The German up and down (3)
I believe the answer is:
sad
'down' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the german up' is the wordplay.
'the german' becomes 'das' ('the' in German).
'up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'das' backwards is 'SAD'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for sad that I've seen before include "Melancholy or pitiful" , "Unfortunate" , "Tragic" , "Miserable" , "Dejected" .)