I have a similar experience, I spent most of my life in Germany, so I was a passenger on the autobahn for many years. You can learn a lot about driving as a passenger, if you pay attention, but the fahrschule is no joke, germans take driving seriously. When it came my time to go Fahrschule, I had the instructor telling me I could go faster, because he was insured up to 130 kmh. I was essentially in German drivers ed, and the instructor just said you are not going fast enough, you can do ~80mph. There was several hours of complicated city driving, and even if you met the requirement to move on, they would do more hours until you satisfied their requirements.

People like to bash on how easy it is to get a license in the states, and they are not wrong. My license here cost me about $45 and a 15 min test around the block. I drove through two stop signs, made a right, executed a three point u-turn, and went back. This of course varies from state to state, Washington was more stringent, but still nothing like how the Germans learn to drive.