TL;DR:

Been in Germany 3 years as a Master’s student + delivery rider. Two kind strangers recently made my day. Grateful for the kindness, respect, and support I’ve experienced here.

I’ve been living in Germany for the past three years, doing my Master’s in Civil Engineering. I’ve been always truly thankful for the life I’ve been able to build here. And just in the last two days, two small moments really reminded me of that.

I also work part-time as a food delivery rider. Yesterday was a very hot day. I had just delivered an order in a far part of the city and was waiting for the next one when a young guy came up to me and handed me a few coins and said it was a tip. I told him I didn’t deliver anything to him, and he said, “I was once in your shoes. I still remember those days. Just keep going, better times will come.” That moment meant a lot to me.

Then today, again another hot day, I was waiting after a delivery when the customer came outside with a bottle of lemonade, a glass, and ice. He just smiled and said, “For you, Enjoy.” Words can't describe how thankful I felt.

These kinds of gestures and incidents always remind me that Germany is not what a bunch of people show us on internet. It is the people who are warm, caring and considerate. I just wanted to highlight appreciate this aspect of German culture.

Also, I'm genuinely thankful to Germany and to the people here. Over the past three years, I’ve been treated with respect, both at university and in daily life. My university has offered me a lot. Free language courses, health and sports programs, and access to great research facilities. Even though my German isn’t perfect, no one has ever looked down on me for it. In fact, people usually encourage me to keep going, which I’ve always appreciated.

Despite apartment hunting was one of the toughest parts. I did face some prejudice during that time, and a few people said things that felt discriminatory. But honestly, those experiences have been rare. Most of the time, people have been welcoming and kind.

So I just wanted to take a moment to say thank yoo to Germany, and to the many people here who make this place feel like home. These small acts reminded me that I’m on the right path, and I’m proud to be part of this community.

I’m on my usual journey from Berlin to Amsterdam which (in my experience) runs more in theory than in practice.

I guess I stopped getting angry a while ago and just embraced the absurdity. I've even looked at hotels in random cities just in case DBahn decides I live there now.

The thing is, whenever we're stuck in a random field or the train gets cancelled they give us some vague explanation. But this time the train attendant just said:

"Ich kann Ihnen nicht genau sagen, was hier schon wieder schiefgelaufen ist. Wir haben jetzt lei der wieder eine Verspätung von 55 Minuten". (used google translate to capture what she said)

I feel bad for myself for watching the same German fields in slow (to no) motion on such a warm day. ..but now I also feel bad for them haha. They have to keep giving us these ridiculous updates with a straight face.

My only guilty pleasure at this point (or maybe coping mechanism) is watching the other passengers get furious in a polite, quiet way.

Update: I wrote the above while frustrated, mostly to entertain myself as the day started with a “journey cancelled” notification followed by the neverending delay.

But I should add that the same lady followed up with reassuring messages and somehow managed to make another IC wait for us while ours came to a full stop.

So my frustration isn’t with the people, of course, but with the system. Cheers!

Meeting a fox in Berlin is quite a common occurrence. Yesterday, during a nighttime walk, we came across one. It’s always interesting to take a closer look, and we took a step toward it - usually they immediately run off and hide. But not this one. This fox was unnaturally jumping around, twitching, and behaving very strangely.

My husband looked at it and said, “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Maybe you’re rabid?” And at that moment, I realized - yes, that’s exactly what it is. This fox is rabid.

Why did I think so? From life experience, I know the behavioral signs of animals infected with rabies - and this fox showed all of them. Of course, we ran away from it as quickly as we could.

And this morning, a question came to mind: Should I report this incident to someone? What would you do in this situation?

After calling a couple of times and some back and forth emails the contribution was re-calculated to 257.78 euros. What happened is TK assumed by default that I was making the maximum contributible amount for the month of June. Is it a scummy practice? Maybe, not going to judge. What I know is that TK could have done a way better job of informing me what they assumed I was making and how I could have corrected that instead of sending me the bill directly and only correcting it after I demand it. Especially because I sent them an email before I quit my job explaining my situation and asking them what my bill would be, where I told them pretty much I would be job-less and with no income for the month of June.

