I have never heard of anyone pinning German pride to the economy

It’s rather weird the German economy became so big so quickly. We threw Europe and much of the world into war and devastation for the second time. Credits go to foreign aid and allowance, and to foreign workers mostly from Italy and Turkey. Of course honest domestic hard work was also involved, but every country has that. All in all, this is not a story to fuel national pride, but rather humbleness and gratitude.