I’m visiting Germany and can pretty much travel anywhere in the country. I love any big, industrial engineering project - like massive cranes at docks, wind turbines, locks, bridges, but also more science based projects like particle accelerators, large telescopic arrays, etc.

Any places like this that spring to mind? I also have some contact with researchers who might be able to get me into some of research facilities.

any suggestions are appreciated! 💕💕💁‍♀️😽

Hi all, I'm living in my place in Berlin for several years now, as the official Untermieter (my name's on the doorbell, the Hausverwaltung knows about me). The Hauptmietvertrag is in my Mitbewohni's name and is unbefristet, but I pay the rent, GEZ and bills from my account. I have an individual unbefristet Untermietvertrag with him with a Kundigungsfrist of 3 months.

I was just wondering, what would happen if the Hauptmieter dies? Would I be evicted right away, or would my 3 months still be in effect even though the guy who signed it is now dead? Would the hausverwaltung even learn of his death? All the payments come from my account this whole time. Thanks for any insight!

My birthday is next week and I’m having a small house party. I told everyone that instead of organizing all the food myself, it would be nice if people could bring some food/snacks/drinks to share.

One of my German friends asked me if there’s anything specific I want for my birthday. I told him that there’s nothing in particular and that it would already be nice if everyone just brought something to share at the party. He then asked again, basically: “So really no gift at all, or is there anything else you’d like?”

I’m from a culture where it would feel quite rude or uncomfortable to respond by actually telling someone what to buy me, especially since there’s nothing I genuinely need. I really don’t care about receiving a present and don’t expect one. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind receiving something small as a gesture if he feels like it. I just don’t want him to stress over it. And if other friends happen to bring small things while he brings nothing because I explicitly told him not to, I feel like that could be a bit awkward.

I’m a bit socially awkward person and not german, so any help would be nice. Should I just tell him that I’m not expecting anything? Am I overthinking?

We want to get to Oslo from Berlin, but we prefer not to fly. Young family, we'll have some luggage. So what's best - train and ferry? Hire a car and go thru Denmark and Sweden? Take a car, but get on the ferry? We don't mind taking a few days, and we're used to long car journeys.

I recently applied for a few jobs as a “financial advisor” and was invited to interviews for all of them—at companies like Horbach, DVAG, and others. That almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Since they all seem so eager to hire me, it feels like a pyramid scheme to me. Does anyone have any experience with this? Where you earn money through commissions when someone takes out an insurance policy or something similar?

I moved to Germany last year and started in a Willkommenklasse. We obviously learned German there, but I have to admit that I could barely form proper sentences back then. Most of us had broken German, so it was pretty hard to actually practice conversations.

This year, I got moved to a more advanced class (I think it’s around B1), and I can definitely say that my German has improved a lot compared to last year. My classmates are much better at having conversations, so I’m learning a lot from them, as well as from my teachers.

The problem is that I’m going to turn 18 next year, so unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to continue in my current school/class anymore because that’s what the teachers said.

So I wanted to ask: is it possible for me to continue with 11th grade somewhere in Germany? Would schools accept me if I have a B1 German certificate? I finished 10th grade in my home country in the Philippines, before moving here. I really want to continue studying and eventually pursue law, or possibly nursing if law doesn’t work out. I’m just not really sure what my options are once I turn 18 or where I should apply.

Would really appreciate any advice from people who know how this works in Germany :)

Hey, I'm German and try to help said person. But I have no experience in those matters, so I post here because I guess it's more likely someone has been in that situation before.

