German politics through the lens of the two Germanies...

[Herring]

...and not the two you're thinking of.
German unification happened suddenly in 1871, in the aftermath of the collapse of the French Empire after the Battle of Sedan.  Victorious Prussia declared itself imperial sovereign over all the other German states.  Realistically, there was one other German state, which in terms of population, land area and economy (but not military proficiency) should have had equal say in how the new German Reich was designed and administered.  But Bavaria's slow-witted king Ludwig II was no match for Bismarck, and so Prussia completely dominated the country, at least until 1945.

Today, the reaction against Merkel's policies finds its most fertile soil in Germany's south.  Catholic, tradition-oriented and on the front line of German immigration, Bavaria may be the source of the political will needed to change Germany's course.  If you want to understand German politics, you need to understand the Prussia-Bavaria rivalry:

(Hopefully one of these links will work):

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/03/merk...lashpoints

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/03/merk...populists/

[andrew_o]

If you've travelled through Germany as I have, the difference is fairly obvious:

The north: Efficient, antiseptic, boring, rigid and ideological

The south: More relaxed, more smiles, less fussed about the details. More likely to be Catholic but less so these days