The CDU has achieved its worst-ever result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Alternative für Deutschland, on the other hand, continues to grow: in the state, it has almost doubled its share of the vote compared with the last election (from 16.7 per cent to 38 per cent), and the same is true in the city-state, where it reached 15 per cent.

The Christian Democrats have hit an all-time low in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with the AfD making further gains. Yet the Chancellor has ruled out resigning.

Its eerie timing makes it sound like an epitaph to the future. A requiem of condemnation of war, but not only that: something deeper and more complex, as elusive and mysterious as he himself was, despite his impeccable composure