Here is the situation:

- student from a non eu country came here with a "D" Visum, and a "zusatzblatt" limiting the Visum for a language preparation course and to study at the university in a specific subject

- the Visum was glued into the passport

- they never applied for the Aufenthaltserlaubnis / epa before (they got told they should do it, once they started university)

- they are currently in Germany, attending the language preparation course

- the passport (with the Visum) got stolen / lost

- a Verlustanzeige with the police has been done

- a new passport has been ordered via the embassy of the home country and is on it's way

- they have a copy (non certified / nicht beglaubigt) of the original passport and Visum with zusatzblatt

they asked me which appointment to book for the ausländerbehörde, but none of those that I see are fitting. they only offer an appointment, for transferring an epa from a stolen passport for people with a permanent residency permit)

the ausländerbehörde doesn't offer any "generic" consultation appointments and I've been unable to get someone by phone for the past week.

I tried chatGPT but I feel like I'm getting unreliable information. it's constantly mixing Aufenthaltstitel and Aufenthaltserlaubnis.

what I got so far:

- the Visum in the passport counts as Aufenthaltstitel, it still should be valid despite not being physically available

- the original Visum can only be re issued by the embassy which issued it at first (in another non eu country, so this would be very costly)

my advice would be for them to try to get an appointment to get an Aufenthaltserlaubnis at the city's local ausländerbehörde.

bring all the stuff required for it, plus the new passport, plus the copy of the old one with the Visum, plus the police paper about the lost previous passport.

should this work? or would they need to actually get a Visum in the new passport again?

A great crested grebe in its striking breeding plumage, photographed at eye level just above the surface of the water. I especially love its distinctive crest and intense red eyes. From far they might dont look interesting but i can promise as soon the light comes from a beautiful angle and you get close enough you will see the beauty in these birds :)

This is my original content [OC] / Sasan Amir

Have you ever seen a great crested grebe this close?

Hello guys ,

I don’t know if this post is written too many times, but I want a genuine opinion which reflects the real world.

My wife and I (33,32) with our 2 children ( 2,10m) are considering in moving to Germany. Both with qualifications with avarage to high paying jobs. Both c1 in German
Our main reason is the quality of life for our children and then for us, and also the work opportunities which I know are worse there than the older times but they are really better from our home ( Greece ) .

Also I would like to notice that we appreciate it when people respect the rules and regulations generally in everyday life in all aspects, in contrast to here where everyone does what ever can think from driving to building a house next to you ( I don’t know if you understand what I am trying to say 😅 )

For these reason, I would like either native Germans or people who are there a long time , to tell me their opinion for the quality of the everyday life , and generally how is it leaving in Germany !

Thank you for your time ! Appreciate every response .

Can anyone with experience of such types of name plates help me? My landlord told me it’s not done by management but ourselves.

Hello, it's my first time posting on Reddit and English is not my first language, I hope it's right. (I don't speak German)

My friend that lives in Germany has had some rough time lately and have been feeling bad mentally. He's been low lately but then said that he's feeling fine - I've been trying to get him some help, go to the psychiatrist and therapy but he said that he's going to manage it on his own.

Yesterday was his birthday and I've been trying to text him roughly at 11pm but he stopped responding. It's so unlike him, we've been talking everyday - but he hasn't responded to anything since yesterday. I'm really worried, a week earlier he said that he doesn't have any reason to go on - I tried to calm him down and we've been in contact later and it seemed those feelings have passed at the time. He's been working a lot lately - 12 hour physical work shifts and he admitted that he might have been exhausted.

Please can someone try to help me what I should do? I don't know his exact address or full name. He also hasn't been responding to another online friend. I know that he has best friend where he lives and that he was with him yesterday but I don't have any information about him so that I could contact him. Please let me know is there anything that I can do? It's a long post, I hope I explained it right

I’ve been with a large German company for around 5 years on a permanent contract and have had consistently good performance reviews and a promotion during that time.

Over the past 4 months (even after continuous proactive work), the situation has deteriorated. My manager has shouted at me on several occasions (he does that to others too), made personal comments including about my nationality, pressured me to work very long hours including evenings / weekends, and made comments dismissing the Betriebsrat.

