I need to send my parents a gift and some clothing. Regular posts are either extremely slow or simply stop accepting content.

Can someone help me please?

hi everyone, i recently came to germany to study and i was born and raised in a tropical country so ive never felt temperatures this cold before. starting late september ive been having really bad lower back pain which i think is from the temperature? my heater is already on to the highest setting and im still cold :( what else can i do to keep warm and decrease my back pain? is it worth investing in one of those electric heated blanket that you can wrap around your back/stomach?

in germany 🇩🇪which state where can i have a low cost apartments a month i want to live in a small town with basic monthly payments as a nurse

I just moved here this year and I want to choose a coat that is able help me get through northern german winter here (lower saxony).

Do you recommend buying two separate coats one for wind and other for rain? Or is it better if i buy an all-in-one waterproof coat suitable for both rain and wind ?

I did found the latter (a parka) for an OK price, but it’s designed for mountains sports thus can protects against cold as low as -20 degrees, do you think that’s too much or too heavy for northern german weather in which an average temperature varies between -5 to 5 degrees ?

I originally come from a town on the Mediterranean coast where it’s mostly sunny all year round and winters temperature there usually don’t get below 8 degrees so wearing a sweater under a puffer jacket will make you warm enough but i heard winters can get rough in here so I wanna be ready.

I appreciate your advice!!
Thanks in advance

30F/M engineer and not German. I honestly felt like I fought my entire young adult life to build the education and the career that will be one day worth it all. I'm stuck since more than 4 years in the same job, at the same company, and as a non native German speaker, my opportunities in career development are extremely limited and I seem to fail every single interview I had for the past year (yes I am still employed but can barely suffer it; I live in one of the biggest cities of Germany, renowoned for the field I studied my degree in). In this situation, I have accepted my faith, a mediocre life, nothing exciting in the career area as 3 levels above me so called managers studied nothing and just completed an Abitur.

I have even considered switching domains (ignoring my studies) just to get out of my current toxic situation; however, that attempt was also unsuccessful.Feels worth mentioning that also my current employment company has no room for personal development and is blocking (without paying me a non-compete agreement fee) me from joining any other serious company in the field (the main reason my almost 60 applications to one very famous company get rejected since one year).

How do you all cope with the powerlessness of playing the contemporary corporate game? I feel helpless and can't find an exit. I don't feel like I should move counties once again in order to get a chance to practice my degree at a higher level. On a personal note, my life in Germany (since almost 7 years) has been just great. Thanks in advance to you all!

I have plans of moving to Germany in fall of 2028. I'm a dual citizen and have family in a small town in Southern Germany. My kids are about to leave home ,they are young adults and I've been unhappy in a long term relationship but waiting for the kids to leave to end it . I'm a successful hairstylist in LA and am going to give that up . I'm so scared to have to start again in Germany with hair and how thats going to work, but I also feel this pull to go home to where I was born. I have been re learning German for 5 years and its been difficult but im at around B1 ( please don't tell me how slow i am at learning ). I guess I'm just scared mainly about being able to financially support myself there .

Hi, just want to start off saying that I'm 18M. I have a total of 3 tattoos now, one on my thigh, one is a half sleeve on my right arm and the newest one I got is a spider on my right hand, same arm as my half sleeve. The spider tattoo is on the bigger side and it covers like 70% of my top hand area. Very visible and can't be covered up, just like I wanted to. Now that I have got it, I was meaning to ask real humans, not AI's, how limited are my career options. Like could I still work for the BALM, Police or any other sectors without issues or am I excluded from these industries?

Personally I want to be a trucker just like my dad was, so I know that's not affected, but when I inevitably want to switch careers to a higher level, how limited would I be? Right now I work as a mechanic for commercial vans, so this area is not an issue either.

FYI, no criminal record or bad encounters with police, rather I am quite cool with the police in my village/city. (14k people ish)

Also from my personal experience, tattoos are still looked weirdly at. Old people giving me comments and what not, but that may be because I don't live in a big city. Who knows.

Thank you and I am willing to answer any questions you guys have related to this.

So, one time I accidentally said “Noah’s Arsch” instead of “Arche Noah”. The person looked like they were trying to figure out what on earth I was talking about, and I could tell they were about to burst out laughing. But I kept a straight face and corrected myself like nothing had happened. 😂

Have you ever had a similar experience?

Thinking of getting into a physiotherapy ausbildung in germany. Thoughts?

