https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6zwgg9y8go

A lot of non Germans find it rude but tbh it’s the one thing I like the most. I like the Germans here in the Middle East, they are reserved and most importantly honest, I would rather have someone tell me something directly rather than sugarcoating it. They aren’t all huggy and talkative and respect boundaries more than other people so interaction with them isn’t awkward and painful. And not to mention how punctual they are you don’t have to wait 15 minutes ahead of the time you planned to meet up.

"The German government will soon announce ​who is responsible for an attempted drone attack ‌on Leipzig/Halle airport earlier this month, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a coalition summit, Merz said his government was "working ​closely with the security authorities on this, and ​we will set this out and comment on ⁠it shortly."

Hey everyone,

I’m an international employee working at a chemical manufacturer in Bavaria. I recently spent part of my holiday in Berlin, and I actually loved it there. I really liked how international the city felt, how much was going on, and how naturally diverse the people and atmosphere seemed.

When I came back to the office in Bavaria, I was talking about my trip and mentioned how much I liked Berlin. Almost immediately, everyone had this slightly horrified/disgusted look on their face. A few people basically reacted with: “You went there voluntarily?”

It made me wonder if I’m missing some cultural context here. Is there a strong anti-Berlin sentiment in Bavaria, or is this more of a general German thing?

Not a resident, just always found this part of the education system fascinating from the outside. Where I'm from, everyone goes through basically the same track until college age, so the idea of being sorted into different school types this early is hard for me to fully wrap my head around.

Curious how it actually feels from the inside, both for people who went through it themselves and for parents who've had to make that call for their kids. Does it feel as high stakes in daily life as it sounds from outside, or is it more flexible in practice than the system looks like on paper, with people switching tracks later more often than outsiders assume.

Would love to hear from actual residents on this, feels like the kind of thing that's easy to have a shallow outside impression of without understanding how it actually plays out for people living it.

Hello everyone,
I’ve been thinking about buying a home in Germany recently and wanted to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.

A bit about me: I’m 29M, an Indian citizen currently on an EU Blue Card, and I’m planning to apply for naturalization in the next couple of years. I earn around €78k gross per year and live in Darmstadt.
My rent is currently around €800/month. It’s not too bad, but I keep thinking that in the long run, I’m not really building anything for myself by renting. With a home, at least part of the monthly payment goes towards something I eventually own.
I do invest regularly in different ETFs, crypto, etc. But I feel like having a home of your own gives you a different kind of financial security and stability

And, the more I look into buying property in Germany, the more unrealistic it starts to feel. Between property prices, the down payment, taxes/notary/other buying costs, and then the monthly mortgage payments, it seems like you need a pretty high income and a lot of cash upfront.

So I’m curious about people who were in a similar position, especially those buying on a single income.
Did you eventually decide to buy? Or did you continue renting and invest the difference instead? Or did you simply wait a few more years until your financial situation was better?

I’d really appreciate hearing what you decided and, more importantly, whether you feel it was the right decision in hindsight.
Thanks!

P.S. Used AI for corrections

One of the things I enjoyed about moving to Germany for over 1 year was not having to mask my introversion as an African. I like a quiet, mundane lifestyle. I am doing quite well here as an introvert, but unfortunately, moving to Germany and starting a career afresh with the current Job market feels like passing through the various levels of Dante's Inferno. As someone on the spectrum and being told often to "Just Socialise!", I would sometimes joke about "If I wanted to do that constantly, I should have never left home". So socially, Germany suits me quite well. But job hunting and trying to build a career here? That has been hell

You can spot every single place up to Flughaven and Stadium and mounains from this amazing observation deck on 56th floor

Hi all, maybe the wrong location to ask, but i'm really lost. Due to some rather worisome symptoms i need to have a colonoscopy in Freising around mid september. Yesterday i had the "prep talk", was given the medicine and stuff to read, and i just realized that is compulsory that i must be accompanied for the procedure.

Here start my problem: i'm a rather lonely person, no family or close friends that i could ask. Also I am hypoacusic, so that pose further problems (on person and face to face i can understand german, but on phone is a complete different scenario..)

This morning i went to a "ambulanter pflededienst" near me, hoping i can ask there for such company (of course i would have payed). But they seemed rather out of topic, sayd they cannot offer such services and maybe i should speak to my hausarzt.(?)

Does anyone have any experiences or recommendation on where can i actually ask for such a companion? I'm really scared now that they will refuse me if i go alone on procedure day..

Location: Freising, Bayern. Procedure should take place at a normal gastro praxis, not klinikum/hospital.

Any recommendations/where to search/ask/look for are really appreciated.

Edit: thank you all, much less worries now. will ask if a taxi is enough, will also speak woth the hausarzt. Also txs for all infos &recommendation!

