It is therefore not without a sense of vindication that some politicians from Southern Europe will see that the former economic adviser to Chancellor Merkel is now also training his sights on his ex-colleagues in Berlin.
In his first interview since the elections to the Bundestag, the 45-year-old central banker did not discuss monetary policy in the narrower sense but talked about economic policy in the broadest sense. That was a first for Weidmann: the Bundesbank’s last major blueprint for reforms dates back ten years. Mr Weidmann, what parties did you vote for last Sunday?