considering moving to Berlin

[carrie1987]

My husband has been applying to jobs in Germany, mainly Munich and Berlin. We've lived in Spain and Italy before (he's Italian), but renting in Germany appears to be extremely complicated and difficult. We don't speak much German but we are trying to learn. We speak Spanish and Italian as well as English, so we know that the best way to learn is to jump in at the deep end.

Anyway, is it really ridiculously expensive to rent near Berlin? We've found most apartments starting at 1000 euros per month. Also, how are nurseries there? our DD is 8 months old and I intend to work once she reaches 1 year.

Thank you!!

Munich and Berlin are totally different, Munich is more expensive than Berlin, which may or may not surprise you. From everything I've heard nursery provision will be better in Berlin. I live outside Munich so my experience is of Bavaria. Bavaria is effectively a law unto itself and barely part of Germany.

There is a chronic shortage of places at both kindergarten (from age 2.5 or 3) and nursery (Krippe) in Munich, partly because Erzieher/in (preschool teachers), and even more so the less qualified Kinderpfleger/in (nursery nurses) can't afford to live on their salaries in Munich. There is now a special extra child allowance paid to parents of under 2s who don't take up a nursery place in Bavaria in an effort to discourage people from using nursery. That's just because the state is now obligated to provide places to meet demand but simply can't do it. So they're incentivising not using nursery. In Bavaria it is culturally more normal to stay at home for 3 years anyway, employers have to keep jobs open for 3 years after maternity leave starts. In urban areas though it's also perfectly normal to go back after the paid element of maternity leave, at 1 year.

If you do get a state nursery place it will be subsidised and linked to your earnings - even for the highest earners it's cheaper than the UK. Kindergarten is cheaper again because the state do want children to go to kindergarten. Private nurseries including bilingual ones exist and fees can be very high, similar to in the UK.

Oh and registered childminders are worth considering. They have to do a lot of compulsory training so are qualified, but on the other hand ratios are higher so they often (but not always) have more small children in their care than a UK childminder (I think they can have 5 under 3, where UK childminders can only have 3 under 3) Most people switch to kindergarten at age 3 but might still use a childminder for wrap around care. Nurseries usually won't take over 3s either, though you do get combined nursery and kindergarten and after-school care places (Kindertagesstätten or Kitta).

Childminders (Kindertagesmutter) are state subsidised so very cheap at point of use.