Stefanie SchultePublic debt has increased a lot during the past decade, but the main reason was the financial crisis in 2007/2008. Good chart showing this: http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2017/2017_05_30_buch.html#doc400142bodyText1
Here is another great chart from Claudia Buch (Deutsche Bundesbank), showing how in the aftermath of the financial crisis, "risks were shifted from the private to the public sector": https://mastodon.cloud/media/It-PfiBTnq5XyOVpl8A
"In the euro area, government debt due to the support for financial institutions went up by €488 billion, or 4.5% of GDP, between 2007 and 2016 [...]."
http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2017/2017_07_08_buch.html