Germany's weltschmerz
Weltschmerz in the German language is the psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and (physical and social) circumstances. - Wikipedia
Angst breeds angst.
For a German, doubt and anxiety expand and ramify the more you ponder them. They are astonished that things haven't gone to pot already, and are pretty certain that they soon will.
- The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans
At 6 in the evening Germany stopped working and packed up, to go home. It had been a stressful day, he had seen Kanzlerin Merkel off, as she was going to Greece to visit Prime Minister Samaras and after that he had needed to deal with some opposition members that had scolded him for not telling Kanzlerin Merkel to handle Greece's Prime Minister Samaras delicately. Again. By the time he left the Bundestag to go home, he was running out of patience. And what made it even worse was that Frau Merkel had forbidden him to go to the Oktoberfest this year, because of his workload.
As he stepped out of the Bundestag into the cold autumn air of Berlin he couldn't help but feel weary and vaguely sad. The air smelled cold and like rain. Ludwig sighed and went to find his car. After a few steps rain began to fall, at first only a few drops but by the time he had found his car, he was soaked to the bone.
Scowling, because of the feeling of his suit sticking to his wet skin, he drove home, hoping that his brother had left some Milchreis for him to eat.
When Ludwig arrived at home the first thing he noticed was that the lights weren't switched on. He figured by the time he opened the door that his older brother probably went out drinking with France and Spain as to celebrate the day of German Unity aka the day he was able to move out of Russia's house. The second thing he noticed, as he switched on the lights was that Berlitz had thrown up in the middle of the hall. The doberman was now sitting beside what had been the contents of his stomach, wagging his tail happily. Ludwig pinched the bridge of his nose and send the dogs into the living room. After Ludwig left his shoes by the entrance and had cleaned up Berlitz's mess, he went to his bedroom to change. Whilst changing he realized that his favorite shirt was still waiting to be washed. He sighed.
Having changed he moved to the kitchen to do some more paperwork. Coming into the kitchen he saw that Prussia had indeed left some Milchreis for him, but going through the kitchen cabinets, realized that he had neither cinnamon or canned peaches left. Now he was really beginning to feel depressed. But instead of giving in to his feelings, Ludwig buried himself in his paperwork.
By the time he looked at the clock again it was 11:30 p.m. and he was going over the umpteenth euro crisis document. Starring out of a dark window he couldn't help but wonder what would happen in the future. At first he had only wanted to help Greece and the other crisis-stricken countries, but now he found himself in quite a dilemma. People in the UK were accusing him of wanting to rule Europe through politics, but at the same time, people in Greece claimed that he had to keep on paying, because he owed them as a kind of redemption for World War II. What ever he tried doing – it was wrong. Ludwig wondered how long he could go on like this before exhausting himself – or going crazy. Everyone was playing the Second-World-War-card on him or – he dared not to call it – the Nazi-card. Feeling helpless, he gritted his teeth not realizing the tears in his eyes and his balled fists. The holocaust. He would do anything...if only he could turn back time... to stop – he forbid himself to go down that path.
After a few minutes he let out a shaky breath and tried to focus on his paperwork again. But starring at his paperwork he could feel the burn of tears in his eyes and his mind refused to make sense of the letters. Giving up he placed his head on his arms on the table, trying frantically to think of nothing. On days like today he wanted nothing more than to give his responsibility to his older brother, to give up being a country and to be just the "old federal states"or "West", just like his brother was the "new federal states"or "East" only. This kind of thinking was still quite common among his people – old and new, "Westen und Osten" – enabling him to coexist with his brother.
Some time later he must have fallen into a restless sleep, because this was how his brother had found him.
Strolling into the kitchen the half-drunk Prussia stopped at he sight of his younger brother sleeping on the kitchen table.
"Kesesesesese! My cute little brother~!"
Laughing quietly he moved to drape Ludwig with his jacket, but stopped dead in his tracks, sober in a split second, as he saw the tear-stained cheeks of his sleeping little brother. Sighing quietly he switched the lights off and picked his brother up carefully, as not to wake him up. Carrying him down to his room in the basement Gilbert wished he could do more for his little brother. But, placing Ludwig on his bed the only thing Gilbert could do for him, was to stay up the whole night, whispering smoothing words into his little brother's ear, to ensure that Ludwig would at least have one night of restful sleep.
And tomorrow would be a better day. Who knows, Gilbert thought, as he pushed Ludwig's hair out of his little brother's face, maybe we find a solution tomorrow.