One of the weaknesses of the German system is that people cannot express their preference on the Liste. So whatever sequence of the Liste candidates the parties decide, in that sequence they obtain the mandates.

In Czechia, you can circle up to four candidates on the list as your preference. As a result, several important politicians flew out of the parliament even when they were #1 or #2, because people from lower ranks outcompeted them.

Parties hate this one weird trick... but fortunately cannot agree on abolishing it.