Remember when everyone called Germany the unstoppable powerhouse of Europe? That narrative is crumbling fast.

For decades, the country operated like a finely tuned export beast - cranking out products, dominating trade balances, and keeping the EU economy afloat. People threw around terms like "economic miracle" without a second thought.

But here's the thing: that engine isn't just slowing down anymore. It's seizing up. And when your continent's biggest economy hits the brakes this hard, the ripple effects don't stay contained within borders.

The cracks were always there if you looked close enough - over-reliance on manufacturing, energy vulnerabilities, demographic pressures. Now those structural weaknesses are coming home to roost, and the rest of Europe is about to discover just how much they depended on Germany's momentum.

This isn't just a German problem. It's a continental reckoning.