The first debt clock in Germany was installed on June 12, 1995 by the Taxpayers' Association at Adolfsallee 22. It shows the level of German national debt and its dynamic growth as well as the debt in relation to each German citizen. The debt level is updated once a second. The rapidly changing figures at the back illustrate the increase in debt in a vivid way. As the exact amount of debt cannot be determined, the increase in debt shown is estimated by the Taxpayers' Association.

The debt clock was erected at the former headquarters of the Taxpayers' Association in Wiesbaden. It was founded in Stuttgart in 1949 and moved the headquarters of its executive committee here in the 1960s. In May 2005, the federal association moved to Berlin; a debt clock was also installed at the new headquarters. The larger Wiesbaden debt clock remained at the building in Adolfsallee even after the move. The Hessian state association of the taxpayers' association, also founded in 1949, also maintains a debt clock at its headquarters in Bahnhofstraße; it shows the debt of Hesse.