I am an Egyptian 19 years old who has just finished highschool (igcse). I completed 8 OLs and 1 AL bio with great grades (A/A\*) and my German level is B2.

I will be applying to physiotherapy ausbildung next january and I want to ask a few questions.

\- Is getting accepted into an ausbildung hard?
\- Will i be trained well enough?
\- Is physiotherapy a good carreer?
\- Google says that they’ll pay me around 1200£, is that legit?
\- Is my B2 german level enough?
\- IS IT WORTH IT?

Thank you

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some recommendations on jackets for winter hiking (upto -10 Grad) here in 🇩🇪. I am based in the south and will mostly be hiking in BW and Bavaria. I have seen some waterproof jackets on Decathlon but would love to hear from all of you. Nothing very expensive (upto 100 euros) but it should do the job.

Thanks for your recommendations in advance!

I am a Filipino born in Germany in the 90s.

I had a lot of fond memories as a kid. Started school and finished 2nd grade, I remember being in the Carnival in Bonn, doing German kid stuff where you get a Schultüte on your 1st school day, having PE classes in our school gymnasium. Riding the bus alone to school as a 6-7 year old.

But because my mother was undocumented at the time and my father was the only one with a working visa, they decided for me, my brother, and my mother to come back the Philippines and continue life here.

I grew up here in the Philippines and it was hard being an 8 year old “outcast”.

After 16 years, my father became a german citizen and worked on the paperwork to bring my brother and my mother to Germany.

Now all 3 of them live in Germany and I have an established career here in the Philippines.

Christmas is a really big family thing in the Philippines and these are photos I took when I went to surprise my mother for Christmas and since Christmas is near again, I am missing my family again.

Hoping I could surprise them again soon. 🥺

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice from people who have gone through the family reunification process in Germany, especially those who have dealt with the Munich Ausländerbehörde (KVR).

My wife and I have been living apart for over a year, and despite submitting all the required documents and contacting several authorities, we still have no meaningful update on our application.

Here is our timeline:

• 19 September 2025: We got married in Türkiye.
• 24 September 2025: We registered for the family reunification visa process through iDATA in Türkiye.
• 18 June 2026: My wife had an appointment date and submitted her visa application at the German Consulate in Türkiye.
• 23 June 2026: Our application was forwarded to Munich Ausländerbehörde for processing.
• 21 August 2026: The Federal Office of Administration (BVA) confirmed that our application was being processed in Munich.
• September-October 2026: After receiving no meaningful update, I contacted several authorities in Munich.

As of 17 October 2026, we are still waiting without any substantive update.

I'm a Turkish citizen living and working in Munich since 2021. I hold an EU Blue Card. My wife is currently living in Türkiye as she has no visa to come to Munich.

We simply want to live together as a married couple. The prolonged uncertainty and separation have become increasingly difficult.

I'd really appreciate your experiences and advice:

1. Has anyone experienced similar delays with Munich Ausländerbehörde? How long did you wait?
2. Did anything actually help speed up the process? For example, contacting specific authorities, involving a lawyer, or submitting a formal complaint?
3. Has anyone successfully received assistance through other authorities?

I'd particularly appreciate advice from people who have recently gone through the same process in Munich, but experiences from other German cities are welcome too.

I know every case is different, but hearing from people who have experienced this firsthand would mean a lot to us.

Thanks a lot!

The food I eat in Turkey is generally healthy and delicious. Is it the same in Germany? In other words, is it easy to eat well and healthily at a reasonable price?

I was wondering what Germans think about milk tea/fruit tea?What flavors do you prefer, and do you think the price of bubble tea is reasonable?

So I recently lost my job and Agentur für Arbeit wants me to take a language course. I spend most of the week at my girlfriend’s, who lives in a neighbouring city. Both cities have VHS. Can I take the course in my girlfriend’s city instead of the one I’m registered in?

A few months ago, I posted here about how our landlords wanted my wife and me to leave our apartment after just seven months because their daughter needed it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1v9n4u3/landlord_wants_us_out_after_only_7_months_because/

That post received an overwhelming response, and I am really thankful to everyone who shared advice and suggestions. Since many people were interested in knowing what happened afterwards, I thought I should share an update.

We finally moved out, but unfortunately, the problems with our former landlords are still not over.

When we moved into the apartment, it was far from being in a proper condition.

