For the moment, the priority is managing this endless human tide. With Bavaria unable to cope on its own, refugees are being shared out among Germany’s 16 regions. A computer system, Easy, calculates how many people each region should take. It uses a “Königsberg formula”, which weighs population and relative wealth. Special trains from Munich then dispatch refugees to towns and cities.

Under this formula, Berlin is obliged to take 5% of all new arrivals. The city government has been scrambling to find accommodation. Two weeks ago it turned over a police barracks in Berlin Spandau. Two sports halls, including Rudolf Harbig, have been commandeered. The government is now discussing using Tempelhof airport, which shut down in 2008 and was the scene of the 1948-49 Berlin airlift.

Other venues under consideration include a velodrome in the Prenzlauer Berg district and empty hangars in the defunct trade fair building. In Frankfurt an der Oder, in neighbouring Brandenburg, refugees are staying in a hotel. In nearby Eisenhüttenstadt they are living in converted barracks in the middle of a pine forest.

On Thursday, 500 refugees moved into another sports hall, next door to the athletics complex. Its giant playing area for handball and volleyball is now decked out with campbeds.