That possibility did occur to me, but many of these people gave off a friendly and helpful vibe like they were doing their best, just...not in English, or sometimes not in adequate English. Including in other German-speaking cities like Munich, Leipzig, and Vienna. It felt much the same as in other European cities where you were just going to have to get by on sign language to get around if you didn't speak the language. On one occasion (in Munich) I had a friendly bilingual bystander stop what they were doing to translate for me and a museum staff member who genuinely didn't seem to understand what I was saying, and everyone acted like that was totally normal.

In any case, on two visits of 7-10 days each, I haven't found it noticeably easier to get around Germany without knowing German than I have in any other European country I've visited. You give thanks when you get lucky, otherwise, you sign, make do, or do without.