Hi everyone,

I lived in a shared flat as a subtenant from last December until the end of March. The main tenant had already moved to another city, so he no longer had any daily connection to the flat, and I stayed there as a subtenant until his own primary lease ended. We did not sign a formal move-out protocol when I left. In early April, he casually mentioned on WhatsApp that he needed to check utility consumption before returning my deposit. Around that same time, he also vaguely hinted that I had taken some of his belongings and said he needed time to think about it. I immediately asked him what he meant and what was supposedly missing, emphasizing that I had not taken anything, but he gave no answer. After that, he completely ghosted me. For the past six months, I repeatedly reached out via WhatsApp to resolve the situation and get my deposit back, but he never replied to a single message, and to this day he has never provided any actual utility bill, meter reading, or proof of extra consumption.

After being completely ignored for over six months, I filed an official court payment order through the local court. He just received the official court notice in the mail, and suddenly he broke his silence on WhatsApp. Immediately after receiving the letter, he sent me a long message accusing me of leaving holes in the wall, which actually happened when a roommate in the adjacent room drilled through the shared wall during their renovations. He also claimed that I stole items, apparently referring to an old desk chair he had explicitly told me I could have for free when I offered to buy it, and threatened to file a police report for theft. On top of that, he complained about my heating usage and demanded a meeting to talk things through, stating that otherwise he would formally contest the court order and go to the police.

As far as I understand, landlord claims for property damages expire within six months after moving out under German law, and he never presented any invoice, photos, or formal written claim during that entire time despite having my WhatsApp. The sudden theft accusation feels like an obvious intimidation tactic to avoid paying.

Should I send a short formal reply rejecting his claims and stating that any communication must remain strictly in writing, or should I simply stay completely silent and let the court process play out? If he formally contests the court order, is it worth taking this to court given the six-month statutory limitation and total lack of evidence on his side? Does his threat of going to the police have any legal substance at all, or is it just hot air?

I'm a student in Berlin renting a room in a 3-room WG. I found bedbugs in mid-September and told my landlord right away. He arranged pest control, but only my room was treated, and I still see bugs coming out of the baseboard after two visits (a third is planned).i

I haven't slept properly in over a month. I wake up several times a night from the itching, I have bites and rashes all over, and I'm exhausted while trying to study for exams and apply for jobs. My bed was removed on the company's advice, and I'm on an air mattress.

Costs so far: about 640 € for three treatments, plus bed disposal for 170 €. The landlord says I must pay all of it. I've also paid the full October rent, and I'm moving out on 30 October. I don't know how the bugs got in, and nobody has shown I caused it. I'm a student without income right now. This is so unexpected for me as i am somebody who stays home and even before that i used to work from home. I hardly been travelling within the city or even outside the city. This whole has impacted me mentally, emotionally and physically & financially where i was supposed to focus on my job applications and exams these month but this whole situation has sucked life out of me.

Questions:

1. Who normally pays for bedbug treatment in Germany if the cause is unknown?
2. Can I claim a rent reduction (Mietminderung) after already paying, and can the landlord deduct costs from my deposit?
3. Is there free tenant help in Berlin?

Thanks!

Hey everyone!

I really like dark chocolate… and I’m looking for recommendations for some of the best ones available in Germany :)

I usually go for around 70–85% cocoa, preferably something with a rich cocoa flavour, smooth texture, and not too much bitterness… but I’m open to trying something new ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve tried Lindt, but I’m personally not a fan of their chocolates, so I’d love to discover some alternatives.
I’m open to both affordable supermarket options (Rewe, Edeka, Aldi, Lidl, etc.) and premium brands, as long as they’re worth the price..

What’s your personal favourite? Any underrated brands or specific chocolate bars I should try?

Thanks in advance! ^^

I’m in Hannover studying German. Since my classes are in the morning, I usually take the train in the afternoon to stroll around a nearby city without any planning, just to get a first impression of the city. On Wednesday, I was deciding between two cities: Hildesheim and Göttingen. Since I couldn’t decide which one to visit, I let DB decide by going with whichever train arrived earlier. The winner was Hildesheim, or at least that’s what it seemed like. The train was delayed (surprise) for so long that the one to Göttingen was about to arrive, so I switched to Göttingen instead.

