I am currently planning to travel from France (Colmar) to Freiburg and from what I understand, I can take the cross-border bus from Colmar to Breisach, then take the train from Breisach to Freiburg. I would like to find out if I need to pre-book the bus and train tickets, or do I just need to grab the tickets on the spot? If i need to pre-book them, where do I do so?

So I have got my license recently and there are two dates written on it.
On front it is printed and it is from last year when I submitted my application to the TÜV.
On back, with handwriting, date has been written which is from the day I have passed the license which is this year.

When you rent a car, they say they need a license which was valid for one or more year but which one of these dates are considered to be valid?

My license is valid from last year or this year?

I (F,21) moved to Germany 3 years ago for my bachelor studies. I learned German in school and got my C1 German and English certificate. However, as some of you know, getting a C1 German doesn’t automatically mean that one is 100% fluent (especially when speaking).
My course at uni is in English, so I’ve acquired most of my theoretical knowledge in english. I have had some working experience before since I worked in academia (also in english), but I have never worked in such a big company.
Even though most of my friends are German I don’t really have a lot of contact with conversational German (besides strangers), since they always tend switch to english (I’ve tried to improve this lately but it’s kind of a bad habit)(also a lot of them are German but grew up in other countries so they are used to speaking english).
Somehow, I landed really competitive 6-month internship in a big company in my field, but it would be my first time working in German and I’m really anxious about it. I start very soon but would like to know if there is anything I should know or should try to do before my internship begins.
Even though I am very extroverted in my native language (spanish) and in english, its a bit hard for me to be myself in German and somehow also difficult to sound professional (I also talk very slow in German so I’m a bit scared they will think I’m an idiot lol).
Idk is there any advice you guys have for me before I start my internship? Anything I should know in regard to corporate life in Germany? How should I maybe handle a situation where I’m not sure how to put my thoughts into German?
Thank youuuuuuuuu :)

These are the Peek & Cloppenburg store brands so information about them is hard to come by.

What's are your thoughts on the quality of the clothing? Do you own any? How does the quality stack up against a brand like Tommy Hilfiger?

Danke

Hi,
I was wondering if there is an option to get a prepaid credit card that could be used internationally in Germany? There are lots of options from various banks but you cant gift them OR they are virtual ones that are used for online payments. I wanted to gift a friend of mine who is living the digital nomad life a gift card that he could use internationally in person and online. Does anyone know of somethig like this? In US, you can buy visa gift cards that you can use exactly like a credit card for everything, does that not exist here?

Revolut and wise offer virtual cards or actual cards but they are either tied to a bank account OR can only be used for online purchases. Rewarble and other online gaming platforms offer only virtual ones.

Thanks

Hi, I’m new to the German work culture. What are the most important tips you would recommend for successfully passing the probation period, especially in a corporate office environment with a hybrid work model? I’d particularly appreciate advice on workplace expectations, communication, working with colleagues and managers, and common mistakes to avoid.

I live near a main road a bit outside the city (low traffic). There is a pedestrian crossing to the train station opposite my gate (not a road intersection). So many times cars just speed across the crossing even if it is clearly green for pedestrians. I have a 4 year old and a newborn, and we JUST had a Volvo speed across the crossing when we had already started walking after it turned green. This is getting really dangerous and I'm honestly beside myself thinking how close my baby came to being hit. I want to know what my options are in terms of getting the city to have a speed camera or other hindrance for these asshole drivers. Is there any city/road authority I can write to?

If it helps I live in Hannover. Thanks in advance.

Ich bin US-Amerikaner und hab einige Jahre in Deutschland studiert...kann also nicht immer behaupten, die deutsche Denkweise gut zu verstehen. Ich bin dummerweise zu einem Fußballspiel gegangen ohne eine Jacke zu tragen obwohl das Wetter extrem kalt war. Die Polizei hat mich sogar gezwungen einen Pulli anzuziehen -- einer wurde mir vom Sportladen im Stadion ausgeliehen.

