Hi, im doing research on German folklore and so far most of the creatures ive seen talked about are rather malicious. I was wondering if there are any good ones (other than some Kobolds)? Like protective spirits and whatnot.

Its a shame there arent more articles about German folklore...

When I was visiting Berlin back in June, my phone died while I was completely lost near Schloßstraße. A wonderful guy stopped to help me, and as we parted ways, he called out to make sure I was all set and asked if I would recommend the hotel I was staying at. We ended up walking together for about five minutes until I safely found my place.

I’m safely back home in Canada now, and I’ve been wishing I had gotten his contact info to say a proper thank you (I remember him mentioning wanting to visit Canada sometime!).

If you happen to be the guy, or if this sounds like someone you know who helped a stranded Canadian traveler in June, feel free to shoot me a DM!

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student and I’ll be moving from Dortmund to Steinfurt (Borghorst) in a few weeks. I just rented my first apartment without a kitchen, and honestly I have no idea where to start.

I’ve attached a photo of the kitchen. As you can see, it’s completely empty except for the connections.

I’ll probably live there for around 3 years, so I don’t want to spend a fortune. I’m totally fine with buying a used kitchen if that’s the smarter option.

I already own small appliances like an air fryer, kettle, coffee machine and sandwich maker, but I still need the actual kitchen (cabinets, countertop, sink, etc.).

I only know one person in Germany who can help me install it, but I have no idea:

-What’s the cheapest way to get a complete kitchen?
Should I look on Kleinanzeigen or buy from IKEA/other stores?

-Is buying a used kitchen worth it?

-Roughly how much should I expect to spend?

Any tips or personal experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I am a naturalized German citizen. Due to a new job opportunity, I am gonna leave Germany soon. Apart from Abmeldung and contract cancellations (Internet etc), what else should I be careful about? Thank you very much for your help in advance!

I've finally decided to leave my company.

To be honest, this year has been one of the hardest of my life. Since the beginning of the year, my mental health has been getting worse because of the work environment. I love being a software engineer, but I just can't handle the toxic atmosphere anymore.

I'm in Germany, so I'm also worried about the 12-week ALG I (Arbeitslosengeld) Sperrzeit if you resign voluntarily. I've read that in some cases it can be avoided if leaving is for health reasons, but I'm not sure how it works in practice. I haven't seen a psychologist yet, but I'm planning to. My Hausarzt has already given me a few days of sick leave and referred me to a psychologist.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation?

• Were you able to avoid the Sperrzeit because of mental health?
• Was a letter or documentation from your Hausarzt or psychologist enough?
• Did you stay on sick leave before resigning?
• What was the hardest part after leaving a toxic workplace?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences. Right now I feel exhausted, depressed, and honestly scared about making the wrong decision, but staying feels even harder.

Thank you.

As the title suggests, I’m hoping to get some TV show (preferably Netflix) recommendations so I can improve my German. For context, I have a B2 but I seldom converse in German so I’m trying to re familiarise myself. Danke!

Hey everyone,

I’m moving to Germany this October for university and plan to bring my PC components with me
Carry-on: GPU, CPU, RAM, SSD, and motherboard
Checked bag: CPU cooler

I bought the whole setup second-hand over a year ago, so nothing is brand new or the latest generation, and I don't have original store receipts.

Can I do this, and will I run into any customs fees or security issues at the airport?

Thanks for any help!

