That impression is broadly right, thinks Oskar Niedermayer, a politics professor at the Free University of Berlin.

ECONOMIST: Germany��s government

The reason, says Professor Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich of the Free University of Berlin, is that Germany returned to full employment more quickly, thanks partly to Hitler's own form of Keynesian stimulus: notably autobahn-building and rearmament.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

Supporters of the ESM, such as Christian Calliess at the Free University of Berlin, who advised the court, countered that the ESM was designed so that its board, to be based in Luxembourg, needs approval for its decisions from the parliaments of member states.

ECONOMIST: Germany and the euro

By its ruling, the court sets itself up as final arbiter of further EU integration (and even of rulings by the European Court of Justice), argues Christian Calliess of the Free University in Berlin.

ECONOMIST: Germany and Europe