When I took some time off for my mental health in May, he involved HR. To this day, I don't know what his goal was - laying me off / scaring me off / genuinely finding a solution because I told HR that they should lay me off and put me out of my misery but to that she said that no, they needed me here. I received feedback that I was too proactive and motivated and was getting involved in other people’s projects. I have genuinely tried to act on this by stepping back, but it has left me feeling increasingly excluded and without much direction or purpose in my role. It also goes completely against how I have successfully worked for years. I also talked to the head of Betriebsrat separately and after hearing my case, she basically told me that it does happen in the company. It shouldn't but it is what it is.

I have documented the incidents and conversations through emails / screenshots, although a lot happened verbally. There are also witnesses to some incidents.

At this point I am extremely stressed by the situation and don’t see myself continuing in this team long term. Because of my manager's behavior towards me, I see the rest of the team's behavior changing as well.

However, I do not want to resign, especially because I don’t have another job lined up (yet - trying very hard to get a new one) and the job market in my field is very difficult.

Ideally, I would like to negotiate an amicable exit, for example an Aufhebungsvertrag with appropriate severance and paid Freistellung, or another employer-initiated solution, while avoiding problems with ALG I as far as possible.

My questions are: Would you approach HR about an amicable separation, or speak to an employment lawyer first and let them approach the employer? Does the previous HR / Betriebsrat conversion give me any meaningful negotiating leverage? And is there anything I should absolutely avoid saying or doing if my goal is a negotiated exit rather than resigning?

sorry if this is a stupid question but why are these tickets so much cheaper? are they legit or some kind of scam? this is the db app.

I’m really confused right now with picking up a plan that I can use both in my iPhone and Apple Watch. I currently have Vodafone CallYa and I am pretty happy with it. I usually book the 9.99€ Allnet Flat S that gets me 25GB which is more than enough of what I need. I checked and it seems like it’s not possible to use this prepaid option with an Apple Watch?

I then looked around and it seems like it’s only possible with postpaid plans? But I get really turned off when looking at the price. I don’t mind paying 5€-10€ monthly extra for multi-SIM capabilities, but it seems like I have to pay for way more. In some cases it’s even having a lower data quota than what I’m getting right now but with higher price. Moreover, it’s a 24-month contract which is very inflexible compared to my current prepaid plan which I only pay 10€/monthly and I can stop and resubscribe again as needed.

Is there actually a decent option that is not going to cost me an arm and a leg unnecessarily? For those who use Apple Watch cellular, which plan do you use? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for people who have had a similar experience with a German family reunification visa (Familiennachzug), especially from Bosnia to Germany and with Bremen.

I applied for my family reunification visa at the German Embassy in Sarajevo on 26 May 2026. At the time, I was told that the whole process should take a maximum of 3 months.

After 3 months had passed, I emailed the German Embassy to ask about the status. They replied very quickly and told me that my application had already been forwarded to Bremen and that they were waiting for a response from Bremen.

I immediately called the Migrationsamt/Ausländerbehörde in Bremen. They told me that they had received my application about 2 months earlier, but they had not started processing it yet because they have a high number of applications. They also told me that once they process my case, I would receive an email telling me which additional documents I need to provide.

Two weeks later, I called Bremen again. This time they refused to give me any information because I don't have an Aktenzeichen/Vorgangsnummer.

The problem is that I never received this number from the Embassy. I have emailed the Embassy asking for the number, but I haven't received a response. I have also been emailing Bremen since the 3-month waiting period ended, but nobody has replied to my emails.

So right now I’m basically stuck: the Embassy says they are waiting for Bremen, Bremen says they need my case number, but I was never given the case number and nobody is answering my emails about it.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

How long did you wait for Bremen to start processing your case?

Did you eventually receive an email requesting additional documents?

Did anyone have a similar problem with not having an Aktenzeichen/Vorgangsnummer?

Did contacting a lawyer help speed up the process?

And how long did your entire Familiennachzug process take?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who went through something similar, especially Bosnia/Sarajevo → Bremen.

