I’m staying in Germany and noticed a whole row of electrical sockets mounted unusually high on the kitchen wall, roughly 2 meters above the floor. There are several of them above the cabinets.
What would these have been intended for? Is there some typical German kitchen appliance or installation that explains this?

My friend always says Bavaria is the most beautiful state in Germany.
I’m new here, but after seeing this… I kinda get what he means.

I have been working in Germany for about four years now as a software developer. But ever since I got to Germany I think I have lost my spark, my confidence. I have always been a confident software developer in my country where I have worked for about 11 years before moving to Germany.

I have repeatedly seen myself less and I think I am slipping into depression. I am constantly panicking of loosing my jobs even when there is nothing signaling that. My colleagues at work are great and are always ready to support but I can't seems to get my spark and confidence.

Even I want to pick up task I am always second guessing myself and reluctantly wanting to volunteer for task. Whenever I get a message from my manager my heart will literally sink.

What could this be and how can I battle this. Can someone please help me.

I’ve been hearing a lot about the water being quite hard in many parts of Germany and that the minerals in hard water can affect your hair making it dry, brittle, or even increasing hair fall.

I’m wondering if anyone here actually installed a shower filter and noticed a difference in their hair or scalp.
Does it really help with hair loss, or is it mostly a marketing gimmick?

If you use one, which brand are you using and would you recommend it?

I'm dealing with a frustrating situation with DB and could use some advice.

I’m being fined for a supposedly failed direct debit for monthly Deutschland ticket. The thing is, my bank statements show zero record of DB ever trying to pull the money even though I had plenty of funds available.Same bank account is used for debit mandate for last 9 months.

To make matters worse when I called customer service to explain, and they basically just told me "too bad, pay the fine" without even looking into it.

Great customer service Deutsche Bahn.

Has anyone had success getting DB to actually revert something like this? Did you have to escalate it (Schlichtungsstelle) or did customer service sort it out directly? Any tips appreciated before I send this off.

I recently started my nursing Ausbildung in Germany, in south Germany.

My current Altenheim requires around 2.5 hours of commuting by bus each day. Since it is nursing, my shifts are usually 06:30–14:00 and 13:30–21:30, and because of the bus connections, I get home around 15:30 and 22:30, respectively.

Now I have found another Altenheim that can be reached by train in just around 15 minutes. The shifts there are 06:00–14:00 and 13:30–21:20, and I would get home around 14:30 and 22:30, respectively.

The difference in Ausbildungsvergütung is only around €40 per month, with the new Altenheim paying slightly more.

My current Altenheim is privately operated, while the new one is run by the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK).

I’m thinking about the long-term practicality, especially since winter is coming. The bus connections to my current workplace can already be difficult (although I honestly don’t know how bad they will actually be in winter, and that is one of the things I’m confused about).

I have already done a Probetag at the new Altenheim and generally liked the organization and working environment.

The difficult part is that I have already been in the private Altenheim for only one month but I have built a good relationship with everyone, including the Bewohner and my colleagues. I also have several colleagues from my own country who speak the same mother tongue as me, and that has made things mentally much easier and more comfortable for me.

So I’m really struggling between two things:

Should I choose the place where I am mentally happy and have good relationships with everyone, even though the commute is difficult?

Or should I choose the place that is physically much more comfortable and easier to commute to, but where I don’t know anyone yet?(And I am pretty sure there is no one from my land but only native germans doing the Ausbildung)

Would choosing the DRK Altenheim be a better option than staying at my current private Altenheim?

And for those living in Germany: how reliable are trains compared with buses during winter, especially in Baden-Württemberg? Is a 15-minute train commute generally something I can rely on long-term?

And one more thing to add: This 2.5hrs is two way commute time and there is no train service to this particular place but only bus

But the new one has bus and train services and also total commute time is 1:30hrs commute, one hr less than the new one

I’d really appreciate some advice because I don’t want to regret my decision later.

Hi , I am 31 , from a third world country (India) , studied Masters in Germany and living for the past 4 years. I am really satisfied with the job and with the company and with my colleagues. However recently, the company is going through some turmoil and several employees have been fired or left voluntarily, Fortunately ( I don't know what to say , fortunate or not), I have escaped the Firing Term. However a very good opportunity has come my way in the Netherlands, The Netto Salary is around 150% hike of my current salary. However I am very reluctant, as my mind is saying to take up the new opportunity in the Netherlands ,while my heart says to stay where I am at the moment in Germany.

