Upvote:2
You should not need an airport transit visa from Germany for this itinerary.
The German mission in the US explicitly says that you are exempt from the airport transit visa requirement if:
- If they return from the USA after having used the visa
Further, Timatic, the system which airlines will check to determine if your documents are in order, notes the same exception.
- returning from Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland (Rep.), Japan, Romania, USA or United Kingdom after having used the visa and traveling to any non-Schengen Member State;
Notably, it is not required for your US visa to be valid when you are departing the US, nor is it required for your visa to have only recently expired.
You may wish to bring printed copies of both the Timatic output and the information from the German mission when you check in for your flight.