>> The German economy has been
the envy of your decades, but no
longer are the country is
officially in recession.
It's people are losing
confidence.
Much of the current troubles
have been caused by the war in
Ukraine, with Germany turning
his back on Russia, its former
trading partner.
Our special correspondent
reports from Berlin.
>> This is the face of the new
four in Germany.
Out of embarrassment, she does
not give a surname.
>> I never, ever thought it
would come to this.
I worked in this country and
raised three children.
I bought my own house.
I would've never seen myself in
this situation.
>> She is a hairdresser.
From one of the provinces in
eastern Ukraine occupied by
Russian forces.
Over a million Ukrainian
refugees have taken shelter in
Germany since the war began.
>> Food is very expensive here.
I can buy meat.
>> In this country of 88 million
, nearly 2 million Germans are
run -- depended on food banks.
>> At the beginning of this year
, we had up to a hundred 20
households.
It can be one person or a family
with two adults and four or five
children area the Ukraine war
has virtually doubled that.
We are now at 200 households.
>> I am ashamed to be here.
This is the bottom layer of
society.
Without -- but now there are
some the middle-class people
here including me.
>> Food banks like this one are
real indication of poverty and
one of the richest countries in
the world.
There are 14 million people
considered to be in poverty area
that is one in six of the
population.
>> German citizens are in a
state of shock or the
expectation was that after the
endemic we would return to
maximum employment and strong
wages.
High competitiveness with other
economies worldwide.
Now people realize it will never
be that way again.
>> He is one of Germany's most
respected economists.
He says the nations economy is
now at a tipping weight.
>> People worried about jobs,
what they achieved in the past.
The first sign of that is high
in ration.
Most people are increasing --
experiencing a massive cut in
their purchasing power.
>> I shop more consciously.
I always make a plan at the
beginning of the week about what
I'm going to end and then I go
shopping.
Otherwise there are impulse
purposes in between.
I avoid those now.
>> This is a costly reminder
that the source of their
problems are the monuments
commemorating the red army that
help the Nazis in World War II.
Outside the Russian embassy,
Ukrainian folk music plays as a
protest against an invasion that
has increased inflation and
stripped Germany of its
defensive capacity.
Politicians insist that Germany
is resolute in its support for
Ukraine.
But some beg to differ.
>> They are saying that things
are getting more expensive.
That is the main way.
They would gladly give Ukraine
to the Russians.
They certainly do not want to
give more money than they are
already giving.
>> He has lived in Berlin for
decades.
He has written nearly a thousand
books in German.
>> They want a certain amount of
prosperity.
If you threaten to take it away,
that is when you turn away the
people.
Migrants came in and they were
really afraid of losing
prosperity.
That is when all the morals went
out the window.
>> Today the Brandenburg gate is
symbolic of the country's
current divisions.
>> Germans are rather frayed
because remembering the second
World War still very present in
the collective memory.
>> Propaganda pictures with
which determines hope to prove
themselves unbeatable.
>> Everyone had a grandfather
who was in the war.
>> We have now stabbed into the
territory of our ally.
We are far from achieving the
object, the destruction of the
red army.
>> This is something Germans are
aware of.
They are really of way that this
could happen again.
>> Of course the soviets of law
-- lost tanks, hundreds of them.
>> He is one of Germany's
leading defense analyst.
He says the nation is alarmed at
how support for Ukraine has
eroded capabilities.
>> Officially and beneficially,
the German forces are not in
position to fight a real war at
the moment.
>> How long could Germany defend
itself if there was a hot or?
>> -- War?
>> Germany would have a real
problem with having that
ammunition.
Certain types of ammunition.
This would mean that Germany
would have to rely on allies.
>> Despite defense, Germany's
most pressing concern is energy.
The nuclear power stations are
being shut down.
>> In the long-term, nuclear
power is not the technology of
which are.
But it would've been good to
rely on it now.
>> Germany is now importing
higher-priced natural gas.
The green energy resources are
not sufficient to fill the gap.
>> What we need to do is be
courageous and innovative.
We need to save energy and we
need to invest in renewables.
>> Companies might not survive
the next five years.
>> Despite boosts in carbon
footprint, the chemical giant
will relocate part of its
production to China.
>> We are building offshore wind
farm, the biggest in the world
area >> German prosperity has
rooted in the power of its
manufacturing.
But that is no longer the case.
>> Car companies and other
companies are losing out in
global competition.
The economic future of Germany
might look very difficult.
But Germany has a lot of
strength.
This is essential for Germany to
manage big transitions.
♪♪
>> While Germany is not as badly
off as other nations in the
world, it has lost some economic
power.
♪♪