Living in Germany / Moving there - Leben in Deutschland

[Schnitzel]

What would be the difference?

We call it either inländisch or ausländisch in contrary to national and international. A chinese who graduated on a german school would be called a "Bildungsinländer" (Bildung = education) even though he doesn't have a german passport.

[7freedom7]

Originally Posted by Schnitzel

What would be the difference?

We call it either inländisch or ausländisch in contrary to national and international. A chinese who graduated on a german school would be called a "Bildungsinländer" (Bildung = education) even though he doesn't have a german passport.

that's really good to see, thanks

[matheking]

Originally Posted by 7freedom7

very valuable thread, but i'm wonder why the students from abroad are called ausländisch Studenten but not international students?

Because from a german position they are from the "Ausland". That's just words.
Thankfully, Germany has not fully adopted the English/American terms for everything.

[Bender]

There is a high chance that I will leave Frankfurt by the end of zis year.

My position will be transferred in NRW, and I'll have the choice to live either in Cologne or in Düsseldorf.
I don't know which city is best for me, I believe I can find a nice new home either in one or the other. People tell me Cologne is younger, Düsseldord is nicer, Cologne may have a bigger Frenchie community, Düsseldorf is rather cheaper...

I need your help!

I will be working in Leverkusen, so it makes sense to say that I should be either rather in the North of Cologne or in the South of Düsseldorf (from I can see on the map, I will take the A59 to get to work).

Could you please tell me which Viertel I should avoid and which ones I should have a closer look at? Ideally : parking possible, public transport, nice and "alive", close to park/Rheinufer for jogging is also a big plus, ...

Any tips welcome!

[erbse]

Don't have much time left, so I'll make it short: Take Düsseldorf.


Perhaps I'm going to führ this aus a little later.

[thun]

Gay --> Cologne,
Japanese --> D-dorf,
to fulfill the common clichées.

[Bender]

Originally Posted by thun

Gay --> Cologne,
Japanese --> D-dorf,
to fulfill the common clichées.

I heard that already

I am 100% straight and 100% non-Japanese.

Choosing the city is one thing, then I would have to pick a district/neighborhood.

[goschio]

International and National are German words too. I think National is not used for students as it sounds too nationalistic. So we better kept inländisch and ausländisch.

[Bender]

Whatever city you prefer, maybe you could just tell me in which part of the city I should live (or absolutely avoid). I am planning to spend 600~650€ warm for the Miete.
For example, Friedrichstadt in Düsseldorf seems to be well situated. But I have no idea whether it's schrecklich or nice.

No need to answer in English, as long as you don't over-engineer your sentences

[türkyilmaz]

To cut this German-English-mix crap, it's is domestic/national = einheimisch/national and foreign/international = ausländisch/international. Period.

We use the term foreigners ("Ausländer") for immigrated people, exchange students etc and locals ("Einheimische") for natives and naturalized citizens.

[goschio]

Originally Posted by türkyilmaz

To cut this German-English-mix crap, it's is domestic/national = einheimisch/national and foreign/international = ausländisch/international. Period.

We use the term foreigners ("Ausländer") for immigrated people, exchange students etc and locals ("Einheimische") for natives and naturalized citizens.

That's not correct. Ausländer is only correctly used for people without German passport. But some (racist) people even use it for Germans with black skin or Asian heritage.

[türkyilmaz]

That's what I said. Please read carefully.

Foreigners ("Ausländer") are immigrants, tourists, exchange students, persons seeking political asylum etc.

Domestic people ("Einheimische/Inländer") are natives and naturalized citizens.

I don't claim being an immigrant means being naturalized. One can immigrate to Germany (via valid visa, Green Card ...) without bearing German citizenship.

