In her decade in office, the ‘Iron Lady’ of Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, repeatedly won elections with the simple motto: trust me. But now, even her own party faithful, her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), wonder how much of that trust she can recover given how far the government’s unpopular open-door refugee policy has become her personal crusade.

A once-impregnable leader who had a popularity rating of 75 per cent in early 2015 (before the refugee crisis broke), is now on 40 per cent, her lowest in five years.

Voters in Germany, angry with her controversial refugee policy, abandoned her conservative party in droves and are now backing the anti-immigration right-wing Alternative for Germany.

Merkel’s aura of invincibility has been lost. She looks tired, strained and sad. She is being heavily criticised, even abroad, and now it looks like it’s very difficult for her to win back the trust of the German people.

Only last week, a senior CDU MP remarked: “It’s a fundamental change when the Chancellor herself comes under continuous attack... There is a feeling that, without her, things would not improve for the party... But you have to ask yourself how long she can go on when admittedly she is so divisive.”

The loss of trust in Merkel is having historic consequences. If she remains in power, so does her unpopular refugee policy as she has defended her approach for the umpteenth time... and this seems certain to further fuel the right.

It is a tragic loss both for her and for all of Europe.