Both countries still have a residual group who feel that the best days were in the past when strong leaders defended national pride.

Seems a bit of a leap. Reflection on the "glory days" in Germany is a marginal phenomenon - politically, socially and geographically as well. The rhetoric plays no part in the general discourse (except to entirely disqualify the speaker).

The only lever Schäuble uses is fear.

My take is that Schäuble is a control freak with an extremely low tolerance for diversity, even by the standards of his own party today.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman