The briefcase, the Porsche and the collapse of the German government – podcast

Der Spiegel journalist Regina Steffens and author John Kampfner explain how Germany’s traffic light coalition came to an end, and the profound problems facing whichever government comes next

As Germans processed the news of Donald Trump’s re-election on Wednesday, they were soon hit by a story much closer to home – their coalition government was about to collapse.

As Der Spiegel journalist Regina Steffens explains to Helen Pidd, though the divisions within the government were well-known, it still came as a shock. This, after all, is a country that values political stability and has not seen a government collapse in more than 40 years.