And I seem to recall the German education system has some quite strict streaming. I think going from apprentice-> ->technician->engineer (or similar level of job) might be harder in Germany than it is in the UK or US.
Having said that Germany has a very powerfull vocational training system unlike any where else in the world.
So, two things.
1) You claimed that an apprenticeship is only for crafts and I told you that this isn't the case here. Locally your 'strictly craft skills' comment would be wrong. Very much so.
2) Yeah, a degree matters in some/most places, like everywhere else in the world I guess. That's not related to apprenticeships in particular though (having done stuff like that is better than having nothing of value in writing at all, like .. me). And too general to be 'truthy'.
Back to the topic: Apprentices (and former apprentices) are not unable to do the job of an engineer.
And how many senior engineers at Audi and BMW and Mercedes started as apprentices.
In the English speaking word this is not the case we are look upon as greasy almost sub human.
for example the wife of the no2 at bt labs you know the place where the first computer was designed and built when she said that he husband was an engineer she was asked patronizingly "oh thats nice dear what sort of cars does he work on"
- study for your CS degree (formerly 'Diplom', now Bachelor/Master) at a university for a couple years
- do a 2.5/3 year thing including school and working in a company (actually having a company to take you on is required for these kinds of degrees most of the time). It's - an apprenticeship (using the same process, word and methodology as you'd use in a crafting skill)
Do you get the very same job offers, the same salary? Probably not. But I'd say that you have the chance to work on the same stuff as any bachelor/master of CS. I think the disadvantage is merely in the first couple of years and often (note: Not always. Sometimes the more theoretical CS background counts a lot, of course) unfairly so.
So - yeah. You can do an apprenticeship here. Starting with 16 (you'd be done with 19) or 18-19 (you'd probably be allowed to shorten the time to 2 years -> 20, 21).
Disclaimer: I have neither a ~normal~ degree from a university nor did I do this apprenticeship. But - it works.