No other country in western Europe has been criticised more for allegedly doing too little too late to support Ukraine than Germany.
Its political class has been accused of cosying up to the Kremlin for decades to protect its lucrative business ties with Russia.
But over the past months, things have changed: former chancellors Gerard Schröder and Angela Merkel have come under intensified scrutiny and the current president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former foreign minister, had to apologise publicly for a failed policy towards Russia.
However, this week, Steinmeier made a surprise trip to Ukraine after being snubbed by Kyiv half a year ago.
In the northern town of Koriukivka, he was forced to take cover in an air raid shelter when sirens went off. More than other western leaders he felt what the war in Ukraine is like.
At the same time, in another show of support, Germany co-hosted an international conference in Berlin, together with the European Commission, on rebuilding Ukraine, which is being billed as a monumental task by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"The scale of destruction is staggering. The World Bank puts the costs of the damage at €350 billion. This is for sure more than one country or one union can provide alone. We need all hands on deck," she said.
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, did not mince his words either.
"So that's what is at stake here: nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century," he said in Berlin on Tuesday.
"A generational task that must begin now. The recovery, reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine will indeed be a challenge for generations, one that will require the combined strength of the entire international community."
Paris and Berlin feel the strain
Germany's role in the management of the consequences of the war in Ukraine has led to strained relations with its closest friend and ally France.
This week, Emmanuel Macron and Scholz had a hastily arranged working lunch in Paris, after initially scheduled French-German government consultations on the same day had been postponed.
The meeting typically is held annually but hasn't taken place in person since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officially, the reason for the postponement of the meeting is that several German ministers are unavailable due to school holidays.
But difficulties in finding common grounds on a host of topics, including how to best tackle skyrocketing energy prices, as well as defence, loom large.
Following the meeting on Wednesday though, Scholz played down rumours that the Franco-German engine is spluttering.
The two leaders did not appear in front of the press together following their meeting. Berlin initially said the two leaders would face reporters together after their meeting only for Paris to refute it later.