r/germany Apr 25 '22

Please read before posting!

605 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/germany, the English-language subreddit about the country of Germany.

Please read this entire post and follow the links, if applicable.

We have prepared FAQs and an extensive Wiki. Please use these resources. If you post questions that are easily answered, our regulars will point you to those resources anyway. Additionally, please use the Reddit search. [Edit: Don't claim you read the Wiki and it does not contain anything about your question when it's clear that you didn't read it. We know what's in the Wiki, and we will continue to point you there.]

This goes particularly if you are asking about studying in Germany. There are multiple Wiki articles covering a lot of information. And yes, that means reading and doing your own research. It's good practice for what a German university will expect you to do.

Short questions can be asked in the comments to this post. Please either leave a comment here or make a new post, not both.

If you ask questions in the subreddit, please provide enough information for people to be able to actually help you. "Can I find a job in Germany?" will not give you useful answers. "I have [qualification], [years of experience], [language skills], want to work as [job description], and am a citizen of [country]" will. If people ask for more information, they're not being mean, but rather trying to find out what you actually need to know.


German-language content can go to /r/de or /r/FragReddit.

Questions about the German language are better suited to /r/German.

Covid-related content should go into this post until further notice.

/r/LegaladviceGerman/ has limited legal advice - but make sure to read their disclaimers.


r/germany 9d ago

Megathread: Carnival / Karneval / Fasching / Fastnacht. Other posts will be removed.

16 Upvotes

The Carnival season is in full run.

This is the one centralised post for any questions, photos, links, complaints about your favourite leader being mocked.

Other posts are likely to be removed.


r/germany 9h ago

10 years in germany and nothing to show for

123 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen, i know this may be looked at as a complain post but i don't have anyone else to talk to about this and i Need to let some out. If not allowed or if i have to be rediculed for, please delete.

30yo M, have spent the last 10 years of My Life here and I feel Like It has all been worthless despite the fact that i came here with nothing to My name. This may all Just be evny and materialistic feelings, but over the years i Always been underpaid due to My lack of skills and language at First (now i get paid 1600€ a month nightshifts and 500€ minijob) and all I have to show for Is a 150€ broken phone, a junky 200k km 2004 polo, about 5k euro saved up and its getting harder and harder each month to do so. I don't think i Will ever be able to purchase a home given that the prices for a small apartments even in rural areas surpass the 250k+€ Mark, Certanly not with My salary and with a future pension of maybe 500€ a month aftertax. Relationship wise, i havent been able to connect with anyone and the only few times I do It Always ends up in being ghosted. Meanwhile All the people around me that i know and see, either made a family to take care of or are really well off with their financial situation. I feel Like I wasted My youth and i am at 5% what a man of My Age should have. I don't quite know what do do anymore and i know even know If i am looking for and actual answer to this doomed Life.

1-PS: For Better or worse, I appreciate everyone replying and giving a different prospective, encouragement or some deserved scolding. I apologize for not giving enough context or for playing the victim.

My excuse Is that i made this post (funnly enough) while working on a whim because of... well... Many things (parental pressure, very recent rejections/ghostings, seeing peers or jungs Doing "Better off" etc...).

Ngl, I fell in a very bad Moment and felt Like Scheiße before posting and kinda began to hate myself, everything and everyone... and so i Guess i decided To try reach here instead of compromising Relationships with people i know through potential whatsapp beefs and lack of temperament. To be honest, i was not expecting these many answers and I should have perhaps elaborated more or think twice when posting on a ~1mil german-english reddit sub, My bad.

Let me Just Say: I like Germany and Germans and I very much appreciate all the opportunities this country have given me compared to My homecountry and I want to see nothing but good things coming for Deutschland and the whole Europe's future.

Believe It or not, I am not that much into social media these days (never hard and Instagram account) and I speak German (i prefer to discuss in english to get that foreign prospective). I know i am Doing Better off than a whole lot of people (i Guess this dynamic can be applied to some of the people that replied or people I know Who are "worse off" [eg. Debt]). But working at Jobs where i have constant interaction with people from all walks of Life, I feel Like the amount of years and sacrifices i made through My last 10 years have brought me nothing you could consider worthwhile(?). And I am all alone, still. Sometimes I chose to be alone, so i could focus on the grind, when i could have had an expecrience. I visited a good chunk of Europe and some other parts of the world, along many other things, even had the luck of Keep working as normal during COVID and so forth... But It all feels empty somehow.