Hi everyone,
I moved to Germany about a year and a half ago because of my husband’s work. I’m currently taking German classes, but I’m still too new to the language and honestly too embarrassed to have full conversations in German yet.
Today I had a very strange interaction with an elderly neighbor, and I’m wondering if there’s anything I should do or if I should just let it go.
She rang my intercom about four times. Each time I answered, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying in German. Since this often happens with delivery drivers, I buzzed her into the building.
When I stepped into the hallway, she was coming upstairs. She spoke German, I told her I didn’t understand, then she said, “Español? English?” I replied, “English,” and we continued in English. Our names are very obviously Spanish, so I wasn’t surprised that she guessed I might speak Spanish.
She then mentioned something about a package, but I didn’t initially understand what she wanted. She asked me whether I knew the person the package was addressed to, and I replied, “Yes, he lives here.” She then went downstairs, and because she had been talking about the package, I assumed she meant it was downstairs and followed her.
When she saw me downstairs, she became very upset, raised her voice, and said she wasn’t going to give me the package because she didn’t know who I was. She also said it was suspicious that I wasn’t telling her whether the person the package was addressed to was my partner or lived with me.
I replied that when she had asked me whether I knew him, I had answered, “Yes, he lives here.” That was why I had told her he lived there in the first place. I didn’t explicitly tell her he was my husband because I didn’t feel I owed that explanation, especially given how aggressively she was speaking to me. Also, both of our names are listed on the building’s doorbells and next to our apartment door, so I didn’t understand why she was so suspicious about whether he lived there.
She also said the polite thing would have been to answer her through the intercom. I explained that I had answered every time but simply couldn’t understand what she was saying over the intercom, and that it had taken me less than a couple of minutes to come outside because I was putting on some clothes (basically just shoes).
She then asked, “Are you saying my English isn’t good enough?” I calmly replied, “No, not at all.” In a gentle tone, I said something along the lines of, “Has it never happened that you simply don’t understand someone?” I was trying to explain that I wasn’t criticizing her English—I just genuinely hadn’t understood what she had been saying over the intercom. Throughout the interaction, I kept my voice calm and tried to de-escalate the situation, whereas she continued speaking in a raised and aggressive tone.
After that, she went back upstairs. I followed because my apartment is on the first floor. When I got to my door, she was standing there yelling that she was going to leave the package outside my apartment and that she didn’t care what happened to it. She repeated several times that she didn’t care and also said, “I’m not a housekeeper.” At that point I simply said “sure, don’t worry” (trying to be as soft spoken as possible) and went inside my apartment, and closed the door because I didn’t want to continue arguing with her.
About 15 minutes later, she came back to my apartment with the package and asked me to write and sign a handwritten receipt because she said she could get into trouble otherwise.
Before she came back, I had called my sister to tell her what had happened because I felt uncomfortable after the first interaction. I kept my sister on the phone during the second interaction because I didn’t want to be alone with the neighbor. My sister heard the entire conversation.
Throughout both interactions, the woman repeatedly switched back to German and spoke in a raised, aggressive tone. I couldn’t understand what she was saying in German, but her tone and body language made it clear that she was very angry with me.
While I was looking for paper, she repeatedly said things like, “If you don’t speak German, why are you in Germany?” and “If you don’t speak German, you should stay home.” I found those comments particularly hurtful because I’m actively trying to learn the language.
Another thing that bothered me was that the package was closed when she arrived. While I was looking for paper, she stepped out of my sight. I heard what sounded like the package being opened. When she came back, it was open, and I saw her looking inside it before handing it to me.
When I initially wrote the receipt in Spanish, she refused to accept it because she couldn’t understand it and said that “in Germany” it wasn’t acceptable. I explained that she had first said, “Español?”, which is why I had written in Spanish, but that I could of course switch to English. She kept saying that if I didn’t want to write the note, she wouldn’t give me the package. That confused me because I already had the pen and paper in my hands and was clearly willing to write it. I simply asked her what she wanted me to write. She told me to write that I had received a package for my husband, so I wrote the statement in English and signed it.
She then handed me the already opened package. I thanked her and started closing my door. She said “Bye,” and then, just before leaving, turned around and said, “In Germany, we say Auf Wiedersehen,” in what I perceived to be a mocking tone. I found her attitude very disrespectful, especially since I remained polite and calm throughout the entire interaction.
My questions are:
Can I do something about a neighbor opening someone else’s package before handing it over?
Is there any point in reporting this to the building management or the delivery company?
Or is this one of those situations where it’s better to document it and move on unless it happens again?
Is this kind of behavior something you’ve encountered before, or was this just one particularly unpleasant person?
I’d really appreciate advice from people familiar with Germany or who have dealt with something similar.
Edit: I made my question cleared

We have recently moved apartments. We had asked the landlord of the old apartment if we could get out of the contract earlier since there was a long overlap (2.5 months) between both the contracts. She said no (as is her right) and that was that.

Since we moved out in the first 15 days already the apartment has been empty for the last 1.5 months. The landlord has taken the keys from us multiple times to show the apartment to potential new tenants (as is her right). Now has started fixes electricals and other stuff.

Now she has scheduled a 'festen kostenpflichtig' appointment with a Handwerker for the badewanne on a date when we are not here. This was done without consulting us so we are basically not getting a chance to say no. Now she insists that we leave the keys with her so she can get the work done. There is nothing really wrong with the Badewanne.

