Overview

• Angela Merkel delivered the phrase on August 31, 2015 during her summer press conference as large numbers of refugees entered Germany.
• In her autobiography Freiheit, Merkel recalls using the words to encourage herself after learning about an expected 800,000 arrivals in 2015.
• Retrospectives argue the emergency effort never became durable policy, leaving schools, housing and labor-market integration under-resourced.
• Local authorities and volunteers shouldered the initial burden, while critics describe a debate climate that sidelined concerns and underestimated Islamist risks.
• Political consequences are tied to the rise of the AfD, with a new Forsa poll placing it at 26% and ahead of the Union.