on one could see one way or another: for some he was a special specimen of the genre The rascal ruled here ruthlessly, as if the state party were still all-powerful and Franz Josef Strauss was alive. For the others he was seen as a shrewd expert who wanted to advance the place, and in doing so, perhaps treading somewhat unorthodox and principle-free, but ultimately mostly goal-oriented paths. There are a lot of anecdotes about him and many of them are probably made up, but he greets me warmly when I cycle past his house and brake, because you don't want to run over anyone down there and besides, what would people say ... and The fact that I appreciate him despite the anecdotes and various incidents that have fallen out of time has something to do with my experiences in 2015 and 2016, when this lovely valley suddenly and unexpectedly got caught up in the vortex of Merkel's border opening. An old smuggler route comes from behind over the Achenpass, and both the Balkan route from Turkey and the Mediterranean route from Italy converged in the neighboring district of Rosenheim.