These demonstrations by farmers sum up the dramatic loss in trust the German government is currently seeing over budget cuts.
(Farmer)
"They have no clue and we’re having to pay for it — no way!"
Farmers are angry about subsidy cuts on Diesel fuel. But they are not alone.
Polls show that overall only 17 per cent of Germans are still happy with the work of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and the pro-business liberal FDP party.
(Carsten Linnemann, opposition)
"And the chancellor remains silent. These days there isn’t even a need for an opposition. People are making up their own minds on what is happening."
What's happening is that Scholz's cabinet has started attacking their own budget compromise that took weeks to reach, after a court ruling in mid-November forced the government to present new plans.
At their last cabinet meeting before the Christmas break, coalition ministers were officially informed about the deal.
Patience is wearing thin on all sides.
(Steffen Hebestreit, German Government Spokesman)
"Personally, I would have preferred to have been able to tell all you these details earlier. But it took as long as it did and now everyone has a reliable basis to act upon."
"Painful" is how several ministries have described the cuts they now face. 800 million euros alone will be slashed from Germany's foreign policy budgets.
So while parliament may look empty over the Christmas break, all ministries will be juggling their figures until parliament meets again in January.