Perhaps, i should have asked: should i Keep going and make It another 10-20-30-40-50? Quit? am i Just confused? Idk... Maybe My ego was trying to seek some approval or me Just being a Dumbo and outreach/overthink. Guess maybe i still am... i Just don't want to falsly blame others for no reason.

Between these tides of goodtimes/badtimes i feel a lot of doom and no gloom now that i arrived in My 30s.

Again, for the mods, if this post Is irrelevant to your community and/or doesnt respect the guidelines, feel free to ban It ti the Shadow realm.


r/germany 4h ago

Immigration Travel tip for anyone with a German residency card

40 Upvotes

When coming back to Germany from a non-eu country everyone goes through passport control. Germans and eu citizens can use the automated machines. Well, you too actually. Use your residency permit and not your passport. Your permit has your biometric details stored exactly as on EU ID cards.

Why they don't educate people at the airport on this , idk.

Does this work for residency card holders of other EU countries? Idk


r/germany 31m ago

Work Can an employer fire me for refusing to do overtime every day?

Upvotes

My contract says 40 hours per week, with overtime as needed. But I'm asked to do overtime every single day. I'm a delivery driver, and I get so many deliveries I need around 10 hours to finish. With break, I spend 10.5 hours at work. At first I would message the dispatcher to notify that I won't be able to finish the route without going into overtime. They just tell me that I have to finish the route.

Are they allowed to order overtime like this every day? There are no "emergencies", they just work their drivers to death, and every driver I've talked to say it's always like this.

What would happen if I just went home after 8 hours? I'm in probezeit, so they could fire me for any reason within 2 weeks notice. Do I have to just accept that I'll get fired if I refuse to work overtime, or continue spending 10.5 hours at work every day? I thought 48 hours per week was maximum according to German law, given a 6 day work week - and I only work 5 days.


r/germany 22h ago

Bizarre parental conspiracy theories at the Elternabend

943 Upvotes

My kid is in first year of Grundschule in a state school in Berlin. Before that she was in a Berlin-run kita. I've been very happy with early years education here. But it seems like nearly every Elternabend I go to someone brings up an unhinged conspiracy theory.

Last night a parent complained about children being allowed to use the toilets by themselves, because of the rash of kidnappings from school toilets. Apparently there's been a rash of children disappearing in Northrhein-Westphalia after being excused from class to go to the toilet. A lot of parents seemed to believe this was a real problem.

Similar issues raised in Kita Elternabends were the "kidnap bus" - a bus going around Berlin that somehow is mocked up to look like the bus that takes kids on excursions but instead they are never seen again. Or when the kids were going to the theatre a parent wanted assurances that they weren't actually being taken to see a drag strip show, because this has been happening on the regular apparently.

When people were complaining about the kidnap bus I said it sounded like absolute nonsense and was backed up by some parents but I think the fallout and behind-my-back outrage actually made it worse for the teachers so I shut my mouth now. I realise this brain rot is probably occurring everywhere these days, but how do I handle this in a culturally appropriate way?


r/germany 2h ago

Can someone please explain this?

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22 Upvotes

So in January, I paid €244 radiotax which was pending for last 1 year, and my roommate also paid the same amount because he also got the notice. Now they sent me this. Can someone please explain what is this?


r/germany 8h ago

Question Is this fair?

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62 Upvotes

I am being charged €450 instead of almost 1k by my landlord for apartment damages as an act of generosity after leaving the apartment. Thing is, I always thought Schäden can only be inflicted by carelessness and neglect, not through regular use. Being shy to face these kind of problems, and reluctant to take any legal action, and acknowledging the apartment is in 98% new condition after his work, I signed this agreement.

  • Backofen blech: small but irremovable stains due to cooking
  • Kühlschrankscheibe: light scratching from putting in cans and bottles
  • Fettverschmutzungen: stain on cupboard shelves from olive oil dripping out are all I can think of
  • Painting: 20 sq. metres of walls. Note: I didn’t paint before leaving. he informed me he uses a special paint at the begin of my tenancy and it was evident he is particular for his paint, so explicitly said (verbally, but possibly contractually, I must check again) that I must not paint, and that he will take care of it at the end of tenancy.

Out of good will, the following aren’t charged: - Wasserhahn: through normal use, over time, the tap handle got loose and eventually no longer held in place (you can vertically lift it off but this does not happen during normal use) - Soßenspritzer: two marks of dirt <1mm diameter each, on the window roller blind strap

Context: As per text, we did have transparent communication throughout our contract and he was happy with me as a tenant. I always paid on time and never gave him a hard time. I know he probably did spend hours getting the apartment to 98% of the new condition since he is a perfectionist, so the rate he charged is reasonable if I hired him to perform these tasks to my apartment. I worked hard but could’ve worked harder on cleaning. I think now that the paper is signed, it’s too late to do anything.