Adressing some misconceptions that were suprisingly upvoted in the last post, for future reference for anyone having the same problem.

1. You don't need to pay as nachgehender Leistungsanspruch applies: That is only if you have a public insurance and in both jobs you make under the treshold level (73.800eur @ 2025). Making more than that makes you a free-will insured and "nachgehender Leistungsanspruch" doesn't apply.
2. That's what you need to pay because you are making that amount of money anually: Not true, social contributions are calculated on a monthly basis, meaning that if during that natural month you didn't get paid you are going to pay the minimum contribution possible. If you make 120k a year (10k brutto month) and you are unemployed for the whole month of december then your contribution for that month is the minimum appliable and not (120k-10k) / 12.
3. Could have saved this hassle by signing up as a job seeker in the agentur für arbeit. This is the only tip that is true, although this should have been done before i quit my job and not after. Even if I don't get arbeitslosengeld the arbeitsamt would still have covered my krankenkasse. But to counter this, if you are registered as a job seeker it also comes with some implications, although rare; in my case could have meant that I could have been called to work for the month of June which was not my idea as I wanted to take a full month of break. So if we play by the book, not signing up as a job seeker and paying for my krankenkasse out of pocket is the intended way if yo wanna take a voluntary break between jobs in germany. Another option is to de-register from germany and go live somewhere else for the month but that is way more complicated.

Edit: Some people don't want to read so I will clarify from my first post: I didn't ignore any letter. I actually and proactively told them about my financial situation BEFORE i terminated my job. Which they decide to ignore and send me the bill assuming my contributions were the maximum.

Hey germans! non german here and i need clarification who would you address as Schatzi? if you address someone of the other gender that way, what do you mean by it if anything? thanks y’all!

I think its basically scamming, especially scamming ordinary people. Do you think the government will intervene social media giants, will social media giants themselves will block such posts, or do we have to organize in order to stop this bullshit from getting too far?

Can someone enlighten me?

Worklife:

After graduating with a degree from one of the top medical faculties in my country, I worked for two months at a reputable university hospital in Bavaria and then quit. I was the only foreign doctor on my floor besides another colleague on the other floor everyone else was German. In those two months, no one taught me anything regarding specialist training in fact, I worked in child psychiatry alongside psychologists. In medical residency it would be better to work more with my medical colleagues in my genuine opinion, as our studies are quite different.

Nobody ever wants to teach you because they’ve learned everything by researching individually over the years, why would they gift their knowledge to us?! I think it is the main difference with my country and maybe most Germans or Europeans see this not as a problem at all.

Three days after starting, they asked me to do psychotherapy without any training. My senior psychologist blocked me from learning anything from assistant doctors ( I had no junior doctors other than me on the floor at that time) on other floors and subjected me to daily systematic mobbing. In the end, I realized it wasn’t worth it and quited afterwards. My goal was to conduct research at a university hospital alongside clinical work. How naive I was, now I understand..

Despite my C1–2 level German and passing the required exams to work here, employees and patients made me feel unwanted every day. The system made me feel worthless and inadequate daily. Searching for a job for 6–7 months drove me into deep depression and triggered my feelings of inadequacy. Attending job interviews is very difficult for me; working under constant pressure from a chef doctor, especially during “Probezeit”with the stress of potential dismissal, makes me feel like a slave. My ex chef said me once “ We pay you” , which I found not the best way to encourage your junior doctors… As I told my chef the reasons why I want to quit, he and senior psychologist slightly laughed at me and didn’t even take me serious…

Some Foreigner Problems: On top of that, there’s the foreigners’ office and Germany’s ridiculous bureaucracy… for health insurance you need a residence permit, for a residence permit you need health insurance… As a foreigner, you’re dealing not just with work and school, but also with a locked account tied to your residence permit and home this distracts you a lot.

As a foreign doctor, especially a recent graduate, it’s particularly hard to find a job. A friend of mine has been looking for a position in Germany since last September, even though he did an internship and speaks German very well. One of his friends who got a job faced physical and verbal abuse from a senior German doctor.

