Thats a great question and to be completely honest, I’m not sure! I am fluent in Dutch and English, but not in German. So I’m not fully qualified to answer that haha.
I can still understand part of German though, some works are just so similar in all three languages.
what is the history on the Netherlands? Are the languages so similar they can speak it by default?
No they are completely different languages, but same root (Germanic), like many other Western European countries.
which of the 2 are closer? German - dutch or English - dutch. My guess is they are right in-between the two linguistically.
In-between yes. Within the western germanic language continuum it’s basically the center between English to the west and German to the east.
Thats a great question and to be completely honest, I’m not sure! I am fluent in Dutch and English, but not in German. So I’m not fully qualified to answer that haha. I can still understand part of German though, some works are just so similar in all three languages.