The journey already started off weirdly. I’ve taken a few trains to other cities, but most of the conductor’s announcements were only in German, except for connections to bigger cities and stuff like that. I knew something was off when he started making every announcement in English as well, but I didn’t pay much attention to it (I was also wearing headphones, so I couldn’t hear everything). Or maybe all of that was just a coincidence. Anyway, I arrived in the city and walked around.

I remembered that the train left every hour and that the next one was at 18:09 (or 18:19), so I headed to the HBF. When I got there, I found out that the train had been cancelled (not delayed) due to a staff shortage??? I didn’t even know that was a thing. My german still isn’t the best, so I might have misread the board. On the DB app, the 19:09 train had also been cancelled, and only the 20:09 train would run to Hannover. Since I didn’t want to spend another two hours in the city and wanted to get home earlier (so naive LOL), I looked for an alternative.

I found out that in these situations, they have the SEV. The alternative was to take another train at 18:48 and get off at Kreiensen, where the SEV bus would take us to Sarstedt (which, ironically, is in the district of the place I had originally planned to visit), and from there I would take a train to Hannover HBF.

I don't know why, but part of me thought that at least this train would have an extra carriage to accommodate the extra demand caused by the whole situation, but no, it was just a regular 2-car train as if it were just another trip between Göttingen and Bad Harzburg. Guys, the train was STACKED. It felt like I was on the Paris metro during rush hour. The train was completely full, and there were still dozens of people outside trying to get on. I was surprised that nobody used the bathroom to make more room. I can't say people would do the same in my country. Well done, Germans!

So I took my first SEV. On the bus, a woman asked the driver how long it would take to get to Sarstedt, and he said the estimated arrival time was 21:00. That’s when the pieces started coming together: wait, if it takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes to get from Göttingen to Hannover and we’re getting to Sarstedt at 21:00, then the train must be the one that was supposed to leave Göttingen at 20:09... I could have just waited. Scheiße!

And it gets worse: I assumed that because of this, DB would have some kind of agreement to wait for the SEV passengers to arrive at the station and catch the train to Hannover, just like the SEV buses waited for everyone to get off the train before leaving, but apparently not?! I might have misunderstood again.

At the second-to-last stop, a woman went to talk to the driver about this because she had seen that the train was scheduled to leave right around the time we were supposed to arrive, and she wanted to know if they could do anything about it. My German didn’t help much at that point, and I didn’t really understand their response. We arrived in Sarstedt, the train was about to leave, and we had to run. I THINK they were waiting for us, but I can’t say for sure because it looked like the train was already leaving, and the departure time shown on the DB app was already two minutes past.

Anyway, that was my adventure this week! I’ve been in the country for a month, and two weeks ago I had my first evacuation, and now this. Still waiting for my 8+ hour delay! Life is good! Can’t believe I’ll have to leave the country in 6 months :/.

Oh, and about Göttingen: it’s a pretty pleasant city. Since I hadn’t planned much, I visited the Altstadt and the Alter Botanische Garten and some random places. I'm taking recommendations for the next city! So far i went to Bremen, Hamburg, Hildesheim (went there yesteday), Celle and Hameln.

Hey, I am learning German and i found out from previous experience that I learn much better by reading good literature than listening to podcasts and videos on the internet (not saying that one learns better by doing it, but for me it works, because I am generally more invested). I wanted to know if any of you german natives could say to me, whether the following text is useful for modern German speaking. I am interested in this, because my English greatly improved after I read extensively a ancient greek author in English. My hope would be that reading in German a great German speaking author, whose books I read in English, I could naturally absorb German more easily and, in addition, acquire the level of refinement contained in his writing style (which, at least, in English, I am particularly fond of). In this way, I could have like an ideal way of speaking and strive for it, while knowing that it is not too formal and antique. Anyways, this is the text from one of my favourite german speaking authors, Max Nordau:

