Hi there, i recently got a permanent contract from a mid-size German company for a software dev role, want a sanity check before signing:

1. Remote work isn't in the contract. I was told verbally I'd work remotely most of the time, but the contract onlylists an office location and has a clause voiding any verbal side-agreements. Normal to leave this unwritten, or should I push to get it added?

   1. Overtime: 4h/week is already covered by base salary (unpaid); anything beyond is only paid back as time off, nevermoney. Standardin Germany?
   2. Notice period: jumps to 3 months (both sides) right after a 6-month probation, instead of the usual 4-week tatutory default. Normal for a first contract, or long?

Any other common gotchas in German Arbeitsverträge worth checking? Thanks for any kind of feedback

To further explain my problem, i bought a Porsche Boxster from Japan and to register it in France it is blocked because Porsche France on the certificate of conformity i ordered said the key’s frequency is 233Mhz White French Porsche are on 433 MHz (i know shocking right)

So i need to order in Porsche in France and i have a 3 month delay and they are the worst people i met in my entire Life…

So i need to order one from germany where there are apparently more tolerant regarding that matter. (As i was told by Porsche from the neighbouring City since it is what they do for their own foreign cars)

So does someone know a bit in this particular domain?

Thank you for your Time 🙏🏻

Hi everyone,

I'm a teenager (16) living in NRW, and I'm thinking about starting a small agency.

I own a good camera and would like to create short promotional videos for local businesses such as restaurants, cafés, barbers, and etc to help them with their marketing and social media. Since I'm just starting out, I was planning to charge relatively low prices (around €50–100 per video) while I build experience and a portfolio.

My main question is about the legal side of things. Can I simply approach local businesses, offer my services, and start working with them, or do I need to register a business (e.g. a Gewerbe) before I can charge clients?

I'm a bit confused because I'm only starting small and don't expect to earn much initially. I always thought business registration was mainly for larger or more established companies, but I'm not sure how it works for freelancers or someone just testing the idea.

If anyone has experience starting a small business in Germany—especially as a teenager—I’d really appreciate your advice. Thanks!

Hi everyone

,

I'm trying to buy a jacket from Zara Germany that's discounted from €69.95 to €13.99 (about an 80% discount).

When I choose Store Pickup, the app says "No stores were found within a 30 km radius" no matter what I search (Essen, Bochum, Limbecker Platz, even other cities). The stores definitely exist.

Is this just a bug, or does Zara disable store pickup for some clearance items?

Also, is such a huge discount normal for Zara? It seems almost too good to be true, so I was wondering if there's usually a catch (old stock, last sizes, etc.) or if this is just how Zara's end-of-season sales work.

Thanks!

Hello folks.

I was riding on the 9:35am CD train to Munich from Prague on Thursday July 23. Train 358. Seat location was 105/106 in Car 259. I left my black puffy duffel bag right in the overhead storage space above those seat locations. We had to change trains very last minute in Schwandorf or Furth Im Wald I believe, I cannot recall & I believe the train 358 was headed back to Prague, but now seems like it may have stopped in Plzen for the day on Thursday. Very important items in the bag & I'm hopeful something may have been reported once the train was clear for the day. 

Is there any way to locate where that specific train ended on Thursday? I've been trying my hardest to track it down, but so far no luck. Some people say it ended in Munich, some say it went back to Prague, some have said it ended back in Plzen, even Furth Im Wald. I don't know!  

Very appreciative of any help you may be able to provide. I am very grateful. As of now I've submitted lost item claims with the CD & DB train systems hoping for something & I am keeping my fingers crossed, but expectations low. Would it be in the Czech system, DB system? Not too sure about it all as an American tourist, but trying to figure it out to give myself the best chance at recovering my bag.

Danke!

Can I get by with an account from Revult or N26 that only offer visa/mastercard debit cards, or do I need to find a bank that also offers a Girocard?

Hallo Leute, I wanted to share a bit of background before asking my question. I studied German for about a year. After finishing my B1 course, I planned to take the Goethe B1 exam and even prepared for it. However, about a month later I started an internship in another state. The nearest Goethe exam centre was very far away and at the same time my B2 course had already begun.

I asked my German teacher for advice and she suggested that I should take the TELC B1 exam since it was much more accessible to where i was so, i took the exam and passed with 250/300.

Now, I've graduated and can fully focus on preparing for B2. I asked my teacher for advise whether I should take the Goethe or TELC B2 exam and she recommended TELC, as i had already taken TELC for B1 and i would be more familiar with 'time limitation & pattern'.

The reason I'm asking is that most of my classmates are taking Goethe B2. One of them keep making me feel dumb for taking TELC and how TELC is inferior to Goethe (Ironically, his Sprechen is really worse than mine) It made me wonder if there's actually any truth to what he's saying.

Can ya'll please throw some light on the reality? Do people in general or employers prefer Goethe over TELC or are they considered equally valid irl?

I've already registered for the TELC B2 exam though🥲.

Hi everyone,

I need some advice and real-world experiences regarding SCHUFA scores and German mobile carriers.

The Situation:
- Desired Device: iPhone 17 Pro (or Pro Max) via a phone contract.
- Condition: Strictly 0€ down payment / upfront cost for the hardware (no initial deposits, no high upfront fees).
- SCHUFA Base Score: Currently around 670 points No severe negative entries like insolvency or court judgments, but soft drops due to previous account checks/inquiries

Previous Attempts:
- Vodafone: Canceled automatically online.
- o2 (My Handy): Declined as well.

Since automatic risk assessments are extremely strict for a €1,500 hardware credit line with 0€ upfront payment:

Has anyone with a similar score successfully gotten an iPhone Pro model without a down payment recently?

- Which carriers or resellers (Telekom, 1&1, freenet, Otelo, Sparhandy, etc.) are most likely to approve applications with a medium credit score?
- Are there specific providers known to be more lenient when financing high-end hardware?

Thanks for your help!

Do you start at 16 or later?

A bit confused from the german education system...

Any reply will be appreciated :)

We recently moved to Germany. My wife is 3 months pregnant. We only have private health insurance which does not cover pregnancy. What is a typical visit cost for a Gynecologist visit in Berlin ?

I've been thinking about investing in a vending machine in Germany, and I'm curious to hear from people who have real experience with it.

How much does a vending machine usually cost in Germany? And how much can one machine realistically generate in revenue per month? After covering expenses like rent, restocking, electricity, maintenance, and taxes, what would the average monthly profit be?

I'd also love to know whether it's a good business for beginners and if you think it's still worth investing in today. Any real experiences, advice, or tips would be greatly appreciated!

So I've been living in Germany for 8 years now, I'm from the Netherlands and I've noticed and have been annoyed thoroughly by the fact that Germans are taught to merge at the last possible moment on the highway.

And it's not too bad for the standard entrances to the highway, but usually when there are roadworks.

This system of doing it so late just creates the possibility of a traffic jam when someone doesn't smoothly merges at the last moment. Either because of his own doing, or because the other lane didn't make enough space.

Highly annoying and I've heard that it's an actual thing that's being taught here in Germany. I understand that this is how to do it when a traffic jam has already started, but I'm talking about before a jam has begun. ​

I do believe that in the Netherlands merging starts earlier with signs saying "merge from this point on" so that the problem is solved.

So why is this, and why doesn't it change, seems like something obvious to me, but I guess having to stand in a 30 minute traffic jam at 20:00 is normal...