A STRING quartet struck up a jaunty tune. Waiters carried steaming plates of bratwurst. Germany might be experiencing its worst economic crisis since the end of the second world war, but a surprisingly festive air infused a gathering of conservative businessmen in Hanover last week. For the first time in more than a decade Lower Saxony, the home state and strong- hold of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, risks falling to the conservative opposition in an election next month. Unthinkable only a few months ago, the result for which the local business community yearns would inflict a deep political wound on the...