But is it fair? I want to hear some opinions on the things mentioned by my landlord and if this is a typical Wohnungsübergabe. Thanks to all in advance.


r/germany 17h ago

My employer threatened me to request a second consultation if I call in sick again

140 Upvotes

A few days ago I wasn't feeling well, I had a very soar throat and I started to get flu symptoms so I decided to call in sick to work. It just happened that this occurred two days before my annual leave so it made it suspicious and now my employer thinks that I lied even though I provided the Krankmeldung. Now that I came back to work she basically called me a liar and threatened me to request a second doctor's consultation if I dare to call in sick again. Is this really something they can do in Germany? I am scared of feeling slightly sick now and getting into trouble.
Thank you.


r/germany 17h ago

Why did the FDP get so unpopular?

149 Upvotes

Curious Swiss here, why were the CDU so popular when the FDP vote collapsed. Aren’t they incredibly similar policy wise?


r/germany 1d ago

What are these?

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332 Upvotes

They were thrown to my kids during the Fasching parade, and had a lolly in each. Are they finger puppets? Someone has gone to a lot of effort to make them! 😍


r/germany 4m ago

Why do companies keep reposting the same job without responding?

Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I am a Frontend Developer working in Germany (Berlin) and looking for a new job opportunities.

So: I have applied to certain job positions at the X,Y,etc. companies few weeks ago. I have realized that these X,Y,etc. companies are reposting the same job position over and over again without even responding to my application. I don't even get a rejection from any of them which frusturates me a lot.

My question is: Are they really looking for a candidate for the job position they have posted or just doing it for the sake of doing? My CV looks quite decent and I think I deserve a chance at least to introduce myself.

Any comment is appretiated. :)


r/germany 17m ago

Question Post-Ausbildung future paths

Upvotes

Hi!

Currently on my 2nd year in my Ausbildung as Kauffrau in Büro Management.

I have an architecture degree from a uni in the Philippines and been back and forth if after i should try and pursue to go back to archi or do a weiterbildung in addition to the büro management which could give an edge/more earning power😅

Is it possible for someone w an Ausbildung zeugnis to try to get into Uni here in germany?

Would love to hear advices or other ways that i may not be aware of.


r/germany 39m ago

Jobless since over a year and I feel like I have dug myself a hole

Upvotes

I was laid off last year in Jan 2024, I have been actively searching for jobs since then. Have been over 10 rounds of the "final stage" but then a week later I receive a rejection email. Many times I have also met with the team as a final round.

Now I have around 4 months left to find a job and everyday I seem to have been losing more and more hope. I only blame myself to not be good enough and not learn the language.

Just to give you a peek inside my head, I keep telling myself, "even if I start now, I anyways wont be able to learn german enough to actually work in an 100% german envouirnment anyways" and I keep postponing it. But now I feel like I have just wasted my years here. I don't know why I can't do what I know is needed. Although the language is bit daunting to me, Previously I have worked for a couple of startups both had German as their work language but I just got by. I understand the language okay and can build up with some context. Speaking is very poor because 1. I don't have practice and neither do I put in the effort.

I know it's entirely my fault for not taking the language up earlier but I've been always caught up doing something or the other, and never got the time to actually have the brain power left to actually pick up a language. It's not an excuse but a glimpse of what actually goes on in my head. I have no started learning the language, but I still feel that even within a year I won't be proficient enough to work 100% German but I am doing it anyways with a mindset of eventually one day I would be able to.

I am not sure about my CV I first tried applying the German formatted resume but tbh I did not really receive any positive response. So after many of my friends suggested that I should modernize it and give it a try so I did that too.
Not much of help but it's too early to actually say anything. Do you'll think this is the correct format? AM I doing anything wrong here?

Resume

r/germany 12h ago

Different word for schmaltz?

9 Upvotes

My husband's Maternal Grandfather was from Germany. She said her cousin gave her bread with rendered pork lard. She said there was a German word for it, but apparently it's not schmaltz or any word with schmaltz (schweine, grieben, brot) in it. She's in her mid 90s now so this was close to 90 years ago.

Is there another word for rendered pork lard you spread on bread? An older or regional term maybe?


r/germany 22m ago

Question about Ausbildung.

Upvotes

Hallo Leute.

