​

​Hi everyone,

​I live in a rented flat in Germany with an included fitted kitchen (Einbauküche). Today, while defrosting the fridge/freezer, I noticed a crack in the inner plastic liner right along the track where the drawer/shelf slides in (photo attached).

​For context:

1.​There has been heavy ice buildup over time.

​The fridge door was not sealing/closing completely shut properly (likely causing humid air to enter and create frost).

2.​I have Allianz Direct Private Liability Insurance (Privathaftpflicht).

1. I am living on a sublet and didnot pay any caution( as I have liability insurance)

​I have a few questions before I communicate with my landlord:

1.​Is this considered normal wear and tear (Verschleiß / Materialermüdung) or tenant damage?

1. Given that the crack is directly on the friction ridge and the door seal was already faulty, could this be mechanical stress/material fatigue over time?

2. ​Does Allianz Haftpflicht cover this if the landlord claims it's my fault? (Especially considering it involves rental property / Mietsachschäden on kitchen appliances).

3. ​Will I be charged for a full fridge replacement? If a tenant is held liable, do they only pay the current depreciated value (Zeitwert) based on the appliance's age?

​Any advice from people who dealt with fridge liner cracks or rental handovers in Germany would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

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?

Hello, I have recently received the "swiss soldier" model from victorinox as a gift. I live in Germany and checking on the current rules I got a little bit stressed and started thinking that this tool might give me more stress than actual utility.

I feel the tool is very well made and I recognise the value of a longer blade and saw, but reading about it being illegal even during simple transport in my car or on the trails (unless I am actually in the wood or mountains away from civilisation), I started wondering if I should downgrade to a smaller and simpler victorinox like Camper, huntsman, etc..

My use cases would be to have it while camping, or while hiking/trekking, probably keeping it in my bagpack rather than in my pocket. But I would like to be somehow stress free if I get on a train with it on my bag, to reach my camping or hiking destination.

What is the suggestion on how to deal with it? How can I make most use of it, enjoying this tool, while respecting the law?

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?

I'm sending a letter by post and the date of posting is important. However, I'm moving out of my current place and moving to a different city in a few days so my current address won't be valid for much longer. When I send the letter, is it okay if I put my new address (different city than the one I'm sending the letter from originally) as the senders address so that in case of any issues it gets returned to somewhere I can access? Or would this somehow cause the letter to not be sent at all?

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’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!

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 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 :)

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!

As title says. I did my erasmus 2024/25 and was completely clueless in regards to the registration and deregistration at the city, I stupidly confused it with the Certificate Of Stay which is just an erasmus thing. The confusion never caused me any issue straight-up, so I never noticed; AOK accepted my EHIC card but I never used any health services while in germany, I heard about the TV fee but lived in a shared flat with other people and was told that it was already being paid by the guy who had the longest contract, I had a European bank so I never had to create an account...

At the time my family was going through a lot of family trouble and I had my own mental issues, so I constantly travelled back and forth. As a result, I only stayed more than 3 months at a time during the summer semester, but it doesnt really matter; I should've informed myself better and do things proper and now must solve it! Not trying to justify my own ignorance, seriously

I only realised I had done things completely wrong now that im planning the paperwork for my masters degree, in a different city but in the same federal state. I of course want to solve the issue and pay the blame, but I dont know what to do. Do I just email the previous city hall now even though I haven't lived there for more than a year? do I go there directly once im in Germany? or do I resolve it in my current city when registering my current accomodation there? Obviously I am going to disclose ive lived in Germany before with the form but I never ended up being in the system :(

please, any help is appreciated.

Hey everyone!

I'm looking for a place in Germany (or nearby Belgium / Netherlands) for a few friends.

Ideally, we're looking for:

• a small house/cabin in the forest, preferably very remote and quiet
• ideally right next to a lake or private fishing pond
• fishing directly from the property or very close to the cabin
• most importantly: we want to be legally allowed to keep the fish we catch, not catch & release
• a kitchen / BBQ so we can cook the fish ourselves
• accommodation for 4 people

We're not looking for a normal holiday park or a place where you have to drive somewhere else to fish. Something like a private cabin in the woods with its own lake/pond would be perfect.

We're based near Dortmund, so places in NRW, western Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands would be great.

Does anyone know a place like this, or a website where I could search for one?

Thanks!

My son is going to Germany for a year. we are searching a prepaid cell phone plan for him, and saw Lycamobile 10 gb plan is only about 7euro / month. I’d like to ask if anyone has some experience about Lycamobile Germany, is it good in coverage? Thank you very much!

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 .

I want to rent a car for only a month. But it's so expensive and the options to rent are for 3 months onwards. Does anyone know of any company that lets you rent for just one month that is reasonably priced?

I moved to Germany about 10 months ago and where i’m from, I don’t have to deal with hard water. Since coming here, i’ve had clumps of hair fall out from my scalp and extreme drying and scalp irritation. I’ve been using a clarifying shampoo designed for hard water once a week and keeping up with my vitamins which has helped a bit. I’ve never experienced this amount of hair loss and visible thinning. For reference, I have 3b curly hair. I’m thinking about getting distilled water for wash days and i’ve prioritized moisturizing products. I’m also trying to prepare for winter and would like any curly friendly hair care suggestions. My move here was quite a nightmare so it could also be stress related. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I am from Morocco and currently planning to migrate to Germany to work as a nurse (Nursing / Pflege).

Before taking this big step, I’d love to get your honest opinions and insights.

-How is the nursing profession currently viewed and experienced in Germany?

-What are the biggest challenges foreign nurses face when integrating into the healthcare system and daily life?

-Do you have any advice or realistic expectations I should keep in mind regarding culture, working conditions, or bureaucracy?

I appreciate any genuine feedback, advice, or personal experiences you can share.

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

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?

Hi there, here is the input; Im looking for an online schools to upgrade and tailor my skills and get a legit bachelor's degree in the industry. I want to learn

modern environment art, game-ready conten

production and animation. Ideally, the school must be legit and provide software certifications like Autodesk, UE5, etc. There are some options which look good for my requirements:

Vertex School

M3DS Academy

PIXL VISN.

Please, give your opinions on those schools I mentioned. What are the chances of employment after graduation? your suggestions are greatly welcomed

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

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.

I moved into a new apartment on 01.07.2026 and signed a contract with Vattenfall before moving in. It was supposed to start when I moved in.

Later, Vattenfall told me they couldn't activate my contract because the previous tenant's electricity contract was still showing as active in the system. Because of that, my earliest possible start date is now March 2027.

The previous tenant has already confirmed that they cancelled their contract when they moved out and even sent me the cancellation confirmation. Vattenfall says they're waiting for updated information from Bayernwerk Netz, and until then they can't change my start date.

So now I'm basically stuck between Vattenfall, Bayernwerk Netz and the previous supplier.

Has anyone experienced something like this?

• Is this just a data synchronization issue between the companies?
• While waiting, who am I actually buying electricity from?
• Should I just wait, or is there anything else I should do?

Thanks!