I'm pretty sure the decision to shut down all their nuclear power plants had something to do with it as well.
That looks like a Russian-sponsored campaign, implemented through the Merkel government. These were not "policy mistakes". They were anti-German directions from Russia. Russians have well-founded reasons to hate Germans and they are not known for their tendencies to forgive past invasions.
The Russians still have plenty of Kompromat on all of the politicians from the former East German government and they sponsor all of the European branches of "ANTIFA". The entire "Green Energy" movement in Europe is a suicidal endeavor backed by Russian and Chinese agents. It has been quite successful at its true goal, which is deindustrialization of Europe.
To be sure, they have plenty of useful idiots in the native European population. There are all these Leftist minions who confidently believe they will be the ones who get the swag paid for by somebody else. Or they simply enjoy having power over lesser people. That is the dynamic that drives suicidal political movements.