That’s not quite true. You don’t go from being the “sick man of Europe” to allegedly carrying the continent on your back within less than a decade.
And it’s been Germany pushing hard for the EU more than any other state. Thatcher pointed this fact out before she was ousted by pro-EU factions in her own country.
Germany has the best, most diversified economy in the EU, and things have changed since the Thatcher days. I have family there & I can tell you that the German people have had it with immigration & diversity.