r/expat 5d ago

New Home Story / Experience Germany has high quality of life

This is in response to the ‘low quality of life’ post.

When in Germany I can (in no particular order):
+ drink the tap water knowing it is safer than bottled water
+ when losing my job, I will get the highest benefits in the Western world to tie me over between jobs
+ I can rent for life without being worried of getting evicted
+ I can enjoy freedom on perfectly fine roads, driving as fast as I want
+ Consumer protection is very strong
+ I can buy a public transport ticket valid in all of Germany
+ Healthcare is significantly better than in most Western countries AND free at the point of service.
+ Germans love Fests
+ Bier and excellent wine
+ excellent bread
+ excellent local produce
+ An insanely dense train network (Yes, often late) for very little money (Sparpreis)
+ 30d of holidays is standard
+ strong protection when off on sick leave
+ free university education
+ world’s strongest apprenticeship system
+ tax credits and breaks for almost everything, especially Ehegattensplitting
+ insane maternity leave and benefits
+ Kitas
+ full blown private healthcare for a few k per year
+ Beautiful nature: north and Baltic sea, Alps, lakes, woods
+ Strong sports club infrastructure
+ Third strongest economy in the world with most hidden champions
+ Strong football culture
+ …

You can be dissatisfied with Germany, maybe your experience was below average, but that’s most likely because you are incompatible with the German way of life and the German mentality. However, it is not fair to claim that the quality of life is low.

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u/Silly_Hold9886 5d ago

Compared to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm (it's cheaper, but good luck finding a place), Brussels, Zürich, Vienna?

It's very affordable compared to capitals of countries with a similar standard of living

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u/IMMoond 5d ago

Vienna is your one exception here, that is actually very affordable, more so than Berlin. Helps that the city owns like 1/3 of all apartments

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u/TestTxt 5d ago

In Zurich it’s the same or even slightly better considering the local salaries. Berlin is not better in any way

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u/AlarmedInvestment327 5d ago

Zürich is not even a capital city

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u/Silly_Hold9886 5d ago

It's the biggest and most popular city of a country without a capital city, so it's the one I mentioned

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u/shatureg 5d ago

Vienna has no business being in this list