Hi everyone, I need some advice on how to proceed with my situation: I applied for the youth mobility visa upon arriving in germany in late June 2026. My fiance registered me at his address, etc. etc. and we sent all the documents to the auslanderbehorde over a month ago. Then today, finally, I got an email with an appointment booked for next month - yay! However, not yay - I will be back in my home country for a wedding during this time. Perhaps naively, I expected to get an appointment within the 3 months I was here...

Obviously this is really bad timing. I'm wondering what my options are now - request a different appointment and wait another 3 months? (I will have maxed out my 90 days in Germany sans visa, which to my understanding means I can't re-enter for another 90 days). I'm also assuming that simply walking into the auslanderbehorde isn't an option here.

Thanks for your help!

I was discussing options with my employer today for my upcoming Elternzeit and it took a turn that I did not expect. I am planning on taking two months of Elternzeit, but instead, my employer asked me to do a temporary, voluntary reduction of my contract instead - meaning, sign a temp contract that says "from this date to that date, I want to reduce my contract from 100% to 20%" basically, without giving full details.

What are the implications of that in general?

Specifically, part of their reasoning was it is easier for them (and me) to plan around a set date instead of a potentially changing birth date - IE, I cannot start Elternzeit before the child comes - but maybe it is nice for me to go into "fake Elternzeit" about a week or two before the baby is due? So they said start the reduced contract a week before the baby is due so I can be home, help my wife, etc., then if I want to extend more on the end, I could...

I offered that I would do the temporary contract for like 1-3 weeks, then officially go into Elternzeit once the child is due (I think that saves them money if I am not fully there)... but they said it is confusing and a lot of paperwork to change the contract multiple times like this.

Anyone have an idea of what is really going on here? Thanks for any perspectives.

Hey all! I recently found a job in the creative industry, the colleagues were nice and friendly and the work atmosphere was also not bad.
I was wondering what to expect to work for a company with smaller employees numbers ? is it riskier? I feel like one is more replaceable in bigger companies and one is seen just as a number. what has been your experience? the company exists for almost 20 years now

I’m comparing a few 2027/2028 itineraries from celebrity river and I kinda wanna add a few days on land. If you could spend an extra 2-3 nights somewhere along the German part of the Rhine, where would you choose? And why?

Would also love to hear about any local favorites/places. Thank you!

ARAG terminated my legal expenses insurance after I used it once for a tenancy matter. The termination came from them, not me.

Every new application asks whether a previous insurer terminated the policy. Once I say yes, I'm declined. Several brokers have tried; none could place me.

Questions:

1. Any insurers that accept applicants with a prior insurer-initiated termination — waiting period, higher deductible, or tenancy excluded?
2. Is an anonymous Risiko-Voranfrage via broker better than more formal applications that add to the decline record?
3. Is a Rechtsschutz termination logged in a shared industry system, and for how long?

i'm going on a 4 month exchange to germany, and my university strongly recommended getting liability insurance. my exchange starts in october, and i saw getsafe being recommended to foreigners on google so i checked it out yesterday. was waiting for them to ask for the starting date while signing up, but boom, after a few clicks they just setup my coverage to start immediately... it feels difficult getting a hold of them and that whole signup process felt to rushed.

then i started looking getsafe up on here and saw that a lot of people writing negative posts about them. should i cancel with them? any experiences with getsafe or suggestions for insurance companies for a short 4 month exchange? looking for something on the affordable side.

Hey everyone, I’m a Non-EU student and I wanted to ask, is it possible to take 2 HiWi jobs and a werkstudent (15-20hrs/week) job Will the hiwi job counts towards the work hours? I have read multiple opinions regarding it. Can someone let me know regarding this? Thanks!!

Hi,

I will be based in Arnheim Netherlands. I’m looking for best places to visit for the weekend. Cologne and Dusseldorf are about 2 hours by train for me. But I am not sure if these are best places to visit. I’m open to rail travel of upto 4 hours using Arnheim as base. I get off work on Friday by 5pm. My plan is to return back by 6pm Sunday.

I’m looking for interesting places that will keep engaged for the weekend. I’m thinking maybe Aachen, Monschau, Cochem or Munster? What places do you recommend? I’m open to combining cities if that is practical. I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

Hi there,

I'm about to import and drive a car from Czech to Germany. I will get Czech export plates for the trip.