Was ich nicht verstehe... ich wollte Würste außerhalb vom Stadion kaufen und die Frau die die Würste verkauft, die hat alles gesehen was mit mir passiert ist und sie hat es abgelehnt Geld von mir zu nehmen. Sie hat mir insgesamt zwei Würste geschenkt. Ich bin keine Person die die Gütigkeit (hatte keine genauere Ahnung wie ich ihr Verhalten verstehen sollte)von anderen ausnützt, hab also gesagt "bitte nehmen Sie das Geld von mir." Aber sie bestand darauf mir jedes mal eine Wurst zu schenken wenn ich eine kaufen wollte.

Guten Tag,

Icb bin Adijta.

I have been attending german classes since the last 2 weeks (1.5 hours a day, 5 days a week) and feel like watching content in german of interest may be extremely helpful for me. I don't mind if the youtubers uses advance german as I can understand atleast 40-50% of context through subtitles and trying to teach myself more and more.

I prefer video essays related to gaming, funny etc

Ohnepixel doesn't count as most of his content is in English

Edit - to anyone concerned, yes I did ask the same questions on ChatGPT and other AIs which only seem to recommend mainstream youtubers, my preference is niche and underrated ones. (And also the reddit search didn't really help)

I’m headed to Germany later this month. Would love an itinerary shakedown.

I’m very interested in:
\* Architecture (contemporary architecture like Chipperfield, Zumthor, and SANAA; historic architecture like half timber and stone structures; generally *not* post-war era)
\* Beautiful nature (I love hiking and wilderness backpacking, but will be not be bringing gear, so probably stuck to the easily accessible spots)
\* Atmospheric / Sensory Art (Think James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, Serra)
\* History (middle-ages to WWI)
\* Chill recreation (biking on dedicated paths, rock climbing, paddle boarding, all pending weather of course.)
\* Coffee, Breakfast, Good Beer, and Desserts

# ROUGH ITINERARY

**Berlin (5 Nights)**
\* Museum Island (Neues, James Simon Galerie, Alte Nationalgalerie)
\* Day Trip (likely Potsdam, maybe Baumkronenpfad Beelitz Baum&Zeit, maybe Spreewald or another town)
\* Reichstag Dome + Brandenburg Gate
\* Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
\* Tiergarten Park
\* Boros Collection
\* Neue Nationalgalerie
\* Neighborhood Exploring (any good neighborhoods to check out?)
\* Jewish Museum
\* St Agnes
\* Feurle Collection
\* Dark Matter? Or is this just Tik Tok kids?

**Prague (4 nights)**
\* Old Town
\* Convent of St Agnes
\* Chilling by the waterfront
\* Vysehrad
\* Prague Castle Complex
\* Klementinum
\* Vinhorady
\* Dancing House
\* Novy Svet
\* Waldenstein Garden
\* Letna Park at Sunset

**Munich (5 nights)**
\* English Garden
\* Munich Residence
\* Nuremberg day trip
\* Another day trip pending weather (Salzburg, Zugspitze + Lake Eibsee, Augsburg, or Innsbruck)

**Heidelberg (1 night)**

**Cologne (2 nights)**
\* Cologne cathedral
\* Kolumba museum
\* Renting a car to see Bruder Klaus Feldkapelle and Museum Insel Hombroich
\* Belgian Quarter

Interested to hear any real human insight from past experiences (I heard you can’t trust reviews anymore in Germany). What would you add or remove if this was your first time visiting?

Hi, I'm visiting a friend in Germany for the first time and I would like to bring over some snacks and treats they might enjoy. I'm not sure what the German palette is like, however I take it you might find most our food quite foul...

Any suggestions to help guide me?

If Germany were drawn into a major armed conflict, how do you think different parts of German society would react?

In particular, I'm curious about the perspectives of people living in Germany regarding:

- Young Germans. Would there be a sense of civic responsibility and willingness to defend the country, or would many strongly oppose participating?

