Only the entry level license (Technician in the US, covering UHF/VHF) is substantially different from the German one, and it's also much more restricted. Germany in general is a much better country for radio, especially if you wanted to ever do high power broadcasting.

I think the one perk to the US is that the FCC has basically stopped caring about all but the most important frequencies. This makes HF particularly fun, since HF pirate radios are often the best listening stations in the entire RF spectrum. I have no idea what that's like in Germany, but I would imagine given the general ordnung culture and veneration of rules, German hams are much less tolerant of flagrantly unauthorized broadcast stations and your regulatory bodies are more proactive in shutting them down.