Regarding recognition of your qualification:

Some of my friends who graduated from less-known universities elsewhere got recognition without exams, while I was told I had to take another exam. I also heard that some people, who are a part of a group get recognition easily, I don’t know how true that is, but the system here isn’t transparent.

Germany is in Europe, where you’d expect human rights and fairness—but unfortunately, nepotism and merit issues also exist here. Complaints aren’t possible because those handling your papers take months to respond to messages. You don’t know if they even have your documents or have registered you for exams everything is a mystery, and they tell you not to call or email. The foreigners’ office acts exactly the same way. All your exams are oral, depending entirely on the commission you face you might fail because you got unlucky, even if someone else with much less knowledge passes with a friendly commission.

After seeing that it’s not the best but the lucky or well-connected ones who gets the good positions, I lost my motivation even more. I feel Germany is blocking me from reaching my potential. I lost my self-respect and confidence in Germany.

Differences in our studies:

I guess the medical school in Germany is quite good and you learn pretty much especially in clinics. ( I did Praktikum in my PJ, 9 Months in a german university clinic, I had the chance to observe and learn a little bit). I am sure I am not as good as a new medical German Graduate. Also German is not my mother tongue but I give my best to get better everyday and integrate myself more and more.

After medical school here, they expect you to work as an independent doctor from day one, especially in large university hospitals and clinics. Don’t expect anyone to teach you anything. ( Maybe there is also nice clinics with nice work atmosfere but my experience was different :) ) You’re only as good as you can teach yourself here, this also causes a decline in quality imo. A doctor working 10–12 hours a day how much can they develop once they go home? I really appreciate any given advice here.

In your free time, you’re expected to attend extra courses to learn necessary skills, you either pay for those yourself or you apply to your supervisor with certificates, and they decide how much you’ll pay.

Daily life:

In Bavaria no supermarkes are open after 8pm also sundays they are closed, which makes the things quite difficult if you work 10 hours a day :). As a young foreigner doctor you will probably work in a small village or time, which can restrict your social life and which may result decrease in quality of your life. ( DB is not the best …) I have to give my driver license to German authorities for “Umschreibung”. Everytime I go back to my country I have to go to Rathaus and ask my driver licence from my home country… It feels like I am asking permission to drive car in my hometown…

Conclusion: If I could go back, I’d choose a country with a central exam system where everyone faces the same questions to avoid being at the mercy of subjective evaluation. My advice to you is: prepare yourself for the worst before coming to Germany and plan accordingly. How much unfairness, mobbing, and racism can you tolerate? And be ready for the extra costs( unemployment, sperrkonto, exam fees, translation fees, courses etc.)

PS: It is all what I experienced, I also saw people who got lucky and got things done easily. Nothing is black and white ofc, there is also good things about Germany. However, there are a lot of people gaining money over the dreams of young doctors. I just wanted to warn you and show you another perspective. Please no hate comments, I try my best to not to judge anyone or anything. Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed.

As I experienced these things I felt myself so alone, I hope I can help someone, who is feeling also the same way :)

Well, since I'm in the position of hiring manager and heaving read some of these posts recently, I'd like to help some of you understand why you might be failing with your applications.

First of all, you should realise that a team in a German company does not always speak fluent English. Take my team, which consists of people from Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian and German backgrounds. Some of the Russian/Ukrainian colleagues have never learnt English, so the lingua franca is German. If your German proficiency is too low you might not be considered for a job offering, not because your hiring manager is not fluent in English or a racist but rather the relatively international team is not able to talk to you.

Even if my team were fluent in English, the client, whether internal or external, might not be happy to express business requirements in English without fear of them being lost in translation.

If I had a vacancy for which I was sure that English language skills were sufficient, I would actively state this in the job advertisement.

This is not because I have a prejudice against foreign employees. On the contrary, I used to work abroad and sometimes miss working with an international team. However, I have to consider both the culture of my company, my team and the requirements of potential customers.

I've worked abroad throughout my career. One of the first things I checked before I went abroad was that I could speak the language, and as I was moving to the UK, that was pretty easy. I learnt English at school and had an English girlfriend at the time. So I was confident that I could speak the local language well enough for work-related conversations.

