Is physics (and engineering) at university more like high school physics or high school math?
When studying physics at a German university, you will take three kinds of core modules:

Experimental Physics
Theoretical Physics
Math

Of these, experimental physics is somewhat similar to physics in school. You have a discussion of concrete phenomena, how you can measure them, probably quite a bit of lab time, too.
Theoretical physics is similar to math in school. You learn some more overarching theories about how to model things mathematically (like Newtonian gravity, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, and so on). A lot of what you do is calculations (compute an integral, solve a differential equation). If you want to learn how to do complex calculations with pen and paper, theoretical physics is where you do it.
Math at university level is a very different beast from anything most pupils encounter at school (at least in Germany). You'll encounter some familiar concepts (differentation, vectors), but in a far more rigorous way. You will not just be told that stuff is true, but you'll see the proofs (and be asked to prove simple statements yourself [at least if your math courses are shared with mathematicians, if you have dedicated &quot;math for physicists&quot; courses this might not be the case]).