.de TLD is online. DNS working fine

DNSSEC not working

If using an open resolver, i.e., a shared DNS cache, e.g., third party DNS service such as Google, Cloudflare, etc., then it might fail, or it might not. It depends on the third party DNS provider

https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/118/materials/slides-11...

To me, a response from a "root DNS server", i.e., [a-m].root-servers.net, is not "wrong" if it contains the correct data that I'm requesting, e.g., domainnames and associated IP numbers

I'm never requesting RRSIGs as I do not use that data. For me, it's just cruft that now comes in the response

[deleted]

DNS worked fine. The responses that the root DNS servers were sending were wrong.

It's the cryptographic version of that one time the same TLD told the world domains starting with certain letters didn't exist: https://www.theregister.com/2010/05/12/germany_top_level_dom...