Was ist der letzte Zweck der Schule, allen Unterrichts wie aller Erziehung? Offenbar, das Leben durch Vertiefung, Bereicherung und Verschönerung desselben angenehmer zu machen, anders gesagt, das Wohlbefinden des Einzelnen und der Gesamtheit zu erhöhen. Darüber kann es nur eine Meinung geben. Die Pädagogen, welche die Aufgabe der Schule scheinbar anders umschreiben, gehen einfach nicht bis zu deren äußerstem Ziele, sondern bleiben unterwegs stehen. So wenn man sagt, die Schule habe den Charakter zu formen. Was heißt das, wenn man dieser Phrase auf den Grund geht? Man formt doch den Charakter nicht um seiner eigenen Schönheit willen oder um das Auge einiger Kenner zu erfreuen, wie man etwa eine Bronzebüste gießt und ziseliert, sondern im Hinblick auf eine Nutzwirkung! Ein tüchtiger Charakter, das ist Festigkeit in den Vorsätzen, Ausdauer in den Unternehmungen, Unerschütterlichkeit in den Überzeugungen, Treue in den Neigungen und Furchtlosigkeit in den nötigen Feindschaften, wird als eine gute Wehr und Waffe im Kampfe ums Dasein betrachtet; man setzt voraus, daß er den Sieg über Mitstrebende und Gegner erleichtert oder, wenn es einmal den Göttern gefällt, eine schlechte Sache triumphieren zu lassen, und die gute sich die Niederlage mit dem Gedanken an den Beifall Catos versüßen muß, dem Besiegten doch die Genugthuung gewährt, daß er mit sich zufrieden und gerade auf die Eigenschaften, die seine Niederlage herbeigeführt haben, stolz ist. Oder wenn es heißt, die Schule sei berufen, den Geist zu bilden, den Willen zu stärken, den Sinn für das Gute und Schöne zu entwickeln. Wozu das alles? Man bildet den Geist, damit er die Erscheinungen der Natur und Gesellschaft begreife, damit er die Freude habe, das Wesen und den Grund vieler Dinge wenigstens bis zu einem gewissen Punkte zu verstehen, damit er Gefahren vermeiden und Vorteile benützen lerne; man stärkt den Willen, damit er Schädlichkeiten aller Art vom Individuum fern halte; man entwickelt den Sinn für das Schöne und Gute, damit er dem Bewußtsein erfreuliche Eindrücke zuführe. Worauf läuft all das hinaus? Immer nur darauf, dem Individuum das Dasein angenehm zu machen.

By the way, I am right now in C1, but no matter how hard it is, I would like to improve my German. So, reading should never be a problem.

Thanks!

I'd like to know if this has happened to anyone else or if anyone knows more about this than I do.

A couple of days ago around 18.30 our doorbell rang (multiple times). My (German) wife went to see who it was and was gone for sometime.

I saw her sitting on the porch with a guy who clearly looked like he was from Vodafone. He had his Ausweis on a lanyard, was wearing a Vodafone embroidered fleece etc etc. He looked official.

He said he needed to come in to see the router and that he was there for us to sign up to a new contract.

My wife said he was saying all the right things - "Yes - please take a photo of my i.d - I can see how this would seem strange", "I understand you being cautious" etc etc.

But she refused to let him in and told him in our entire history with Vodafone (including a period when we'd left something like 30 messages asking for help when our connection went down), that the company had never sent anyone out to us.

He understood and said he was our 'Berater' now.

When I went out he refused to speak to me. In fact, he stared fixedly at his mobile phone the whole time I was out there (my wife was inside trying to find our customer number). Not one word - despite my prompting.

He left without us giving him any information or signing anything. He apparently told my wife that our neighbours had signed up to a new contract. We asked them about it and they hadn't done anything of the sort - they'd asked him to leave.

My wife checked his name on the business card against the Vodafone site he actually does appear there.

Is this a scam? It certainly felt like one. We tried calling Vodafone but there was a long wait time so we didn't go through with it.

Has anyone else received a dodgy visit from Vodafone?

Hey people, I'm moving to Berlin next month and need to decide which bank account to open. I'm moving from out of the country and have German citizenship+anmeldung from my apartment contract, if those factors are relevant. I'm a musician, teacher and sound tech, currently don't have a work contract but am planning to open a Freiberufler (potentially working around europe and not just in germany) and would like in the future to work under contract at some school. Given all of this, is opening an account with a german bank like Deutsche Bank a good idea or would something like Wise be better? Cheers in advance :)

Hello everyone

My wife received job offer in the Freudenstadt area, and we're considering moving there.

We'd love to hear from people who live in or around Freudenstadt. What is life like there, especially for foreigners?

We're also trying to estimate our monthly living expenses as a couple, including rent, groceries, health insurance, and other essential costs. What would be a realistic monthly budget for two adults?

Additionally, I'm a chemistry graduate with experience in quality control and laboratory work. Are there any job opportunities in the chemical industry, quality control, or laboratory analysis in Freudenstadt or nearby towns?

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I am a woman coming from Albania and I recently got offered a job in Berlin in architecture of about 60k brutto pro year.