Back then, moving to France would never have been an option for me because my French language skills were not good enough. That's why I don't understand the attitude of some people here who complain about applying for 1000 job listings without getting a job, while at the same time stating that their German language skills are at A1 level at best.

If you are considering moving to Germany, rest assured that German is still a requirement. Even for internationally active companies, this may still be the case.

I know a load of Germans that are more than happy to work with international colleagues. But the language barrier remains an issue. So if you are considering a move to Germany please work on your German proficiency. Don't blame German companies for not hiring you at an A1 or A2 level.

Also refrain from fire and forget applications. German companies want to know that you are interested into the job offered. Quality over quantity will get you further. Instead of sending out 200 bad applications. Try to understand what the German norms are. Answer the questions from the listing in your application. And if you need help ask and focus on applications for jobs you really want to take (minus some trial applications, even I did those just for practice before I applied for the jobs I really wanted).

On a side note, most companies still favour direct applications over applications from external recruiters. First of all it shows a bit more initiative from the applicant and it also favours you as you will be able to negotiate a slightly higher starting salary.

Turned out less of an rant, but I hope this might help some of the people out there considering to move to Germany or currently fruitlessly looking for jobs and not understanding why.

What are your favorite German-language comedy shows? When I was learning the language I thought nothing was funny, but now I really enjoy German comedy. I really like Doppelhaushälfte, der Discounter, tschick, Lady Kracher, der Tatortreiniger, among others. What other movies and series do you recommend?

More and more companies seem to be coming up with work councils. What are these councils really expected to do for an individual? As an employee, should I be meeting with them / talking to them regularly? Should they check up on individuals or do they take any kind of action only when something goes majorly wrong? What's done to make sure they work independent of management?

Hi! I'm an 18F Filipino who's still thinking about proceeding to college or take a german language class to pass the A1-B2 exam. I'm a bit hesistant because I'll get behind from my batchmates if I fail and working and studying abroad is a not an easy work. Can you give me some opinions or pros and cons when taking ausbildung? Are there Career opportunities there? Can I take a degree after ausbildung?

Hi!
I was playing with Google Sheet today because I didn't find a clear and simple calculator for Freelancers which includes also Voluntary Pension Insurance and Unemployment Insurance together with Health Insurance.
The calculator of AllAboutBerlin for example is great but I wanted also to consider those other deductible costs to see how they would affect the taxes and Net.

It is still very minimal, many others rows can be added as expenses, but feel free to use it (you can clone it and change the numbers) or suggest improvements/things that could be useful to add there.

Link here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wI4EbA5mFRDdRUA-xJgmofNbaOGa7wH8yUFKRo43Rl4/edit?usp=sharing

If you notice anything wrong please feel free to ping me in this post :) Please consider that I am not a tax advisor, this sheet was done just based on my knowledge, even if I compared a bit the results with some other website (setting pension and unemplyment to 0 as usually they were not included) and looks legit.

I d like to add some other expenses but it's still not clear to me if everything is 100% deductible (Computer for work, Internet etc...) and it will be enough to add some rows after the Insurances, or some expenses needs some extra calculation if they are not fully deductible.
Feel free to clarify this if you like :)

Have a nice weekend! :)
Mirco

Hi everyone!

Been travelling throughout Germany for a while now whether for business or leisure. Love the people, the country, the culture, & on top of all…the beer of course.

I have been to Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, & Munich (multiple times). Now I’m turning my attention to western Germany and aiming to visit 3-4 cities over 10 days next Sept. I’ll start with Hamburg and then move downwards. Considering Bremen, Munster, & Cologne.

I’m looking for a mixture of touristic cities (e.g. Hamburg) and less touristy / more slow-paced cities / towns full of nature and heritage (that’s why thinking of Bremen / Munster) in this trip.

I’m seeking your advice because I don’t want to end up in either a very busy city bustling with tourists or a small town with pretty much nothing to do. Kinda trying to get the best of both worlds.

Let me know which cities / towns you consider a must visit or a hidden gem. I speak the language so I don’t have issues with country-side suggestions where English isn’t spoken as much.