[Eduardo L. Ramirez]

Hi!
As I'm studying in Cologne at the moment, my advise would be the following:
In the north-west of Cologne (like Chorweiler or Longerich) there are no nice districts (except of some more rural areas like Worringen), and the nice areas of the north-east (like Duennwald or Dellbrueck) are too expensive I think. So I would recomment Duesseldorf's south (like Benrath or Garath), where you find a nice cityscape and affordable apartments, at least in some areas. Also, you have a great transport connection. :-)

I would prefer any rhenish city to Berlin, btw.. ;-)

[Golden Age]

The easy answer is neither Cologne nor Düsseldorf. The city with the highest quality of life in NRW is Bonn (and maybe Münster) and is conveniently located close to Cologne (and far enough from the overpopulated Ruhrpott).

It's a very green family-friendly university city with beautiful old neighborhoods and a charming downtown area. Bonn is, however, not an insider tip anymore (how can it be as the former capital?). This means the city has attracted a lot of wealthy residents and is actually quite expensive (no surprise with big companies such as Deutsche Post, Telekom or Solarworld in its vicinity). With the university around, the city also can have a very young feel with a rich cultural life.

The Südstadt or the area around the Poppelsdorfer Allee in Bonn are by far the nicest areas. As to running: It couldn't be better. The Rhein river stretch has a great path all the way to the lush Rheinauen park.

So why am I telling you not to move to Cologne or Düsseldorf? Because many people who work in those two cities actually live in Bonn for the above reasons.

[Bender]

I am sure Bonn is a very attractive city but as I said I am going to work in Leverkusen, and I'd like to avoid wasting 2 hours per day sitting in my car in stop'n go mode on the A3 (which may happen anyway)

I believe 90% of my future colleagues live in either K or D. Although I am not talking from personal experience, it looks like Bonn is not an option.

[erbse]

Do you have to go by car at all costs? Public transport does really well in this area.
It doesn't take 2 hours from Bonn to Leverkusen per train.

[bravoman]

My advice would be Cologene. Imo one of the liveliest Cities in Germany with an all around great atmosphere. It definitely feels bigger and more urban than Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. A nice place to live would be the "belgisches Viertel", if you can afford living there...

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgisches_Viertel

[Schnitzel]

Originally Posted by Eduardo L. Ramirez

So I would recomment Duesseldorf's south (like Benrath or Garath), where you find a nice cityscape and affordable apartments, at least in some areas.

Are you serious?
Benrath: Definitely yes. Nice neighbourhood, very good transportation. You can even take the train (S-Bahn or Regionalbahn) and will be in Leverkusen within 15 minutes.
But Garath is one of the worst Ghettos you can find in a west-german town. Instead of recommending it for living I'd rather recommend you not even entering this district.

Well, I moved to Cologne half a year ago. It's definitely bigger, more urban and livelier than Dusseldorf. It's also way cheaper. On the other hand it's butt-ugly. Everything here is uglier than in Dusseldorf. The City, the parks, heck even the Rhine is a fart-version of Dusseldorf's.
If you really have to choose between K and D, I can only recommend you Cologne because of the nicer people and the lifelier town in general and because it's cheaper. Let alone that Leverkusen is only minutes away and you won't miss a thing when coming from Frankfurt.

In cologne, try the districts with many students like Lindenthal, Ehrenfeld and so on. But actually every district within the city-rings is good to go. Everything is pretty well scattered around the city and the ring but it's still not expensive there.

[Golden Age]

Originally Posted by Bender

I am sure Bonn is a very attractive city but as I said I am going to work in Leverkusen, and I'd like to avoid wasting 2 hours per day sitting in my car in stop'n go mode on the A3 (which may happen anyway).

Bonn is a 30 minute drive from Leverkusen, so the commuting wouldn't be so bad (you would only be on the A3 for 8 km of the stretch). You'd also have at least a 20-25 minute commute coming from Düsseldorf or Cologne, so the difference in travel time is very small, if not negligible.

Trust me, once you've seen Bonn and compared it to Cologne/Düsseldorf, the difference in flair (much more relaxed) and people who live there is considerable.

I suggest you at least pay Bonn a visit and then make up your mind.

[erbse]

^ Fully agreed. Give der Stadt a chance, Bender! Kampfy may act this out further, he's studying in Bonn.