That's a good question @crypto.piotr.

I think that the numbers are difficult to interpret because each country has a different circumstance based on how much of its GDP is based on internal vs. external stimuli and it's ability to sustain its GDP... WITHOUT borrowing more (higher debt to GDP ratio is shown to slow growth).

The debt to GDP ratios are important... most countries could easily begin paying down their debt aggressively, what the real problem is amounts to whether or not to curb more borrowing. The reason countries borrow more is so they can spend more... it may be that Germany (aside from the EU) has less of a global empire to maintain and support than the US and so it's economy doesn't need the extra short term boosts that borrowing/printing creates (but the increasing debt from which also works to slow economic growth gradually). I think of it like drinking extra coffee to begin work in the morning, but then being unable to function efficiently once I run out of coffee.

Since Germany seems to need to prop up the rest of the EU (trade wise), it makes sense that they are attempting to pay down their debt, but the unfortunate side effect is that the German people suffer from the austerity of having more of their paychecks being shoveled to pay the debt than say, US citizens have to suffer (for now).

That said, austerity IS a good solution when the problem is luxury funded by debt. There is a further problem here though... the austerity of the Germans is being partly siphoned off to the benefit of the rest of Europe (through lending to bad credit recipients). The details of how the EU pulls this off is beyond my knowledge right now, but the general impression is that if Germany did not have a good credit rating, the other EU states with bad credit ratings would shatter the EU's overall "good status."

EDIT: there's another thing to consider when looking at those debt clock numbers... the debt to GDP ratio of "public" debt, when "paid off" is mostly RETAINED in that country's economy because the domestic lenders then having their reserves reconstituted can turn around and lend more back out... domestically, whereas foreign debt, when paid, does not circulate back into the country's economy and just leaves the country. So... that further complicates how to make sense of how healthy or unhealthy a country's debt situation is.