Yup, many Germans just love their honorifics, even if they are only for show, it shows their "standing/accomplishments" and thus is an extremely important part of their social identity, that's why many insist on using their full honorifics when referring to them: "I'm not just a professor in XY, I'm also a doctor in XYZ and ZYX!".
That's why bought honorific titles, usually by foreign universities/academies are a somewhat popular business in Germany. [0]
It's the same deal with "siezen" and "duzen", some Germans take a lot of offense if you simply "du" them. To them, that's a sign of lacking respect towards them.
Imho Germans are very similar to Japanese in a lot of these things. The form is often way more important than function, at least in a lot of social matters.
