Yes, that is the minimum number of required flight hours, but a Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) must endorse a student pilot to take the practical test or checkride. A CFI’s certificate renews automatically if 80% of the people (and at least five of them) she endorses over a two-year period pass the checkride on the first attempt.

I have heard the U.S. average for number of flight hours logged prior to taking the private checkride is about 70. I know a couple of people who passed the forty hours total time (TT) mark on the flight to go meet the Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) to take the checkride!

You still need to spend a lot of time in theory, and especially in Germany you need your radio certificates in English and German (which themselves take a long time).

After that, you can only fly a very limited subset of aircraft during the day under a certain altitude (and possibly certain weather conditions?). If you want to fly at night you need to get a certification for instrument flying.

In the U.S., a private pilot may fly at night with no additional training or rating.

That's for a lightweight plane that costs a lot less than your car/truck.

Getting to fly a huge Boeing/Airbus takes years.