Isabel Hahn

Risen from the ruins

Germany has known its ups and downs. The recession that struck in 2009, along with the global financial crisis, was the country's worst since World War Two.

It dwarfed even the dire post-reunification problems that led many to consider this country an economic write-off.

But it's bounced back in the past and it's done so again, putting an impressive stable of highly-specialised, niche market exports back into play as the Asian giants reawoke with a fearsome appetite.

In 2009, as the cash-strapped global economy shunned German exports, the economy contracted by 4.7 per cent.

This year, by contrast, the government expects full-year growth of 3.4 per cent, cooling to 1.8 per cent in 2011.

Independent experts are even more optimistic.