By Ray Furlong BBC Berlin correspondent

Colin Powell's visit to Berlin was regarded as so important to Germany that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder decided to cut short a tour of South East Asia to come back for it.

Mr Schroeder agrees that UN sanctions against Iraq should go

Rebuilding trust with the United States has proved more difficult than the Germans had expected.

"There is no hope to repair the relationship between Gerhard Schroeder and George W Bush," says Jeff Gidmen, head of the Aspen Institute in Berlin.

"The damage to credibility, trust and confidence has simply been too great."

He is not alone in this view. Hans-Ulrich Klose, a senior member of Mr Schroeder's own Social Democratic Party, recently wrote that the personal relationship between the two leaders is "kaput".

"If it doesn't work on that basis you have to find common interests and assume that all acting persons are professionals," he says.

Bilateral diplomacy since the Iraq war has shown few signs for optimism.

There was no joint photo-call for Germany's Defence Minister, Peter Struck, when he visited US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently.

While in Berlin last week, US trade representative Robert Zoellick stressed the "deep feeling of disappointment and hurt" still felt in Washington.

Seeking a compromise

But Mr Powell is the highest-level visitor, and is seen as the leading "dove" in Washington.

For the current government in Germany, in their minds, the time for confrontation with the United States is over Patrick Schwarz Tageszeitung political editor

He has also brought a concrete agenda for co-operation, in the form of a new US resolution on Iraq.

This is in fact a potential stumbling block as Germany, along with France and Russia, has reservations about the proposals. But a compromise may be found.

Chancellor Schroeder has called on sanctions on Iraq to be lifted - as the Americans desire.

"I think for the current government in Germany, in their minds, the time for confrontation with the United States is over," says Patrick Schwarz, political editor at the left-wing daily Tageszeitung.

"They are more ready to surrender to US wishes than they were before the war."

Breaking the ice

In a sense, for the United States this might be irrelevant. Germany has a seat on the Security Council, but no veto.

It has even been suggested that the new policy in Washington is to "ignore" Germany as punishment for its opposition to the Iraq war - something that rankles deeply here.

But Mr Powell has made it clear he wants Germany back on board, and politicians here warn that America would be foolish to shut them out completely.

"To keep the world stable and halfway decent the United States needs partners, from the point of view of its own interests," said Mr Klose.

"It's not Germany and it's not France and it's not Belgium who are going around begging: please be nice again."

Germany hopes Mr Powell's visit will prove to be just the first step in breaking the diplomatic ice - and proving that it will not be ignored. But the path to better relations will still be a long one.

"Both sides want to repair this relationship, but there's concern in Washington that the new model for German foreign policy is France," said Mr Gidmen.

"That means a Gaullist foreign policy, an obsession with independence, and a desire to define Europe in opposition to America."