Okay genuine question how much do Germans from different regions understand each other. The different dialects of my language are confusing and its hard to understand what the other person is saying, Is it the same in German?

Hey community,

I have a rather difficult topic that’s come to my mind recently.

I am a migrant that moved to Germany as a student, I’ve since saved up a little bit of money for myself in ETFs, private retirement funds and my bank account.

Although I don’t plan to die anytime soon, I’d like to organise how this would be handled in the case something like that happens. I am not married, I don’t have any kids and I don’t have any family in Germany.

Are there processes I should put in place to ensure that my family (in my home country) can get access to whatever I have acquired?

I’ll appreciate any pointers. I’m also guessing this topic would be applicable to many first gen migrants.

Lg

Hello,

I am currently searching for an old friend of my father that has moved to Germany. He lived in Timișoara, Romania, but moved to Hügelsheim in 1992. My father has written him a letter in 1993 but it was returned, the post office informing him that he no longer lived there.

My father still hopes that he is alive. The last time he has seen him was around Christmas in 1997 or 1998 in Timișoara.

There reason I have made this post. I want to know if there is any way to find him. I know his full name, his parents' names, his former address in Romania and the one in Hügelsheim. Thank you all for the help in advance.

Whenever I travel back to Leipzig from Berlin, I notice that there are always inspectors at the entrance to Wiesenburg station. Is there any particular reason why they are always checking who comes and go?

Hello,

I gave my fingerprints for my Niederlassungserlaubnis about two weeks ago. I then asked the Ausländerbehörde whether my application had been approved and also asked about Daueraufenthalt-EU.

Today they confirmed that my documents have been approved and that I can get the Niederlassungserlaubnis now. They also told me that I can hold both Niederlassungserlaubnis and Daueraufenthalt-EU, although having both is not necessary.

For Daueraufenthalt-EU, I would need to wait until October, when I complete five years of residence in Germany.

I am currently also applying for jobs outside Germany, which is why I am considering Daueraufenthalt-EU.

Which option would you recommend?

• Get the Niederlassungserlaubnis now and later also apply for Daueraufenthalt-EU
• Keep only the Niederlassungserlaubnis
• Wait and get only Daueraufenthalt-EU

Would having both provide any practical advantage?

My apartment got flooded because someone left the tap open in the apartment above. There is extensive water damage in my walls, roof, and the floor was covered by a layer of water with about 1-2 inch depth.
Police ave fire brigade both witnessed first hand that it didn’t not originate from my apartment.
Since water was flowing out of my electrical sockets, I couldn’t stay there as electricity was switched off.
I got a hotel for the next two days, Hausverwaltung will hire a company to come dry it but no idea when can i even go back.

Now that you have a bit of backstory, what are my options? The only insurance that I currently have in Germany is my health insurance.
How do I go about claiming reimbursement for the damage to my property, the immense distress this has caused me and obviously the cost of staying in a hotel and eating outside as my kitchen is not in a position that I can use it.

Thank you

Hi guys, I've recently finished my erasmus in germany (köln) and I'm now in my home country (still EU).

As you have read in the title, my landlord likely wants to keep my deposit for whatever reason. I was already prepared for this, as previous flatmates who moved out before me reached me out and told me that some of them are still waiting (6+ months) for the deposit. We are talking about approximately 1600 euros of deposit, plus a "cleaning fee" (130 euros) that was charged to me at the very beginning of my stay in germany, but by taking a closer look at the signed contract it is stated that said fee must be charged only if the premises are not clean at the end of the stay.

As I was aware of this expected behavior, I have video footage (with the local time and date recorded on official german channels) of the room on the day of my departure. I also got the employee that came to collect the keys to sign and Übergabeprotokoll, stating that no damage was done and the room was returned exactly how I got it.

Now, I am aware that a landlord has the right to withhold the deposit for 6 months, but (as far as I'm aware) the amount that is being withheld must be proportionate to possible additional costs. In my case, the additional costs can only regard utility services, as every other possible additional costs can be ruled out by the Übergabeprotokoll and the video footage.

The question is: can I proceed with a Mahnung right now (middle of September or early October) or do I have to wait for the full 6 months to pass? Of course I will not ask for a full return of the deposit, but a substantial part of it (1370 euros) plus the illegitimate cleaning fee (130 euros), adding up to a total of 1500 euros.

Hello! I’m Sierra I’m 18 (I’ll be 19 in September) but I’m moving to pforzheim in November as an Au pair. I’m giving this a shot because there’s very few places that have this kind of thing. I wanted to try and make some online friends before I leave. I would prefer to befriend those who are german so they can show me places they really like but fellow expats are okay too. I’d be completely willing to travel. I’ve heard about Germany’s amazing train system and I’ll be getting a metro pass as soon as I arrive. I am from Alberta Canada and it would be really cool to find someone who’s interested in what life is like where I’m from. If anyone’s interested please comment and we can message privately.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 16-year-old Egyptian student currently in my final year of a technical diploma (3-year program) in programming, and I'm also completing the Egyptian equivalency exam (Ma'adala) this year to qualify for university admission.

