Germany seems to be a special case in some regards. It is one of the countries with the highest number of glider pilots, althoug that number has been shrinking for some time now. Back when i started it was around 35.000 to 40.000 glider pilots, well before the reunification which added a few more. More than 7500 glider planes are registered in germany and the industry around building them is quite powerful as around 90% of all gilder build worldwide are build in germany.
On the other hand one cannot prevent to fly in Class E airspace as Class E is in use over the whole of germany, latest from 2500ft GND upwards until FL100 (130 at the alps) where it is all Class C. Around airports Class E starts even lower and at least in gemany, airline pilots do get yearly refresher about airspace structure and the need for a very good lookout below FL100. It is also suggested to reduce speed as much as possible. In my airline 250kts below FL100 is for that reason a hard limit which can only be breached if ATC requires a specific speed above 250. A simple "highspeed approved" still means that we can fly max 250, even if we are in Class C or D.
The airspace structure around airports gets adjusted every year based on incidents and traffic numbers into those airports. For example NUE had completely protected airspace in the time of the airberlin hub at that airport, but since airberlin pulled out and traffic numbers into that airport plummeted, the airspace was changed and class E between the Class D CTR and the Class C above FL100 reintroduced. That allows VFR flights to pass over that airport without the need for ATC contact, which in the case of VFR can be done in german anyway.