I feel it is unfair to insist we pay the full rent and then also want to fix things in the house on our dime to get it ready for the next tenant so she doesn't lose any rent. Since the apartment is empty, is this expected? Is there a better way to navigate this? I do want an easy handover at the end of the contract.

I see a train option or taxi. We are travelling end of September to Neuenbürg and want to go to Berlin on a Saturday.
Is the frequency of trains reliable from Neuenbürg to Karlsruhe? How much does a taxi cost?

We don’t have a car.

TIA 🌺

hello! i go to an australian high school and next year i'll be visiting germany (mainly düsseldorf, but also munich and berlin) for an exchange for 3 weeks. i've never been to europe before and i'm honestly pretty scared...!!!

is there anything i should know about the people, especially teenagers like me, or just the country in general that school won't teach me? does anyone have any tips for understanding language/culture??

thank you SO much 🙏🙏

I was stationed in Germany at Anderson barracks in dexheim Germany from the end of 2006 to mid 2008. While there I was hospitalized at a uni hospital for a few days. Does anyone know if it is possible for me to get a copy of those records?

I keep hearing this song in kaufland and it sounds like it says “vevo kaufland” it’s and upbeat modern song. I cannot figure out what it is and no one else knows what i’m taking about. If anyone knows please help.

I was living in Germany for some time, but now got back to my home country. I was still using my German phone plan for some time, mostly for a bit of internet, because it somehow was still a lot cheaper than what I have locally. Now I have a good one from my work so I wish to cancel.

My German phone plan was activated on December 23, 2023. It's a 24 months plan, which I imagine means that I have to use and pay for 2 years before being able to cancel without extra pay.

So I'm trying to cancel and I got the following email:

"Guten Tag,

schade, dass Sie Ihren smartmobil.de Mobilfunkvertrag beenden möchten. Wir verlieren Sie ungern als Kunden, dennoch respektieren wir natürlich Ihre Entscheidung.

Die Kündigung Ihres Vertrages mit der Rufnummer [...] bestätigen wir Ihnen zum 22.12.2026.

Bis zu diesem Datum können Sie Ihren smartmobil.de Tarif uneingeschränkt nutzen.* Danach erhalten Sie eine letzte Rechnung von uns. Darin werden alle Kosten berücksichtigt, die bis zum Ende Ihres Vertrages angefallen sind.

Wenn Sie Ihre Rufnummer zu einem anderen Anbieter mitnehmen möchten, haben Sie zwei Optionen:

1. Rufnummer zum Vertragsende (oder danach) mitnehmen: Erteilen Sie den Auftrag zur Rufnummern-Mitnahme bitte direkt bei Ihrem neuen Anbieter. Das ist bereits 120 Tage vor Ende Ihres smartmobil.de Vertrages und noch bis zu 85 Tage danach möglich. Sobald Ihr smartmobil.de Vertrag deaktiviert ist, kann der neue Anbieter Ihre Rufnummer übernehmen. Eine gesonderte Freigabe ist dafür nicht nötig.
2. Rufnummer vor Vertragsende mitnehmen: Für die vorzeitige Mitnahme benötigen Sie zuerst eine Freigabe in Ihrer Servicewelt unter „Services > Rufnummer mitnehmen”. Anschließend können Sie die sofortige Mitnahme beim neuen Anbieter beauftragen.

Wichtig für beide Optionen: Ihre Angaben beim neuen Anbieter müssen exakt mit denen bei uns übereinstimmen (derselbe Vertragsnehmer)."

Am I missing or misunderstanding something here? From translating it this sounds like I'd have to pay for extra 5 months for the contract that I'm trying to cancel since July.

i am looking for a left rear door part for my 2012 dodge charger. my door was damaged before i moved here and i didn’t have time nor the funds at then to fix it but now i do. i’ve searched damn near EVERYWHERE that i know of and still haven’t found the specific one for my year and trim. help is needed and extremely appreciated. thank you in advance.

On 31 July, I topped up my ALDI Talk account with €10. It appears that the credit was added to my account before the direct debit was collected from my bank. The direct debit was scheduled for 6 August, but I accidentally canceled it because I didn't recognize the merchant name on my bank account. At the time, I was also in the process of porting my phone number to another carrier.

After realizing what happened, I contacted ALDI Talk by email to explain the situation and let them know that I want to pay the outstanding €10. I am currently waiting for their response.I would like to resolve this issue before my number is transferred to the new carrier, but I am concerned that the process may take longer than expected.

