Germans believe nation's best days gone

Despite Germany's status as an aspirational destination among record numbers of economic migrants and refugees, most Germans do not have a rose-tinted view of their nation, according to a new poll.

In fact, the survey conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations, or ECFR, found 52 percent of Germans actually think their country's "golden age" is over.

And, the think tank found, most believe their nation's role as Europe's leading economy and political force will diminish further with the retirement of long-time national leader Angela Merkel on Sept 26.

The pollsters say Germany's stable economic growth and low unemployment rate during the past two decades led many citizens in fellow European Union nations to look to Germany for leadership.

But the ECFR found more than a third of non-German EU citizens also sense Germany's best days are behind it.

"If many Europeans believe Germany's star is fading, this could undermine their trust in Berlin," the report said.

It noted "the days when Europe could look to the US for leadership and protection have now gone", which points to a potential leadership vacuum in Europe.

"These findings suggest that, while Angela Merkel has cemented Germany's position as a great European power, the cornerstones of her legacy－neutrality and consensus-building－will not be enough to defend the unity of the EU, and its place in the world, in the years to come," the report says.

The ECFR says in Beyond Merkelism: What Europeans Expect from Post-Election Germany that Europeans do, however, have a soft spot for Merkel and would like to see her lead the bloc one day.

But, with Germans heading for the polls on Sept 26 for a federal election that will select a new national leader, Jana Puglierin, a co-author and senior policy fellow at the ECFR, told the Daily Telegraph people will have to wait to see how the nation's relationship with the EU evolves.

"The approach of putting EU cohesion above all else, which has shaped much of the EU's policy agenda during the Merkel era, could prove a tempting and immediate pathway for her successor," Puglierin said. "However, in the face of international crises, and domestic concerns about Germany's role within the EU, a strategy of 'more of the same' is unlikely to hold."

The United States' business news television channel CNBC said Germany's power and influence during Merkel's tenure was "indisputable" but that, at the end of her 16 years in charge, the future is uncertain.

And, with only 9 percent of Germans believing the nation's best years are yet to come, it is difficult to predict what a post-Merkel Germany and post-Merkel EU will be like.

Piotr Buras, co-author of the report, said Merkel "adroitly maintained" the status quo across the EU throughout her time in office, but new challenges, including the pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical competition, "require radical solutions".

"What the EU needs now is a visionary Germany that will stand up for the bloc's values and defend its place in the world," Buras added.