Living in Germany / Moving there - Leben in Deutschland

[LtBk]

I might study overseas in Germany, particular the Cologne/Bonn area next year or so. Why some people think Cologne or Bonn are boring? My major is Geography and Environmental Planning btw.

[goschio]

Originally Posted by LtBk

I might study overseas in Germany, particular the Cologne/Bonn area next year or so. Why some people think Cologne or Bonn are boring? My major is Geography and Environmental Planning btw.

Nobody thinks that Cologne is boring. Probably one of the most exciting places in Germany. Just not as nice (architecture) as Munich or Hamburg.

[LtBk]

Some people have said its boring, but I guess they have missed something or they boring themselves.

[youngwoerth]

Köln is not boring, Köln is ugly! That's a big difference.

[maniei]

edit: wrong thread

[Wurstmeister]

Originally Posted by youngwoerth

Köln is not boring, Köln is ugly! That's a big difference.

+1
Köln may cause cancer in your eye, but it's definitely not boring.
And from the many US-americans and Canadians I met, I somehow believe that it's almost impossible to not like the city (or any bigger German city for that matter)

[maniei]

I hope we have returned to the actual topic, which was where to live in germany (and not turkey)

my picks are frankfurt (and surroundings) and mannheim


frankfurt:

-exciting city,
-nice mix of modernity and tradition,
-nice places to visit inside and outside of frankfurt, especially in terms of nature
-excellent infrastructure
-not to forget the economy that is far better than the rest of germany
-out of frankfurt and the area around it you can pick a city or area to live in that suites you best. the variety is big and there is the ideal place for any kind of person, guaranteed.

(for every point just mentioned frankfurt is on the very top of germany)


mannheim:

-perfect size (imo)
-beautiful city
-good shopping possiblities
-good range of entertainment for the people
-heidelberg is just around the corner. you can go there for fun, entertainment or relaxation
(some people here said go and live in heidelberg. I disagree with them. heidelberg is not the ideal place to live in. its small and living room is expensive. besides that its extremely touristic. all the tourists can annoy you after a short time. its a good place to live in for pensioners)

-all the time I thought the big contra of mannheim was that there is not such a big economy.
I just looked it up and found out I was wrong. there is quite a bunch of big companies.



btw I picked these to city only out of the areas in germany I have seen and can judge.
so no disrespect to hamburg, stuttgart, cologne etc.

[schum-ho]

I would suggest to everyone: Lay off your stereotypes about East Germany, and experience the real one! Try beautiful Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt, Rostock or even Halle - you won't regret it! Or do you think so? Still people out there who have heavy prejudices against East Germany?

[goschio]

But east german are generally not that friendly toward foreigners. And the job market is not that great either.

[EduardSA]

Living in Deutschland must be awesome, I'd love to.

[Maturion]

It is, really. Come here and you'll enjoy it.

[lewandovski]

Originally Posted by schum-ho

I would suggest to everyone: Lay off your stereotypes about East Germany, and experience the real one! Try beautiful Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt, Rostock or even Halle - you won't regret it! Or do you think so? Still people out there who have heavy prejudices against East Germany?

Are you from Halle?

[KidGibNick]

Can any ex-pats speak to their experiencing living aborad in Germany? ...with respect to where they enjoyed living, and where they would not recommend and why.

Thanks!

[Justme]

Originally Posted by KidGibNick

Can any ex-pats speak to their experiencing living aborad in Germany? ...with respect to where they enjoyed living, and where they would not recommend and why.

Thanks!

It's a long question to answer. Maybe you can give some sort of hint at what you are after. Each of us will have had different experiences and expectations.

I quite like living in Germany after moving from Australia many years ago. If I were to do it again, Frankfurt wouldn't be my personal choice. Instead I would choose Berlin or Hamburg. But again, that would just be for personal reasons.

[lukaszek89]

Well, I have been only in Frankfurt am Main, quite nice city Still U/C.
I heard that Berlin have nice athmosphere- would like to visit it someday

[dzejsek]

I have spent almost a year in Rhein - Neckar Dreieck , living in Heidelberg and Mannheim, I have also travelled a lot across whole Germany, and in my opinion best places to live are situated just between Stuttgart and Mainz.
The summer was really hot, winter quite mild, people were friendly. It was quite close to France or to the Alps, the landscape and architecture were simply wunderbar!!
And the most boring place in Germany I found was Kassel

[Maturion]

I am an Austrian living in Munich. Munich is probarbly the nicest city in all of Germany. Good weather, a lot of culture and really a beautiful city.

[Justme]

I havn't been for ages, but years ago I used to go every second weekend for a year and the one thing I remember about the weather was stunning clear blue skies. Coming back to Frankfurt, it may have been warmer but was often overcast or hazy.

It does get pretty cold in winter though in Munich.

[markus1234]

The Bodensee area is the best place to live. And also Baden Baden, Garmisch Partenkirchen and many other places...

[Kampflamm]

But what can you actually do in GAP? If you want to live in the south and avoid the big cities I'd suggest Freiburg, Tübingen or Augsburg.