In Munich, nurses tend the injured. Police investigate the suspect, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker. Politicians speculate over the impact this incident may have when Germans go to the polls in federal elections next weekend. Immigration was already a predominant issue. That has only been amplified by the image of a white car driven at speed into a trade union rally in the Bavarian city.

The incident in Munich follows other attacks linked to migrants. In Magdeburg, where six people died. Earlier, in Mannheim, Solingen and Aschaffenburg.

Calmer voices say that such incidents, while deplorable, remain relatively rare. That the issue may be mental health rather than migration. That violence is by no means solely linked to Islamic migrants. That it may be connected to the Far Right or other groupings.

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Such voices may eventually gain an audience. But they may be drowned out in the week ahead as Germans prepare to make their choice of a newly elected Bundestag and a new Chancellor. For these are anxious, disquieting times in Germany.

The Wirtschaftswunder, the German economic miracle which saw rapid reconstruction and development, is fading. There have been two successive years of economic contraction. Even the mighty German car industry – a target for President Trump’s envy and revenge – is struggling, with sales and profits down.

It is important to keep such matters in context. Germany is still very definitely Europe’s largest economy, a powerhouse of industry. There is a drive under way to reform and regroup. But there are challenges from workforce costs, from the capital burden of green investment and from Chinese........

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