There are two key issues you have the moment as I see it. The first is that the software engineer field in Germany has been swamped with applicants from waves

There are two key issues you have the moment as I see it. The first is that the software engineer field in Germany has been swamped with applicants from waves of layoffs and turned it into a buyers market. Second is the German culture itself. Germans are (generally) very static in their career paths. Chopping and changing career directions is still seen as a negative. Whilst career switching (Quereinsteiger) is becoming more common, it’s still not easy. Careers within highly technical traditional subjects (chem, biotech, engineering) now seem to require a PhD or at least a masters by default in order to be competitive. I would focus on the fact that you’re not really doing anything wrong. The market conditions just suck. Pull on your networks which you just have built up freelancing. It’s easier to find something ironically if you have something than when you don’t. Good luck.