Advice on living in Germany.

[falcon]

I'm considering making a move to Germany in a few years, for a long term though not lifetime stay and I'd love to hear from those who have been there and those who still there.

Any advice/thoughts on what life is like there would be much appreciated.

I'm thinking of moving to Munich as when I've visited it, it feels like home, normally after a week anywhere I get home sick and tired of it, but I felt like I could have stayed in Munich for a year or more.

I'm not fluent in German though I speak it reasonably well.

We went to Darmstadt for 18 months. We didnt speak any German when we left, but learnt very quickly!

I loved it and would go back in a heart beat, dh had a very hard job to do which meant he didnt have such a great time.

my DS1 who was only 2 when we went still remembers his time there and want to go back each xmas.

It was lovely, Winter was fantastic! could take the dog everywhere, good atmosphere and generally nice people. Luckily our neighbours were wonderful and helped me so much despite not speaking english. We also found the english club a great source of friends and got involved with the international kindergruppe (sp?)

I have lived in Germany for 16 years now and will be very sad to leave. We are moving to Switzerland soon.

The pros
Good standard of living

(mainly) friendly people

Good weather (and Munich will be even better that this area)

Munich: You are only an hour or so and you are in the mountains. You can have a day trip to north Italy.

lots of people speak English

often very good support for small children, Kindergarten is great, lots of playgroups, baby swimming etc

Health care is better than in UK
More emphasis put on ecology, recycling etc

The cons
School system, and I have heard that the Bavarian school are very difficult. The schools are led differently to the ones in UK, much more emphasis on doing things exactly how that teacher wants it, less emphasis on creativity. DD just started school last week and she has already complained that she had to use certain colours to colour in her homework. There are MNetter who post on here about the school system in Germany,they would be better able to advise you on schools, we have just started.

Do you have school age children?

No, no children at all at the moment, though I'm planning to have adopted or possibly have had a baby by the time I make the move to Germany.

Then I would say, come to Germany and enjoy Munich. Either without children or with small children it is a lovely city.

One big difference here, you might already know this, is that it is very common to rent flats/houses rather than buying. Munich is one of the more expensive areas in Germany for accomodation, especially if you would like to be near the centre of town.

Would you be looking for accomodation in Munich?

Yes I'm looking to rent,I've heard renting can be very difficult there and that you have to be practically glued to the phone.

Munich is one of the most difficult cities in Germany to rent in but it is not all doom and gloom. My DH's company has offices in Munich and for a while there was talk of us moving there. His colleagues told us that it is possible to find decent accomodation there, but you have to be patient.

It does depend on what you are used to. Moving from London will probably make Munich seem cheap.

I am German though not from MUC. My godmother lives there and I know the city reasonably well and still have friends living there. I am from the South West and Lindt pointed out you will be very close to the mountains (Austrian skiing region is half an hour away by car). You'll also be close to the Allgaeu (rolling hills, not Alps but high enough to ski and less expensive and closer to MUC.) In the summer there are loads of beautiful natural lakes around the city and the landscape is grand.

In Germany we call MUC the 'most northern city of Italy' as the lifestyle, people and general behaviour there is less -uhm- German, more air kisses, warmer, friendlier, great food, etc. In summer I love the Biergaerten which are open air pubs where you can bring your own food and meet friends to have a beer. Really great atmosphere.

Renting can be tricky, you should start to look at flats early and maybe spend a day or two just looking around the different neighbourhoods as to what suits you best.

MUC is the most expensive city in Germany, followed by Hamburg and Stuttgart. I've lived in over 4 countries on various sides of the Globe, incl. London and I still find MUC to be expensive. It really depends on your choices (flat, restaurants, bars, etc.) I'd def. advise you to get a car, a tatty old one will do. And join the ADAC (German AA). Great value for money, they literally are the Yellow Angels.

With regards to the school system I can only agree that if a teacher has it in for you, you'll reap bad marks. There is not much objectivity in schools though I prefer the school system itself to the English one. In Germany they single and sift out the ones going for higher education at 10 yrs old. They'll go to a 'Gymnasium', a straight 9 year edu that normally results in your A-Levels and an open ticket to uni. If at the age of 10 you get sent to 'Realschule' you can still (after O-Levels age 16) continue on to do your A-Levels if your O-Level marks were good enough, and I mean good enough). If for whatever reason you end up going to 'Hauptschule' you can shoot yourself (sry, but true). Most of your classmates will be foreigners who'll start knife fights in the school breaks and drugs and crime are rife. Children get bullied and girls wear make-up at 12 and so forth...it's the least attractive social segment and I'd rather send my kid to a private school and get into debt than sending it to a 'Hauptschule'.

Hey there - I live in Munich and have for 7 yrs now. Absolute love living here and can highly recommend it.

If you want to look at accommodation, its all in German but if you have someone to help or feel brave, try looking here.

Also, a good translator website here translates websites or words (so you could use it on the previous link!!). Note, a flat in german is "wohnung" which translate as dwelling!!

Are you sorted on the work front? I would definitely recommend this before moving out and job market is much slower here, and you are unlikely to be able to secure a flat even if you find a nice one, without a job (you usually need a letter from your employer).

Any more questions I can try and answer for you just let me know.

Have just seen this thread, sorry if this comment is too late...I also live in Munich (been here for 6 years), and can also highly recommend it.

Although Munich is expensive relative to the rest of Germany, it's actually not that bad compared to the UK (depending on which part of the UK you are coming from, of course).

MmeLindt mentioned that it's really difficult to find accommodation here; this was definitely the case a few years ago, but recently there has been a huge construction boom and there are now many more flats available. The cost of renting has decreased a bit too as a result and hopefully all the mad stories of trying to find a flat here are a thing of the past.

Crime is very low here (the parts they refer to as being the worst are in fact nicer than the best parts of some UK cities!!).

All the best with your decision!

If you just want to try it initially for a year or so, you could look at Mitwohnerzentrale which is an organisation leasing out rented accommodation, generally furnished for a certain period of time. Possibly you could get a nice furnished place from a family moving overseas themselves for a 1-2 year contract. Some friends of mine had this organised for them when they came to do a post-doc and the universities often organise this kind of thing.

Are you planning on coming alone or with a partner?

I don't think you need fluent German to enjoy a stay in Germany but it might be lonely at times if you plan on moving there alone. Obviously though, you will have considered that already. Adoption in Germany is difficult because it involves a lot of paperwork and is regulated/overseen quite thoroughly. Might be difficult for you as a foreigner to manage all that. Best to look into arranging an adoption beforehand and then moving to Germany with your child later on.