At the time, Germany was an important market for champagne, and many Germans, including Johann-Josef Krug, were coming to Reims to set up business.

WSJ: Reflections on Champagne

"The Germans have been drinking beer for many centuries, " he says wistfully.

FORBES: Beer? Germans Say Nein, Danke

The Germans have many great things going for them but they have so little tact and no feeling at all for diplomatic behaviour.

ECONOMIST: Letters

And the more that foreign and domestic critics attack her, the more many ordinary Germans are inclined to stick up for her.

ECONOMIST: Germany��s government

Spooked by stories of big companies firing thousands even as they make record profits, many Germans no longer believe that what is good for the economy is good for them, says Roland Koch, premier of Hesse.

ECONOMIST: The sad lack of reformers in Germany, even on the right

But for some reason Americans seem to have much more trouble saving for retirement than do Germans, Chinese, Japanese and citizens of many other countries.

FORBES: Savings: Start Early

Many Germans were horrified to discover that the EU rescue package for Greece last year helped to bail out public-sector workers who could retire in their mid-50s on almost full pay.

ECONOMIST: The biggest barrier to public- sector reform are the unions

In German prisons she found many non-Germans harshly sentenced by the allied occupation military courts for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder.

BBC: Sue Ryder family home gets a Civic Trust blue plaque

The only consolation for the Germans the fact they got past Dominic Hasek on two occasions, something many teams failed to do in 1998.

BBC: Canada fail to fire

Although the restrictions were gradually lifted, many Germans seized the chance to move to Germany as soon as the doors opened for them.

ECONOMIST: Central Asia