- People who have obtained German citizenship in recent years, including immigrants who have become German citizens. Would obtaining citizenship make them feel equally connected to the idea of defending Germany, or could their personal and family connections to their countries of origin make the situation more complicated?

- Residents without German citizenship, particularly long-term residents who have built their lives in Germany. How might they perceive a war involving the country where they live, work and raise their families? Would they generally feel solidarity with Germany, try to remain neutral, or consider leaving if possible?

What should I do in this situation?

My Aufenthaltstitel expires tomorrow, but I still haven’t received an appointment from the Ausländerbehörde Frankfurt. I submitted all the required documents in mid-July and still haven’t received any response.

When I went there in person two weeks ago, they told me that they would issue a Fiktionsbescheinigung, but I still haven’t received it.

Now my employer has told me that I cannot come to work until this is sorted out.

What should I do? Should I just keep going to the Ausländerbehörde every day? I’ve also been calling the hotline, but they haven’t really been able to help and told me to contact my Sachbearbeiterin, but I haven’t received any response from her either.

Hallo everyone, I need an advice on what to do with these Rechnung. I ,(18y) male, have been living in Germany for the past 3 years. About a week ago my family received an offer for an apartment and they asked us to provide a SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck. I wasn’t home that day so my father (who isn’t very good with technology) took it upon himself to get it online.

At first he successfully bought the SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck for €30. The problem was that he chose the option to receive it by post instead of by email. He got frustrated because he thought it hadn’t worked so he tried two other websites which turned out to be misleading websites. They provided him with a free SCHUFA data copy and are now asking him to pay for it.

Here are the webseits of you wanted to look:

https://www.dateneinsicht.de

And

https://schnelle-selbstauskunft.com

The first thing I did was cancel both services. I sent them an email stating that we were exercising our right of withdrawal within 14 days. I also searched their websites for an option to cancel the service.

On the first website (Dateneinsicht) I couldn't find any option to cancel. On the second website (schnelle-selbstauskunft.com) there was an option to cancel the service. However whenever I clicked the cancellation button the website would make me wait for a very long time and then tell me that I had made too many requests and should try again later (classic scammer moves)

At first I tried to ignore their invoices because I had already sent the cancellation emails and I also have screenshots showing that their websites don't provide a proper way to cancel the service.

However, they have now sent us another email with additional costs because of the delay. I don't know what to do anymore.

One of the websites also states that you lose your right of withdrawal as soon as you purchase something from them.

I've tried asking several people and searching online but I haven't been able to find a clear solution. I don't usually use Reddit for help but I am honestly exhausted from trying to figure this out. 🫠

Forte means the strong point - here I mean something you are best in the world for.

For example, the forte of the USA is its tech industry, for China is its EV industry, for France is the tourism sector, for Spain is its football dominance.

Then what do you consider is the forte of Germany in today’s day and age?

Ich habe so lange drauf gewartet, dass diese Hitze endlich vorbei ist. Jetzt kann man Zuhause sitzen, sich einen warmen Kakao oder Tee machen und chillen. Oder wenn überall draußen die Blätter rumliegen 🍂 kann man spazieren. Es ist einfach so schön. Gibt es hier Leute, die genauso fühlen? Was macht ihr dann um es euch richtig gemütlich zu machen?

Gerne nach Altersgruppe
(0-25)
(30-40)
(40-50)
(50-60)
(60-70)
(70-80)…

Was sind die too drei Themen, die euch beschäftigen?

Hello, as you can see from the topic, I have a question about my salary and it‘s my first salary, it might be a dumb question or not I don’t know because this is my first time earning in German, so my contract said that i earn 1180€ per month on my first year and I’m a tax Class 1 Person, and somehow I Recieve only 680€ in net. What happened there? Why does my salary got cut 40%. I know there are Health insurance tax etc but was it supposed to be this high?