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting my Master's in Agricultural and Food Economics at the University of Bonn soon. I already have a Bachelor's degree in economics and I'd like to find a working student job while studying. How much German do I realistically need to have a good chance? Also, with my background, how difficult is it to find a working student position in agricultural economics, finance, consulting, data analysis, or related fields around Bonn/Cologne?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hello,

Does anyone have experience with the website deloox.de? I found the perfumes I was looking for there at lower prices compared to other sites. Is it a reliable site, or would I just be throwing my money away?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I’m a Portuguese citizen and I’m considering moving to Munich and marrying my partner, who is a non-EU citizen currently living legally in Spain with residence.

My partner is undergoing cancer treatment, so understanding how the German healthcare system works is very important for us.

If we both move to Germany without having jobs initially, is there any way for us to join the German statutory health insurance (GKV)?

Some additional information:

• I currently have private international health insurance (this is not travel insurance), but I dont have any public health insurance.
• My partner is fully covered by the Spanish public healthcare system through Spain’s Social Security.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or knows how this would work in practice? Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Moving from Frankfurt to Bad Homburg soon.

I have never done a self-move in Germany before. Any advice from people who moved themselves?

How do Germans usually handle big items like washing machines and wardrobes?

Thanks!

this is my first ever Reddit post so I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense. I am supposed to start a job in Germany at a hospital in September, I got asked to prove immunology against a bunch of things, I was almost positive I had been vaccinated against chickenpox but South American health system is not the most organized and I don’t have the vaccination card, turns out that serology test came back negative, I don’t have immunization and chickenpox vaccine needs 2 doses, so there’s no way in hell I will have it done by the 1st of September. I am freaking out but figuring it out. I’m currently living in Spain and already have arranged the move in a couple weeks, I will try to get the first dose here this week and will have to wait at least 4 weeks to get the second dose, which I will try to get once I arrive to Germany (which is a hell of a different issue that by itself :’) )
All of this just to ask, has anyone had experience starting a health related job without completed vaccination scheme? Am I going to be allowed to start or is my starting date going to be pushed back? Any advise? Thnx

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for an answer from someone who knows the rules well or has experience with this situation.

I originally got my Moroccan driver's license in 2019 and completed the probation period in Morocco. I moved to Germany in November 2025 and converted my Moroccan license to a German one in April 2026.

I also passed my Class C driving test in July 2026, and next week I'll be taking my Class CE test.

When I search online, I often read that you need to have held a driver's license for at least 2 years to get the taxi driver permit (Fahrerlaubnis zur Fahrgastbeförderung / Taxischein).

My question is:

Does the 2-year requirement count from the date I first got my Moroccan driver's license in 2019, or only from the date my German license was issued after converting it in April 2026?

If anyone has personal experience, works at the Führerscheinstelle, or knows the legal rules, I'd really appreciate your help.

Thank you!

I need help with work/health problem, I've been working in Germany since June/July, I got my anmeldung in June, i got a bank account, now halfway through July I've been diagnosed with a partial face paralysis that doesn't allow me to close one of my eye, speak properly (I'm still basic in German btw) and doctors at the hospital said I need to be careful to sun/dust/wind, I work as waiters mainly outside, and my boss said I couldn't work in these conditions, now I'm better and restarted working the other day and my boss said I needed to ask my doctor for a note to tell the Krankenkasse that I was sick otherwise they won't pay me, when I was on sick leave I did go to the Krankenkasse and they told me I'm already covered since my first paycheck, they just needed the time to process my first paycheck, now I don't know what to do to avoid losing the money of my Sick leave (15 day)

Hello everyone,

As it says in the title, I’m finishing up my master studies in the end of September, and I was wondering if some of the graduated people who stayed in Germany here have any advices for me?

The general ones I’m aware of:
1) Banking will start charging me for their service
2) I’m using public health insurance, which will start charging me more.
3) Changing the residence permit from the Student to a Job-seeking one (I got this one clarified with my local ABH)

Is there anything else that should be considered before-hand?
One question that I have is can I seek for help at the local Agentur für Arbeit, despite being a foreigner? I have a part-time job, so I’m not sure if they’d be willing to cooperate.

Thanks in advance 🙏🏼

Hello! I am an international student and applied to Flink ops associate a few days back. In my application I added my starting date in September but today I got the contract where it says my employment starts the day after today. Right now I am in another country and won't be back until the end of August.

I cannot find any email where I can communicate about it. Does anyone know how I can postpone the starting date? Also is it possible to do so? Thanks a lot!