As part of a master/apprentice relationship the master is expected to teach the apprentice how to use the brand new machining center or at least how to use it to make money. A master who can't teach, or at least set an example, is going to have employment issues. Life on the floor was not really different than my experiences in IT... boss selects a new tool, you will use it in at most a couple days of fooling around, or find a new job, doesn't matter if its machining or IT. If you're the wisest employee, you can expect to get assigned to the new toy and to train the other employees informally if nothing more advanced.
There is/was a continuous and constant struggle between the school instructor component of an apprenticeship and the masters on the job. The instructors want cool sexy toys and resume stuffers like teaching cutting edge tools, but the masters on the job want the instructors to teach the basics. There is also a lot of general experience aka "we don't do centerless grinding machining here, so I hope your classroom instructor is covering at least the basics". And the masters continually complained about instructors who taught the kids the basics of g-code but not how to read a print, lots of "walk before you run" complaining.
At least this is how it was at a former employer for machinists, tool and die makers, millwrights, and industrial electricians. I have no first hand data about plumbers and carpenters.
Something that confuses youth culture on HN is it takes a kid 16 or so years of study to learn "2014 work". So they freak out that a 40 year old dude would have to stop working completely for 16 years to learn "2024 work". Reality of course is that things develop VERY slowly and most of the 16 years of school are focused on 2000-4000 years of human development. Actual development is so slow in most large industries like machining or IT coding, that its not hard at all to keep up other than anecdotes and complainers and people who've basically retired on the job.
This is not a popular view, but I do agree. If one learns the basics, the javascript framework of the week becomes much less intimidating as an obstacle to professional success. There are rarely new things in software development, but the do come along (big data and machine learning).
Having apprenticeships means moving 'school' closer to the 40-year olds. Maybe that 40 year old is forced to stay up-to-date by his 20-year old apprentice?
And your Germany/Southern Europe argument made me think of the China/USA relation. How good that analogy is? I wouldn't dare take a guess at.