This is a creation of the US federal government — a 30 year fixed makes no sense without government intervention, since that is an absurd level of interest rate risk the bank would need to take. I don't know of any other country with 30 year fixed mortgages — most have something similar to the 5/1 ARM as the main option.
edit: Seems like Germany has fixed mortgages but makes it hard to refinance.
edit: Seems like Germany has fixed mortgages but makes it hard to refinance.