Scha·den·freu·de (n): The pleasure derived by someone from another’s misfortune. Germany may have invented the word, but after Wednesday’s failed government debt auction the rest of Europe was revelling in the sentiment.

The fact that investors shunned some 35 per cent of the €6bn 10-year Bund issue has been taken as a sign that even Europe’s strongest economy is not impervious to the crisis engulfing the eurozone. The hope in many European capitals is that Berlin may now be prompted to act more quickly in backing a comprehensive rescue package to restore confidence in the region.

Such an outcome, even if unlikely, would obviously be welcome after a sorry week. Yet it would be wrong to overstate the implications of a single Bund auction. It is not uncommon for Germany to fail to issue the full amount. This is the ninth auction so far this year to fall short. Moreover Bund yields still remain near record lows. Returns in real terms have even moved into negative territory on six-month paper, implying that investors still look to Germany as a haven.