The error to believe the house price will always continue to rise is a risky belief. People always need somewhere to live, but where and when you enter/exit the market matters. If mortgage interest rates were not set to keep the banks happy, then it would possibly be a realistic scenario to believe the housing market works for the benefit of the population.
Many people do cash-out-refinances which ensures you never pay the house off, but if you just treat like the mortgage like rent and do nothing else (though if you can get a better interest rate refinancing for what you owe is often a good idea) you will pay it off. If you can afford the initial payment, your effective payment typically goes down over time as inflation brings the rest of your income up. Once you have the house half paid for odds are your payment is so low compared the income that you will have no problem paying the rest off. The early years are tough though before inflation works for you.
Of course if you do the cash-out refinance your payment raises more or less with inflation (just like rent) plus you get a nice chuck on cash to do whatever with. If you invest that cash wisely it might even be abetter investment than paying off the house (I don't think anyone has ever done this, but it is an option)
This whole speculating on real estate value is more of an US thing than it is European. Outside of real estate investors, but those are the landlorda Germans, and others, rent from.