By Ewald König

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What German politics has to offer at the moment may be overwhelming, even stressful, for many embassies. They have to report back to their headquarters on why the three-party coalition has collapsed, what Brandmauer means, what impact CDU leader Friedrich Merz's manoeuvre could have on the election result on 23 February and why the outcome of the election is really exciting this time and everything is wide open.

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Every change of government is a challenge for foreign ambassadors. Who will be the new contacts for their country's interests? Ambassadors who have had the foresight to seek and maintain contact with opposition politicians are at an advantage here. Others have to start from scratch, apply for appointments and wait a long time for them.

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In this respect, the current political situation for ambassadors is like poking in the fog, and has been since the end of the so-called traffic light coalition. In a global situation in which the wolves are howling all around, Europe's largest economy is taking a dangerously long time out - from the break-up of the coalition to the election campaign and new elections, to the reorganisation and familiarisation with new offices.

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As confusing as the situation may be for ambassadors, there is another way of looking at it: The heads of mission can now take a breather. They do not currently have any delegations from their sending country to supervise. Because it makes no sense to have delegations come if there are no suitable dialogue partners on the German side.

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It is similar with state visits and other official visits. Of course, one of the highlights of an ambassador's post is when the head of government arrives during this time and the ambassador can show how well connected they are here.
That is no longer the case at the moment. No delegations, no state visits, no working visits. Wait and see. Just take a breather. Then it's full speed ahead again.

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