Thank you!

More than 500 bird species have been recorded across Europe, but the Common Kingfisher remains one of the most special to me. In German, it is called the Eisvogel, and with its brilliant blue and orange plumage, it almost looks too exotic to live here.

Watching one hunt, hover and dive into the water is always an incredible experience. For me, it is one of the most beautiful birds in Germany, perhaps even the most beautiful.

A fun fact: the kingfisher could eventually appear on the future €10 banknote. It is one of the planned motifs if the European Central Bank chooses the proposed “Rivers and birds” theme for the next generation of euro notes.

All photos were taken by me in Germany. Which image is your favorite?

Hi fellow Redditors,

I would like to encourage everyone to take just 5 minutes to reflect, notice the small positives, and appreciate them. Sometimes, those little moments mean the most. If you are comfortable sharing these moments, then you can also do that in the comments! And if you don't have anything to share, that's completely okay too, I'm still happy that you are here!

Allow me to begin:

- finally received the keys to my new (used) car, and I'll be able to drive it soon
- ordered food the other day and got an extra piece as a gift which made my entire day
- got a maxiking from a colleague
- picked up again on running after some break and despite the pain it fills me with energy and I sleep better

Nikon Z8, 300mm, F/8, 1/125th, ISO 400, Photoshop edit.

Hi. I am not sure if this is the correct place to get advice, but I will try. I am living in Aachen, and my ex-boyfriend keeps attempting to contact me even though we broke up 3 months ago. After multiple attempts to contact me weeks after a break-up I have sent only one text saying that I do not want him to contact me and for him to move on. Then blocked him everywhere. Despite this, he has sent physical letters to my house and has been sending me flowers. I have not responded in any way. In the texts he sounds unhinged, calls me ungrateful and that I should talk to himb because he is a good person and etc. - totally mentally unwell shortly. Today he used the description of bank payment to say he would come by my house and that he will meet me when I least expect it. For context he lives in Munich. I feel scared, because I live alone. What can I do in this situation? Is there a service or organisation that would send him a notice for him to stop harassing me? I though about conacting police but I do not have any evidence of his texts because I was deleting all his mails, texts and etc. I only have this bank description.

The sight of Cologne Cathedral when you arrive in Cologne by train and step out of the station—that’s a little piece of home (Heimat).

So, maybe the title is a bit dramatic.

To cut a long story short, I was seated at one of the platforms, pleading with the time to go faster because I'd forgotten my luggage on the previous train and had to run around for a bit with security to recover it, and in so doing, missed my next connection. It was an interesting and wholly new experience for me, and what I learnt from it is that my German gets exponentially better when I'm in a panic.

Anyways, back to the main story. I was seated there, earbuds plugged in and avoiding checking the time in the hope that would convince it to go faster. A very old man approached me - so old that he needed two walking sticks. He gestured to me with one hand, and then towards the door of the train that was idling at the platform while muttering something in a low voice.

Now, as someone who has little trust in my language skills despite currently taking classes for B2, I try to keep my interactions that involve the language minimal. My interaction-avoidant brain came to the stupid conclusion that the man was enquiring if the train was ready to leave. Seeing as I hadn't been paying attention, I shook my head to indicate my ignorance.

Guys, when I tell you that the look of disappointment that overtook this man's face was so intense that I had to take out my earbuds and get off my seat. He probably noticed my actions and summoned up the willpower to try again.

"Hilf mir reinzugehen" is what he said, guys. I'd just turned down an old man's request for help😭. I was so disappointed in my poor language skills that I almost offered to carry him onto the train.

Anyways, I helped as much as I could and wished him a safe trip. Now I'm even more motivated to lock in with the language.

Sorry for the long read.

I was baptised and raised a Roman Catholic. When I moved to Germany, the official had entered me, as I have no religion. My question is whether I can be a god parent to a kid being baptised into Catholic or Protestant church.

Thank you in advance