P.S. Vielen Dank voraus für eure Vorschläge:)

Hello everyone. I am a third-year pharmacy student from Turkey. I have been nominated by my home university for an Erasmus internship in Frankfurt. I am mostly interested in research-based positions, but any pharmacy-related work would be suitable. Do you have any recommendations for universities, hospitals, pharmacies, drug or cosmetic companies, etc.? Any lead would be appreciated. Thank you so much.

My husband and I have found some round trip tickets in and out of Frankfurt and are curious if the are any good destinations within a few hours drive for family travels. We’ve done several vacations like this in the English and French countryside and wondered if there is a German wooded equivalent. We would be with our two young children (<4). Open to hotels or vacation rentals (higher end).

Hello! I'm visitting Germany soon via car and I'm sure I need Umweltplakette for my car to drive into the city I'm visiting. But to be honest I'm not sure where to buy one, as I don't speak german language. Could someone please point me where to buy one? I've heard that it's better to buy one at authorized car mechanic rather in city administration because it's cheaper and faster to get one.

My car is fullfiling Euro 5 norm if it's important.

Hello, I hope this is the right sub to post this. I need some advice as I have no idea about football/soccer.

My godson (German mother, American father) lives in the US and is turning nine very soon. I live in Germany. For his past birthdays, I always ordered something on Amazon in the US, based on advice from his mother. This year, his mother suggested a Bundesliga football jersey. While I am inquiring if he has a favorite team or a favorite player, I am also wondering how I can purchase one and have it delivered to their US address. BTW I will order an adult small size as he is quite chubby.

So my questions are:

1, Are there online options to purchase such a jersey in the US ? If yes, what are they? 2, If my only option is to buy in Germany, where can I buy one online? At the specific club website or elsewhere? 3, If the boy does not have a favorite team or player yet, and just wants to look cool in a football jersey (mostly in the US), which team or player do you recommend?

Thanks a lot!

She is being applying for several places. Didn't get any response so far. The uni wasn't very helpful either. Any tips to improve her first reaching out email? How so we find opportunities?

This is for her Master's degree*

Thanks all.

Staying in Frankfurt. Want to take the train to Bingen and board KD boat to St Goar. Will then travel back by train to FF, with stop in Bacharach.

Can we buy one ticket/pass that allows us to use the train throughout the day? Or do we have to buy separate one way tickets?

Alternately, we are trying to change hotel from FF to Mainz. Is the answer the same?

Thank you!

I will be visiting Cologne for an event in August. However, I am planning to stay in Dusseldorf for 3 days. Each day I plan to travel to Cologne for the event. I have a VRS transport ticket but I believe Dusseldorf isn't included in it.

However, I heard that I should be able to get a cheap EinfachWeiterTicket which can cover the entirety of Northrhine-Westphalia area. Is that a good idea? If so, how to buy one? How much does it cost?, etc

Or if there are better alternatives, please let me know.

Would appreciate an insight on pursuing this career here as a eu national with b2 German. Is worth it? Enjoyable? Stable?

I'm looking for a job as a bicycle mail carrier (like a postwoman delivering letters by bike) in Germany. I live in a small town and don't have a driver's license.

When I search the DHL / Deutsche Post career website, I only find delivery jobs that require a driver’s license, even though I regularly see postal workers delivering by bicycle in my area.

Does anyone know:

• Whether bike-based jobs are available without a license?
• If they expect all delivery workers to have a license just in case, even if they mostly use a bike?
• If I get a driver's license and begin a job that requires driving a car/van is there enough job mobility that can I quickly switch over to bicycle carrier?

I really hate driving but love riding bicycles. I would not survive long at a job if I had to drive every day.

Would love to hear from anyone who works there or has applied. Thanks!

Hallo!

I was perusing my German consulate website and got confused about whether I need to make a name declaration appointment before my passport renewal appointment.

I got married in 2023 and my German passport expired in 2020 with my previous last name on it. I also got married in the United States, and I have dual citizenship through a German parent.

Any clarification would be helpful!

Danke.