@LTCTerry:
Best thing is to contact your Landesluftfahrtbehörde to clarify things.
In addition to the requisite amount of hours and a valid German medical, don't forget that you have to have a biennial checkride (and for that you would have to come to Germany), and a current ZÜP as well, for your German licence to be valid.
It could very well be that if any of these requirements are not fulfilled, you simply reacquire your rights by having them done and submitting the documentation to relevant authority, whereupon you will be issued with a new licence.