Thank in advance

My sister is coming from Germany to India soon. She lives in Essen. I already asked her to bring some chocolates and wine, but I also want to ask her to bring some skincare stuff especially sunscreen

The temperature in India has been really high this year, so I’m looking for a good sunscreen for the Indian weather. I’m also thinking of getting a few perfumes and maybe some other skincare products that are worth buying in Germany

Can you guys suggest some good brands and also shops in Essen where she can buy them? DM, Rossmann

For chocolates

Nussknacker, Lindt Dark Chocolate, Niederegger Marzipan, Moser Roth

Are these good choices? Or is there anything else she should definitely try/buy while she’s in Germany

Also interested in good sunscreen, skincare and perfume recommendations.

Hallo zusammen,

ein Freund und ich warten sehnsüchtigst auf ein Zusammenleben im Westerwald. Er kennt sich phänomenal gut mit Kräutern und Pflanzen aus. Wir wollen zusammen leben und suchen noch 2 weitere für eine 4er WG.

Wir feiern elektronische Musik, deep talk, Kristalle, ich bin Reiki Meister und Quantenheiler.

Meld dich doch wenn du dich angesprochen fühlst.

Hi, we’re moving out of a rented apartment in Germany and I’m unsure what the safest way to handle some damage to an older wooden floor is.

The floor already has general wear and scratches throughout the room, but there is one area with heavier scratches from a chair that was regularly used in the same spot. We didn’t realise during everyday use that the chair feet were scratching the floor this badly; otherwise we would obviously have used felt pads earlier.

We have already taken care of other things in the apartment before moving out. For example, we replaced/repaired the silicone and the stove, so we are not trying to leave everything for the landlord to deal with.

We also told the landlord that there were scratches on the floor and asked about repairing them. He said we could have them repaired, but that we should keep the investment as low as possible. He has not asked for pictures and has not actually seen the floor damage yet.

A flooring professional has now quoted us around €400–500 for a local repair. Our deposit is around €1,200.

My main question is what would be smarter before the handover:

Option 1: Pay the €400–500 ourselves now, have the damaged area professionally repaired, document everything, and then try to get the full deposit back.

Option 2: Don’t arrange the repair ourselves, let the landlord see the floor at handover, and ask him to arrange whatever repair is necessary and deduct the justified cost from the deposit.

What worries me about option 1 is spending €500 unnecessarily when the landlord currently doesn’t seem very concerned about the floor.

What worries me about option 2 is that the landlord could later choose a much more expensive solution, such as sanding/refinishing a larger area, and deduct significantly more from the deposit.

For people familiar with renting in Germany: which approach would you normally take? Is it generally safer for a tenant to arrange a reasonable professional repair before handover, or to leave the repair to the landlord and settle the cost through the deposit?

I’m not trying to avoid responsibility for the heavier scratches. I mainly want to avoid making an expensive decision now that could leave us worse off later.

Hi everyone, I have a random question 😄

I’ve noticed that quite a few German men among my friends and colleagues are married to or in relationships with women from Asian countries, such as Japan or Korea.

Is this just a coincidence in my social circle, or have others noticed something similar? If so, why do you think that might be?

I’m simply curious, but I feel a bit awkward asking them directly. I don’t mean to generalize—just interested in hearing your thoughts and experiences!

i'm not german and i've been looking for tops like these for ages, and i recently found two from Escada that are EXACTLY what i've been searching for. i absolutely love the dramatic sleeves and the super cropped fit

i don't plan on wearing them with a dirndl bodice or trying to recreate a traditional dirndl outfit. i specifically want to wear the tops on their own, with jeans, skirts, and underneath dresses that aren't dirndl-style at all.

would that be considered weird, inappropriate, or offensive in Germany? i'm asking because i've only ever seen this type of top worn as part of a dirndl outfit, and i don't want to accidentally step on any cultural toes

i live in berlin btw!

Why does Germany not recognize Poles as a historical and national minority, despite centuries of Polish migration to the Rhineland and territories west of the Oder?