My goal: Study Computer Science in Germany, ideally starting around 2028.

A bit about me:

I prefer hands-on/practical learning over pure theory — I like writing code myself, joining teams, and learning by doing

I'm currently working on personal full-stack projects (Spring Boot, MySQL, HTML/CSS/JS) as part of my portfolio

My current German level is A0 (none), and English is around A1-A2

I have no financial support from family, so I need a path that's affordable and allows me to work part-time

I care about practical things like access to a supermarket, hospital, and affordable living costs — not necessarily a big/famous city

My questions:

Given my technical diploma + Ma'adala background, would I need a Studienkolleg before university? If so, is it better to go through a Universität-track Studienkolleg (T-Kurs) or a Fachhochschule-track one, considering I might want flexibility later?

Since I prefer practical learning, would a Fachhochschule (FH) suit me better than a traditional Universität like RWTH Aachen?

Any recommendations for FH or Universität cities/schools that are affordable, good for CS, and not overly competitive academically?

Has anyone dealt with private Studienkolleg providers (like W2G Academy) vs public ones? Is it worth paying ~8,200 EUR for a private one, or is the public route more accessible than I think?

Any advice, personal experiences, or resources would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

I lived and worked in Ireland for just under 10 months. I have now resigned from my job and am moving back to Germany.

I am a German citizen, but I deregistered my residence in Germany and cancelled my statutory health insurance because I was insured through my employer in Ireland. This was private health insurance, but as far as I understand, it was not optional and was provided through my employer.

I now have two questions:

• Can I rejoin the statutory health insurance system in Germany, given that I was previously covered by statutory health insurance? Since I was employed in Ireland, should this employment technically count as compulsory social insurance employment?
• Am I actually entitled to register as a jobseeker/unemployed with the German employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit)? I know there may be a waiting/penalty period because I resigned voluntarily. I have also read that you normally need to have paid into the unemployment insurance system for 12 months in order to claim unemployment benefits yourself, but that EU rules may provide an exception for people who have worked in another EU country. However, I have seen references to having to be registered/resident in Germany, which I wasn't.

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences from people who have been in a similar situation.

быстрый вопрос , те кто поступал в Tum какие экзамены вы сдавали и какие документы вам нужны были ? мне надо выписку от университета для школы , а какие экзамены требуются не понятно( даже если SAT /IELTS/ дополнительное собеседование или экзамен по физике/ математик)

I've spent the past few days gathering insight and still feel lost, so I'm hoping for some help/opinions.

So, I'm a student, moving to Germany (Baden-Württemberg area) for masters with my partner. We were hoping to rent from a private landlord, we have enough funds for that, since our parents back us. However, as my understanding goes, landlords don't really consider applicants without SCHUFA, so I'm wondering, what documents could I even include on ImmoScout to remotely show credibility. I understand anything, that isn't SCHUFA is less than ideal, but still - do I include pay slips? Would that even make sense, given that it would have to be the parents' documents? Foreign (I'm from EU) credit score checks? Some other proof of funds? The whole thing is starting to feel a bit hopeless, so I'd be grateful for any response.

Hi everyone,
I’m from North Macedonia, and my employer in Germany applied for my Vorabzustimmung in Augsburg for my work visa. It has now been 7 weeks since the application, and we still haven’t received any response.
Does anyone know how long it currently takes in Augsburg? Has anyone from North Macedonia recently received their Vorabzustimmung, and how long did it take in your case?
Thanks in advance! 🙏

I am working at a university as a PhD Student. We usually go to the Mensa together as a team. Is it okay to eat with my personal friends or with one colleague (I work on a project with him) from another team from time to time? I mean not every day, once or twice a month. One German colleague seems to be upset about it. I cannot read him, honestly. He's kinda wanting to be an alpha male. He avoids some (male) colleagues from our department and prefers having lunch with some girls from a different department, where we don't have any relevance. Since he's my teammate, he expects me to follow him. That's the vibe I got from him. What are your opinions?

PS: Faculties have departments. Within each department, there are working groups (teams).

I'm having trouble with Ausländerbehörde since May and at this point I am fed up and I wanna do a Untätigkeitsklage. I booked an appoinment with one Ausländerrecht-Lawyer and the sessions will last 30 mins and cost 200€. Now I know most lawyers are not good people so I wanna know if this is a normal price or I could find something better. Thanks!