The article examines the limits of economic independence of the Visegrad countries - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - in their relations with Germany as the most important and influential economic partner. The author aims to trace the qualitative transformation of the relations and to discover the ways the Visegrad countries adapt their economies to the changing political, economic, social and technological realities. Methods of quantitative and qualitative dynamic analysis are used. The impact of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is considered. It is shown that the most important evidence of economic independence is trade in the categories of value added, the dynamics of the sectoral balance of mutual direct investments, as well as the signs of a mature knowledge economy. In the case of the Visegrad Group, dependence on the German economy has not disappeared, but it is moving to a different qualitative level. Based on the provisions of P. Krugman's new theory of international trade the author shows that there is a transition from vertical to predominantly horizontal intra-industry trade. Visegrad countries rely on Germany as a center for the redistribution of their value added, as well as a source of investments to the higher levels of value chains. Nevertheless, the issue of independent determination of their economic agenda is still quite acute for the Visegrad countries.