The walls were quite dirty, the bathroom cabinet was so dirty that we couldn't use it properly, and the bathroom heater wasn't working during the winter.

We had to contact the homeowners and ask them to arrange cleaning and fix these issues. Even after that, not everything was properly taken care of.

We have photographs documenting the condition of the apartment when we moved in.

Despite all this, we tried to make the apartment our home. We cleaned, arranged our furniture and settled in, believing that we would be staying there for a long time because we had signed an indefinite rental contract.

And then, just seven months later, we were told to leave because their daughter needed the apartment.

After we found another apartment, we agreed to end our tenancy.

But then came another set of demands.

The landlords wanted us to repaint the apartment before handing it over.

Considering the condition in which we received the apartment, we found this quite unreasonable.

Fortunately, we had already contacted the Mieterbund (tenants' association). After the Mieterbund sent them a letter regarding our obligations, the landlords dropped their demand that we repaint the apartment.

That was a relief, but another issue was waiting for us.

When we moved in, there were already several pieces of furniture in the apartment.

We purchased only three items from the previous tenant: a sofa, a table and a bed.

Other furniture, including a shelf/table in the living room and a small table in the bedroom, was already there. Our understanding from the previous tenant was that these belonged to the homeowners.

Before moving out, the landlords suddenly demanded that we remove these items as well, claiming that they were our furniture.

We explained that these were already present in the apartment when we moved in and provided photographs as evidence.

Interestingly, after we provided the photographs, their explanation changed.

Now, instead of simply claiming that the furniture belonged to us, they are saying that these items were given to us as a gift by the previous tenant.

We never agreed to accept these items as gifts.

We also tried contacting the previous tenant to clarify the situation, but unfortunately, we have not been able to reach them.

So now we are in a situation where the landlords are claiming that we are responsible for furniture we never purchased or agreed to take ownership of.

After everything that had happened, we decided to bring a witness to the apartment handover.

We felt this was a reasonable precaution considering the ongoing disagreements.

However, the landlords were clearly unhappy about the presence of our witness.

What surprised me even more was that they later wrote to the Mieterbund expressing their frustration about us bringing a witness.

I genuinely don't understand why having someone witness an apartment handover should be such a problem.

The landlords are still holding our entire security deposit, and the disagreement regarding the furniture remains unresolved.

We have been trying to resolve these issues through the Mieterbund, but it is honestly exhausting.

When I think about the whole experience, what frustrates me most is that we never wanted to leave this apartment in the first place.

We signed an indefinite contract, accepted an apartment that wasn't in the best condition, spent our own money making it comfortable, and tried to be responsible tenants.

Then, within seven months, we had to search for another apartment, arrange another move, spend more money and go through all the stress again.

And even after handing over the keys, the problems continue.

One thing we really regret now is not taking legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung) when we came to Germany.

At that time, we never imagined that we would end up in a situation where we might need legal assistance just to deal with our landlords. We thought that having a proper rental contract, paying rent on time and following the rules would be enough.

Now we realise how important legal protection can be, especially for foreigners who may not fully understand the legal system here. We also learned that such insurance generally needs to be arranged before a dispute arises, since existing disputes are usually not covered.

We came to Germany to study, work hard and build our careers. We wanted to focus on our education, research and professional future, not spend our time fighting over old furniture, apartment conditions and security deposits.

Germany is often described as a developed country with strong laws, proper systems and a civilised society. That was also one of the reasons we believed things would be handled fairly here.

But experiencing this kind of petty behaviour from our landlords has honestly been disappointing. It is difficult to understand how people can make such an issue out of a few pieces of old furniture while completely ignoring the inconvenience, stress and financial burden their decisions have caused us.

I know that not everyone in Germany behaves like this, and we have also met many genuinely kind and helpful people here. But experiences like this certainly make you question the expectations you had when you first came to this country.

We didn't come here expecting special treatment. We just expected to be treated fairly and with some basic decency.

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation where the landlord withheld your security deposit without any valid reason? The Mieterbund told us that landlords in Germany can generally retain the deposit for up to six months, so we may have to wait before taking further action. Honestly, this is extremely frustrating, especially when we have photographic evidence and written records to support our side of the story. Despite having all this evidence, we are still left waiting to get our own money back. This is our hard-earned money, and after everything we have already gone through, it feels really unfair that we have to keep fighting for something that rightfully belongs to us.

Has anyone successfully dealt with a similar situation? How long did it take you to get your deposit back?

