I was reading recently that Germany's marquee auto brand, Mercedes Benz, is no longer the top engineered car in the world. Plagued by increasing breakdowns and repairs many German taxi owners are buying other brand cars for their fleets. This is a symptom of the rising problems of unemployment the nation is facing.

An article in Tuesday's Financial Times (subscription required) said, "German Unemployment Highest Since 1930's". The opening was like this, "German unemployment shot up to 5.2m last month, its highest level in 73 years, dragging Europe's largest economy deeper into its most serious crisis in months" The stability of the ruling Social Democratic Party is at stake. As reported in other posts here they have been losing regional elections of late.

Today's Telegraph carries an article that shows just how far Germany has sunk among EU member states in some key categories.

The era when its car industry symbolised the country's formidable mix of innovation and engineering skill is now over and the future seems to consist of a long period of managed decline.

By 2011, per capita income in Germany will have been overtaken by Spain, until recently one of the poorest in the European Union.

Most startling is the finding that Germany has fallen way behind Britain in economic performance and individual purchasing power.

While Germany was eight percentage points ahead of Britain just a decade ago, now Britain is nine points ahead.

If that trend continues, Germany, which has had the lowest growth rate in Europe for almost 10 years, will eventually be close to the bottom of the EU's established 15 members (excluding the 10 new members who joined last May), just above Greece and Portugal.

As we have reported, chronic unemployment was but one of the social ills that helped propel Adolph Hitler into power in 1933. hard times led to changes that created unintended consequences. Could the same happen again in a proud nation that has latent capability to once again lead a continent in search of a global identity? Keep an eye on Germany. It is a nation that will not long tolerate such a problem. Somewhere, at some time, someone will come along with an answer. Bible prophecy has something to say about the role that Europe will play in future events. Read about this in our companion booklet, The Book of Revelation Unveiled.