Klaus Dieter Blasche has grown accustomed to the good times. The resort that he manages near Rostock in north-east Germany opened in late 2005, when the country was emerging from an economic trough. Since then Hohe Düne, a coastal complex comprising a five-star hotel, marina and health spa, has prospered. “Luckily, we’ve no experience of a downswing,” he says.

Mr Blasche’s luck may now be running out. German growth is set to slow significantly, weakening to 1.7 per cent this year and only 1.2 per cent in 2009, according to government forecasts. Officials confirmed on Tuesday that the economy is likely to have shrunk by about 1 per cent in the second quarter of this year in a correction to an exceptionally strong first quarter. This is the clearest sign yet that Germany’s recovery is coming to an end.