Even before WW2, Germany had the best technology in fields such as heavy engineering and automobiles. The only drawback was that apart from small deposits of lignite (Braunkohle), they don't have any resources of coal, oil or gas. The ruling class found the ideal solution by forming trade relations with the USSR. Cheap energy imports from the USSR propelled Germany as an industrial power. If they were dependent on expensive LNG, they would have never achieved this success. It is plain and simple. German industries need cheap gas and they will never be profitable with super-costly LNG.
Exactly. They built their massive economy on massive energy they didn't have, and Russia took advantage of it as much as they could for a day like this.
In a recent interview the German government pointed out the increasing number of insolvencies in the country. 30% have already declared bankruptcy while about 60% have claimed to go insolvent this season. Only about 11% of the German businesses has claimed to have no issues!