Commute or move (for studies)?

The 1 hour drive would not be a problem for me because I would have to drive straight ahead on the highway for 1 hour.

Yes, that is a problem.

• It 's tiring. You have to leave early in the morning (with time to spare for traffic jams, etc.), and if you have to drive an hour home after a long day, you're completely worn out. And anyone who thinks driving isn't tiring should give up their driver's license for safety reasons.
• Do you have conflicting interests with your studies? Have one lecture in the morning and one in the evening. You'd have free time in between. Do you drive home in between? Or do you only drive to one of these lectures? Or do you not drive at all because the two hours of travel time, 200 km, and thus approximately €60 travel costs for each lecture just aren't worth it?
• You have a bad connection with your fellow students. You won't get back in the car once you're home, but your friends will meet up to study together or do group work, or just sit down and socialize. But if you don't participate in social interaction, the helpful unofficial information shared privately among students will pass you by, and your studies will be unnecessarily difficult.
• Let's calculate the costs: 1 hour on the highway sounds like at least 100 km to me. At 0.30 cents/km (that would be a cheap car!), that's €30 in travel costs each way. €60 per day. €300 in a week if you drive there every day. €1,200 in a month if you drive there every weekday. Do you have that spare?

If I were to move that far away now, I would be able to see very little of her for maybe the next three years, because I already see relatively little of her now.

"So far away?" An hour is n't enough for a weekend visit. And expecting more frequent visits is simply unrealistic when one of the partners is starting college and looking for a suitable university.

Here in my city, I have a girlfriend who has strict parents, so it's good that I live close to her because that way she can still come to me (besides the fact that she's already 20).

I don't understand. She's 20. It's nice of her to do her parents a favor by following their rules—but it's still her decision to adapt to the new circumstances and to come to your place for the weekend if she wants to. I wouldn't think that's too much to ask.

And you can also visit them on the weekend.

But I also somehow can't hold on to it and have to prepare myself for my professional life, which will happen in the near future.

Correct.

If you're going to college, making something good out of it should be a priority. Everything else will have to adapt to that.

What would you do?

Live at the university and meet your girlfriend at one location and then another when the opportunity arises.

Seit ihr immer noch zusammen? Wenn ja, wie lang schon?

Wenn wir noch zusammen wären, wäre es nicht meine Exfreundin 😉 Wir waren zweieinhalb Jahre zusammen. Ihre Eltern haben übrigens nach einem Jahr kompletter Funkstille dann doch überlegt, dass sie doch ganz gerne Kontakt zu ihrer Tochter haben möchten. Auch, wenn das hieß dass sie dafür von ihrer Ideologie abweichen mussten.

Deine Freundin sollte vielleicht anfangen, sich nicht mehr jede Vorschrift gefallen zu lassen. Freiheiten einfordern. Darauf hinweisen, dass sie 20 ist und stärker eingeschränkt ist als viele Grundschulkinder und Gefängnisinsaßen. Dass sie ein Sozialleben haben will. Dass sie sich verlieben will. Dass sie wohl kaum lernen wird, in der großen weiten Welt klarzukommen, wenn sie diese nie zu Gesicht bekommt.

So hart es klingt: Solange deine Freundin ihren Eltern signalisiert, dass sie alle Einschränkungen hinnimmt wie sie kommen, werden ihre Eltern weder Selbstkritik üben, noch ihr größere Freiheiten zugestehen.