| By the standards of the pandemic, Germans enjoyed an idyllic holiday weekend. With the coronavirus seeming largely under control, Berlin's sidewalk cafes were hopping. Families with picnic blankets filled parks. Easing travel restrictions raised hopes for summer vacations in the sun. But even in a country that has arguably handled the virus better than any other in Europe, political pressures over the fallout of the outbreak are rising. The small German state of Thuringia—known for its bratwurst, thick forests and winter sports—broke ranks with a plan to lift all lockdown measures after June 5. State premier Bodo Ramelow's proposal would rely on individuals to use common sense and proper hygiene. A minister in another eastern state, Saxony, said it might do the same. Protesters have marched against restrictions in the country's major cities, including Munich, Stuttgart and Berlin.  A protestor wears a face mask reading "Give Gates (referring to Bill Gates) no Chance" as she attends a protest against restrictions. Photographer: TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP The states' defiance caused a political scuffle. Chancellor Angela Merkel postponed a cabinet-level meeting about next steps out of the lockdown from Monday to Wednesday. Some issues were "simply not yet ready for consultation," her spokesman Steffen Seibert said—with Ramelow's proposal in sharp contrast to a plan from inside the Chancellery that would extend social distancing rules and the use of face masks into early July. The situation Merkel finds herself in shows a central paradox of the lockdown: success controlling the virus leaves room for critics to say governments have gone too far. Germany's pandemic science guru, Charite Hospital virologist Christian Drosten, called it the "prevention paradox" in an interview with The Guardian last month. "People are claiming we overreacted," Drosten told the U.K. newspaper. "There is political and economic pressure to return to normal." For now, Merkel's government allies are holding firm. "I would expect from a politician that you lead and give orientation, and not be led by a few thousand people who show up in the streets with conspiracy theories," Lars Klingbeil, general secretary of Germany's Social Democrats, told the country's biggest newspaper, Bild. But the rebelliousness brewing in Thuringia is a lesson to other governments. Even with an exemplary response to the virus—rigorous contact tracing, plenty of extra testing capacity and hospital beds—the lockdown is just the beginning, and loosening the restrictions can be even more fraught than tightening them.—Naomi Kresge | 
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