Since Mr Seehofer had called Mr Westerwelle a crybaby just weeks earlier, it was a touching reconciliation.

ECONOMIST: The complex etiquette of du and Sie in Germany

Ms Merkel will look to Mr zu Guttenberg for an electoral lift, but he is beholden to Mr Seehofer, who has been one of her main tormentors since taking over Bavaria in October.

ECONOMIST: A German government shuffle

Mr Seehofer, for example, has distanced himself from her over the euro in a bid to appeal to his Bavarian base (one leading critical economist, Hans-Werner Sinn, runs the CES-ifo institute in Munich).

ECONOMIST: Germany��s government