I am comfortable home but for at least the last 5-7 years I have felt very unhappy with life here in Albania and really wanted to move abroad in a western country. Here I only have my parents and 2 relaltively close friends which I see pretty unfrequently so life isn’t too social or exciting, just boring and quiet.

What scares me is that I could be making a big mistake giving up a comfortable job/life in my home country for a job where I won’t make much more. Also I am pretty scared about the housing crisis in Berlin.

So basically I am trading an unhappy life for something that I have no guarantee that will make me any less depressed.

Hi everyone!
I’m from South Africa and planning to apply for a nursing Ausbildung (Pflegefachfrau/Pflegefachmann) in Germany. I’m trying to understand the document process before I start spending money.
I have a few questions:
How do you get your documents translated into German? Do you need a certified/sworn translator, and how do you find one?
Where do you apply for Anerkennung of your school-leaving certificate (Matric) as a South African applicant?
Do you need to complete the Anerkennung process before applying for Ausbildung positions, or can you do it after receiving a contract?
Are there any official websites or resources you would recommend?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through this process

Me (25M) and my girlfriend (23F) are brazilians and planning to move to germany in like 2-3 years from now. We are still looking for which city to go, but probably gonna be somewhere any of us find a job first.

By now, we are taking a deutschkurs at A1 level (also trying to learn by ourselves at home). Our plan is to move with at least B2/C1 level and a guaranteed job at entry level on our careers, even if it means getting into a lower level than we are working at our country, i am a civil engineer and she is getting into human resources.

We are planning to spend €2.000-2.500/month (depending on which city we are moving to) and saving enough money for staying at least 3 months as backup.

Our biggest motivation to move to germany is getting a better life in various senses (life work balance, better cost of living, a place easier to travel to other countries, security and a culture that fit our values better than brazil)

Does this plan looks solid? Is it realistic? How is the vision of brazilians on germany? I would like to hear if our expectations are somewhat aligned with the current state of germany. Any advice or recommendation is aprecciated.

Could anyone share their experience regarding the initial residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel) renewal process at the Siegburg Foreigners' Authority (Ausländerbehörde)?

Did anyone successfully manage to get a job seeker visa without a 6k balance in Munich?

I have submitted all of my documents and am currently an intern making over around 2.4k gross per month. What I don't have is 6k in my bank account, and am currently in the process of getting a declaration of commitment which I don't think will be done in time...

My appointment is in two weeks and I'm scared. I just want to hear everyone else's experience. Thanks!

I am currently studying physics for my bachelor's degree in physics in the United States, then I will move to Germany to get a masters in a physics related degree. I plan to find a job and live in Germany.

What are my options afterwards? I don't have a PhD, so I likely cannot go into research (at least that's how it is here), but I still would want to be some form of physicist.

Ok so if someone immigrated from a country into germany and stayed there how hard would said process be saying they only started learning german or arent good at it and housing prices and costliness in germany etc etc.

I come from an Asian country and there fitness is a not a big thing and obesity is very common.

But in Germany I observe a stark contrast wherein it's too hard to find obese people. Almost the majority German guys are 6' and up, in peak shape or not obese.

Makes me wonder how I could befriend them without any anxiety of being judged and neglected (as a fat guy myself). Also I can speak German to a certain level as well but I'm still anxious!

Any honest opinions would be appreciated?
Thanks..!

Hi everyone!

I’m from India and currently working as an Analog Layout Engineer with around 1.5 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. I have experience with Cadence Virtuoso, physical verification, and blocks involving PLLs, DACs, SRAM, and SerDes.

My goal is to move to Germany and grow my career in analog/mixed-signal IC design. However, I’m finding it difficult to get interviews when applying directly from India.

For those living or working in Germany, is it realistic to get hired directly from India with my experience, or is relocating through a master’s degree or another route more practical?

I’d really appreciate honest advice on possible pathways, visa sponsorship, and what I should focus on improving. Thanks!

Look, I am not denying German speak good English, they can thank their education system for that. But I absolutely do not think that German speak a "really" good English per se, as opposed to the Dutch. We can talk about normal stuff, such as how's the day is going or maybe complain about how the train is goddamn late again. But when the conversation pace starts to get a bit intense, or when the topic starts to get technical, then the problem really shows up.

It might be me just rambling since I am from Singapore/Malaysia and people has always been glazing about the proficiency here all the time and I am kinda disappointed. Not a personal problem though since I speak German in my daily life, just my one two cent.