One claim. Two court fees.
Germany takes one 3.0 fee up front, and the claim is not served until it is paid. England takes an issue fee now and a hearing fee later. Enter the amount claimed: both figures appear side by side, and the deeper difference, who pays the lawyers at the end, sits below.
These are the court fees, not the cost of litigating. Neither figure contains a lawyer. The German 3.0 fee covers the proceedings through to judgment and drops to 1.0 if the case ends early, KV 1211 GKG. The English issue fee is followed by a separate hearing fee if the case is listed; the figures here are the standard rates, and Money Claim Online charges a little less below £100,000.
The deeper divergence sits at the end. Win in Germany and § 91 ZPO hands your costs to the loser, statutory lawyers’ fees included. Win on the English small claims track and, as a rule, CPR 27.14 leaves your legal costs with you: the fee comes back, the lawyer does not. Above the small claims track England shifts costs too, on scales of its own.