We are still trying to resolve this situation through the Mieterbund, and I hope that someday I can share a more positive update.

Hii i have my b2 zertificat mit mir aber i want to start preparing for my telc c1 Prüfung now but i cant seem to find resources and where to begin with , if anyone can help me please do on what can i follow for written stuff and sprechen i would be grateful , also i will be starting my uni in 4 months i mainly want c1 for that but also for internship purposes too so will telc c1 hochschule work or i should appear for normal telc c1 only which is easier and whats the differ if someone can help please reach out in dm or reply here thank you ❤️

I’m currently applying for a German national visa for vocational training (betriebliche Ausbildung) under §16a AufenthG.

I have already signed an Ausbildung contract. My training starts on August 1, 2027, and I expect to enter Germany sometime in June or July 2027.

I have received confirmation that my German statutory health insurance (GKV) will start on August 1, 2027.

Therefore, I only need temporary health insurance to cover the gap between my entry into Germany and the start of my statutory insurance. I am not looking for private insurance to cover the entire three-year Ausbildung.

I’m currently comparing these options, but I’m also open to other suggestions.:

Feather Expat Health

MAWISTA — but I’m not sure whether MAWISTA Visum or Expatcare would be the more appropriate tariff for my situation.

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through a similar process.

Has anyone successfully used Feather Expat Health or MAWISTA for a German national visa for vocational training (§16a AufenthG)?

Which policy would be more suitable for temporary coverage until statutory insurance begins?

Were there any issues with waiting periods, particularly when entering Germany for the first time?

Does the policy cover you even though you intend to live in Germany long-term for your Ausbildung?

I want to avoid buying a policy that looks suitable online but is rejected by the German consulate because of its terms or exclusions.

Thanks a lot for your help!

I'm planning a visit to Germany and I'm happening to drive through Bielefeld where I could fulfill my dream to visit the Dr. Oetker World. What I didn't realise is how popular it is, so the tickets were already sold out on the official website. I drive though on the 31st of October, so that shocked me. Does anybody know how to find tickets (I need 2) or does anybody know if somebody has any leftover tickets. Thank you!

I moved from Germany back to my country and did my corresponding tax declaration via SteuerGo. Sent everything that needed to be sent (my country’s tax paper, my yearly salary document, my address etc) and as of today I’ve had no answer. I’ve read that after six month they should notify me in some way, but if by next month they haven’t I’m going to write to my corresponding finanzamt.

Is anyone in the same situation? Is this normal? The first time I did my tax declaration it took only a month and a half/two months to get my letter lol

Hi Everyone,

I am currently locked in an ongoing legal dispute with my employer (Kündigungsschutzklage) after receiving a termination notice. My goal right now is to maintain active, valid employment status until I secure my Permanent Residency (Niederlassungserlaubnis) or land a new job.

​My main questions for anyone who has been through this:

​Has anyone actually fought their case all the way to a court judgment (Urteil) and received formal reinstatement (Weiterbeschäftigung)?

​What was the workplace environment like after returning, and did the employer attempt to settle or buy you out right after?

​How did the Ausländerbehörde handle your residence permit / PR status while the labor court lawsuit was active or after reinstatement was ordered?

​Any personal experiences, timeline details, or tips on navigating both the Labor Court (Arbeitsgericht) and the Ausländerbehörde simultaneously would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I'm currently doing an MSc in International Finance & Economics at TH Nürnberg in Germany, and I'm exploring Economics PhD opportunities in Germany.

I'd love to connect with current PhD students,

I have a few questions about admission chances, GPA requirements, mathematical preparation, and research experience. I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice you can share.

Thanks in advance!

Good morning,
I’m looking for a really good sushi restaurant in Germany, something similar to Ichi in the Netherlands.
I’m specifically looking for a place that serves flame-seared sushi rolls, with high-quality ingredients, delicious sauces, and creative combinations.
I’m not looking for an all-you-can-eat restaurant. I want a proper sushi restaurant where quality is the priority, with a great selection of flambéed sushi rolls.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently in Germany on a Chancenkarte visa, and my visa allows me to work up to 20 hours per week.
I would like to know if it is possible to work more than 20 hours per week, for example, by having two part-time jobs or working extra hours for the same employer.
Has anyone been in this situation? Is it strictly forbidden to exceed the 20-hour limit, or is there any way to get permission to work more hours?
I would really appreciate your experiences and advice. Thank you!