Where were you at in Germany? I was an air traffic controller at Zweibrucken AB. In the Zwei Control Zone the VFR minima was not 1000 and 3 or 1500 and 3 but rather 2000 feet and 8 kilometers (4.3 nm). All other US air bases used 1500 and 3. Nobody could every figure that out.
I was at Illesheim, enjoying the antics of the Cobra pilots, whose minimums were 1000 feet ceiling and 1000 m. visibility. But they didn’t like to fly unless we had far better weather. There was no way they could fly above the clouds.