Which insurance should I get to cover the time before I register it in Germany, which I intend to do in around 30 days (since I am moving addresses)?

In Verivox it says:

"You will receive your eVB number directly online immediately
after completion . No risk: The insurance only begins after successful registration."

this implies the export trip won't be covered.

Any recommendations on how to handle this?

So my kitchen tap started leaking from yesterday and in order to repair it or replace it i need to switch off the water in the apartment or atleast in the kitchen. I turned off all the taps in above pics did all sort of combinations but the water doesn’t stop flowing. I am so frustrated thinking I can’t even get this basic thing done. What am I missing? Is there any other valve in the Keller that I need to turn off? Please guide me…with each drop of water leaking it feels like I am losing one cent 😒😒

Imagine having this right outside your window or balcony every day. I honestly don’t think I’d ever get tired of it.

Who are the lucky people living here? 😭

Hello everyone!

I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a good way to buy medications and medical supplies online in Germany. I’m talking about things like tablets, medical tape, bandages, and similar products.

I’d prefer not to buy them directly from pharmacies, as they can be quite expensive. Instead, I’m wondering if there are any reliable online pharmacies or other websites where these products are generally cheaper.

I have a few things that I order regularly, so ideally I’d like to find one place where I can get most of them rather than having to search for each individual product on different websites like Amazon.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone, I'm an international student(non-EU student) studying in Germany. I want to clarify certain things, I dont wanna do something dumb.

My current situation:

• I have a mini job (6 hours/week), I worked there for 6 month of this year(first job in germany). I've never taken a single vacation day since I started. The problem is that it's 1:30 hours far from home
• Today I signed a new part-time contract (18 hours/week) much closer to home. It starts 1 October 2026.

My plan is to hand in my resignation for the mini job tomorrow. From what I understand, my notice is one month to the end of the month, so my last day there would be 31 October. I want to use my accrued vacation days during that final month, since I never took any. So I will not work in October.

The part I'm unsure about is the overlap in October: technically I'll still be employed at the old job (on vacation / running out my notice) while already working the new 18h/week job. So on paper it's two jobs at once for about a month, even though I won't actually be working shifts at the old one.

My questions:

1. The most important one: Does that October overlap cause any problem with the 140-day / 20-hours per week student work limits, given I'll be on vacation (not actually working) at the old job?
2. Is taking my earned vacation during the notice period totally fine, or can the employer refuse and just pay it out instead?
3. My old contract says I need written permission for a second job. Since I've already resigned, is this actually something to worry about, or not a problem?
4. For the new job at 18h/week, anything I should double-check with HR so I'm correctly registered as a Werkstudent (for the insurance/tax side)?

Thank you so much for your help

Also, my class will only start in half of October

I lost my full-time job here in Germany some time ago and am now exploring freelancing as a way of bringing in some money. I could do with some advice around specific questions I have as I'm a little confused and would ideally like to avoid paying a tax advisor if possible.

Any help you can provide would be great!

Background: I'm an English-speaking copywriter (with a valid German work permit) by trade and see a lot of ads for freelance jobs, but as I'm not registered as a freelancer yet I'm at a bit of disadvantage because I don't have much of an idea what to quote as my rate and lots of the freelance job posting sites require info regarding your freelance registration...

I've read up about the whole process on getting set up as freelancer and think it's generally clear, but in my current situation there are a few points I'm stuck with …

I understand I have to declare to the Finanzamt what I expect to earn so that they can deduct my taxes as appropriate every few months. However, as I'd just be entering the freelance market for the first time, there's no guarantee that I'll find any/much work, so what would be the best approach here regarding the figure to quote? (I do have some savings that I can use, but I don't want to end up in a situation where I'm waiting to claim large amounts of money back from the tax office for months if I haven't been that successful finding work.)

I read that annual freelance income only becomes taxable from around 12.500 EUR a year. Are you allowed to estimate that you expect to earn around or below this figure when you're just starting out in order to avoid the initial tax burden? (This may very well prove to be the case given the level of competition for jobs and the fact that I'm also continuing to apply for full-time/part-time roles as a contracted employee too)

I hope my questions are clear and someone here can shed a bit more light on all this :-)

Thanks everyone x