From seemingly solid marriages through to quick flings and illicit affairs, a phone call or a knock from Bernd Dressler is guaranteed to kill the romance stone dead.

Hence the growing number of clients for his new “separation agency” — informing unsuspecting spouses and lovers that their partners no longer want them.

For those too scared to break the bad news themselves, the former insurance man will deliver the bullet with Teutonic efficiency, charging 20 euros ($34) to do it by phone and from 50 euros upwards for a “personalised” home visit.

Beginning with a “let’s stay friends” arrangement, involving a “sensitive phone call”, Mr Dressler offers four different termination packages. At the deluxe end of the scale he will administer a “Personal Termination Call” which includes a detailed explanation of why his client has decided to split.

The opening message can be delivered in a “sympathetic or direct manner”, according to the wishes of the client. But, in doorstep encounters, Mr Dressler, always opens with the same gambit.

“I say to them, ‘Good day, my name is Bernd Dressler from the Separation Agency and I have been asked by your partner to inform you that he or she wishes to end your relationship’.

He never attempts to intervene in unhappy marriages and makes a point of ruling out clients with the potential for violence or extreme emotional behaviour. Cash must be delivered up front.

It all sounds harsh but, since he started his agency last July, he has had more than 200 inquiries from Germans stuck in dead-end relationships and enabled 120 of them to finally terminate the liaisons.

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