Why does "bite" have an "i" that sounds nothing like the "i" in Spanish "vino"? Why do "food," "good," and "blood" look like they should rhyme? English spelling froze while the language kept moving, and the story of how that happened is still being argued over by linguists. Some of them aren't even sure the most famous sound change in English history was one thing at all.

Relatedly: German orthography reform of 1996

The German orthography reform of 1996 […] was a change to German spelling and punctuation that was intended to simplify German orthography, thereby making it easier to learn, without substantially changing the rules familiar to users of the language.