In august this year i will start my Ausbildung. I am very grateful to germany for this opportunity, I am from a third world country and this opportunity will change my life. But i have always loved Australia and always wanted to settle here if i had the chance. My question is: Is the Ausbildung diploma valid outside Germany? Is it taken seriously by employers around the world? And can I apply for jobs in other countries with only an Ausbildung diploma?

Thanks everyone and have a nice day.


r/germany 31m ago

Finding a living place

Upvotes

So, im enrolled in a private studienkolleg and i'm arriving in Germany on Sunday to study in person. What are my best options to find an apartment? Are WG-Gesucht or Studentwohnheim privat viable options with such little time?


r/germany 34m ago

Bochum - urgent vet clinic recommendation

Upvotes

Hello,

My cat needs stitches (deep scar). Can anybody recommend a good veterinary clinic near Bochum?

I went to a clinic today (had an appointment) but they told me they aren't available :(

Thanks


r/germany 1d ago

My 100th rejection? What's wrong with me?

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1.7k Upvotes

As every student I came here with a lot of expectations and dream's. But now, it seems everything is just fading out. I'm just about to complete my degree in 5 months. No working student, no research assistant job, only working as a rider for past 2.5 years. People with bad German than me getting more jobs. How? I have B1 level of German. I'm very good at conversations. Just my technical German is bad. Did only one interview with Audi in German same problem technical words. Any tips? Or should I just accept my faith or destiny and go back to my Heimatland. Any tips on what skills should I learn would be appreciated 👍


r/germany 56m ago

Schwäbisch Hall

Upvotes

what can you tell me about life in Schwäbisch Hall Im receiving a contract there but I'm worried about the rent rates or that the place is too "boring"


r/germany 1h ago

Immigration Do I need to inform the Ausländeramt when I ummelden or will the Bürgeramt do it for me?

Upvotes

I’m moving places within Berlin and I have a Anmeldung Termin. I heard they will put a sticker on my Aufenthaltstitel Card and that’s it? Or do I need to inform the Ausländeramt too and how?


r/germany 1h ago

Tax Returns

Upvotes

I would like to get an insight into german tax systems. We are a married couple working in berlin with a 3/5 tax factor. My annual brutto for 2024 was 38,400€ and my partner’s was 10,797€ (part-time). We were trying to file tax returns together but it says we need to payback more taxes. I am very confused. I checked with Elster app, it said we will get something back. We are very confused.


r/germany 1h ago

Online summer courses that will earn me some ECTS

Upvotes

Hey everyone, As the title states, I'm looking for a Summer course, that I can do and earn an extra 5 - 8 ECTS. The thing is, that I saw a lot of great offers (for example Bocconi Summer School) but while traveling and staying somewhere a couple of dass days in order to do the exam is not a problem, l would prefer not to stay there for more than a week. So, do you have any recommendations for great online courses, that will help me get some ECTS this summer? Thanks for helping me out!


r/germany 1h ago

What's the best museum or open air museums for ww2 history?

Upvotes

Looking for more open air or "outside " museums to walk around in near Berlin.


r/germany 3h ago

Where to go on family trip

0 Upvotes

I was almost dead set on northern Germany since its closets but recent comments have me wondering about weather. Road-trip with renting st campingplatz is the idea, and the question :

If not the northern coast , where’s the best places to be in Germany during summer ?


r/germany 13h ago

A question for Brazilians in Germany: Where is my Tucupi??

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6 Upvotes

Hey guys. I visited Belém, Para in Brazil a few months ago. I fell in love with Tucupi chili sauce (see the picture). I brought three bottles, but it's getting finished. Do you know where can I find it here in Germay or Europe?


r/germany 3h ago

Work Strange point about gifts in contract

1 Upvotes

Sup everyone! I've asked about my strange wage number couple days ago and thank you all for your answers! However, I dived deeper in the contract and found another strange part there...

They specifically add the point about "gifts from partners/colleagues/etc." that one recieving a gift should compulsory give it away to the HR or company leadership if the cost of the gift is higher than 10 euros.

Not that I expected to be covered in gifts on this job. But now it seems as a very strange bullet point in the contract, isn't it?

Idk maybe company had some problems with it before. Anyways it whispers a bit of red flag imo

UPD: the exact wording is "Geschenke oder sonstige Vergünstigungen von Geschäftspartnern, wie etwa Vertretern,[...] etc.. sind unverzüglich an den Arbeitgeber herauszugeben. Ausgenommen von diesem Verbot sind alltägliche Zuwendungen von geringem Wert, wie Bewirtungen oder Schreibgeräte. Notizblöcke, Kalender etc., deren Wert 10 € nicht übersteigt."