JMA, thank you for your long response, gave me some stuff to digest.

My question arose as the officer and NCO recruiting in Germany perfectly mirrowed the school system during the last 150 years. With dramatic changes in our educational system (dying of Hauptschule, much more Abiturienten) one question is how the armed forces are affected and how could we for example make NCO positions more attractiv for Abiturienten.

The low number of ACTIVE officers coming from the ranks is quite usual in the German army during peace time. You got a completely different answer, if you check reserve officers, many of them decided during the first six month of their mandatory service to serve longer and attend the required NCO courses.