I don't know Frisian at all, but German is a lot easier to understand for me at least when reading than Dutch is. I know that Norman influence basically made English into its own Frankenstein of a thing so may be Old English matches Dutch better. It's regardless of the history german being close to English makes sense from just my naive experience of both languages (dutch and german). Or may be I just dont touch enough Dutch.
I mean, all of the Germanic languages are superficially similar if you know what to look for:
* Jeg drikker god maelk
* Ich trinke gute Milch
But I would be hard pressed to say they're more similar than Dutch:
* Ik drink goede melk
Or Frisian:
* Ik drink goede molke
It becomes even more obvious when you hear them spoken. But sure, your opinion might differ; especially since Dutch and German are close siblings, closer to each other than either is to English.
As someone that dabbled in learning both, Dutch was moderately easier for me. Additionally, the Dutch have the highest non-native English fluency (as a populace). Just a couple extra pieces of anecdota.
