Keyboard layouts vary by country region.
The “qwerty” keyboard to which you refer is generally found in countries where English is the first-language. While the principal keyboard keys will conform to the qwerty-layout to which you are accustomed, you will likely see other variations by country - for example, character assignment of currency symbols (£, €, $ etc.)
When using an external keyboard, it is especially important to configure your computer (in this case your iPad) to use the keyboard layout that matches the physical keyboard:
Settings > General > Keyboards > Hardware Keyboard >
Selecting Automatic will not, necessarily, select the correct regional keyboard-layout. It is often best to explicitly select the layout that matches the connected keyboard.
As you have discovered, this setting can also be used to override the printed character mapping of the physical keyboard - for example from qwertz (German) to qwerty (English) - although this can lead to some confusion as secondary keys may be similarly re-mapped to other keys.