Specific to Germany, but when a second cashier opens up, it's a first come first serve rush for it, rather than letting the person next inline at the original cashier take the first spot in the new one.
From what I heard about queueing practices in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, no, not at all. For example, a long-time queue doesn't need people, it just needs some belongings queued.
When I visit, I looooooove the civilized queues, but I can’t for the life of me understand why the slow lane on escalators is on the right (like you might find in big American cities) instead of the left (like you might find on a British highway).