I lived in south of Stuttgart, Germany for four years. Every house in my village had a functioning stove/fireplace & chimney. A big portion of German homes use fuel oil, not natural gas, which will be expansive, but available.
My primary source of heat were radiators from a furnace with a 7000 liter fuel tank in my basement (fill it about every 18 months). We supplemented it with a wood stove. It took a while to heat up the house, but once it was going, you turned down the radiators.
Once, I got impatient and overloaded the stove with wood. I had the living room at 85F and was sweating with snow outside. It took forever for the temp to get down to a more reasonable 72F.
Current temp at my back porch is 106f. 104 officially in San Antonio. Humidity is unbearable.
I really miss Alaska.
Your story about living in a village near Stuttgart caused me to wonder how the Germans are handling all the former US base housing they took over when the Cold War ended. As I recall, the housing where my wife and I lived was fed steam from a central heating plant in the housing area. I don’t know what fueled the steam plant, though. I recall it being the same on post and in the barracks there.
Yes, I think the only people worried live in new construction around big citied. The German people are resourceful and they will make it through winter just fine.