Thanks for the details! If you wanted to switch from craftsmanship to say, a more abstract field. Would you have to do the entire 10 years (ish?) of "missed" ed

Thanks for the details! If you wanted to switch from craftsmanship to say, a more abstract field. Would you have to do the entire 10 years (ish?) of "missed" education? I know that here in Quebec, you can enroll in university no matter what as long as you are 21 years old and finished high school. Does that happen in Germany? Or is it rare to actually be able to switch between "paths"?