As it is, not all reunited Germany's neighbours are happy about the government's shift next year from cosy little Bonn to the capital of Hitler's Reich.
He never returned to motor racing and in 1955 he suddenly, and surprisingly, moved to East Germany, announcing that he could not stand Konrad Adenaur's government.
On Tuesday, spokesman Thomas Steg defended the government's reaction, saying Germany had "not been silent", and that early details about the case had not been sufficiently clear for a "spontaneous reaction".