I just moved to Germany (Köln) this week from London. I bought a bottle of milk and it is the most delicious milk I've ever had in my life.

Usually I only put milk in tea and use it for nothing else, but I keep going back to the fridge for another sip of delicious German milk.

I'm surprised it's so different to milk in the UK! Does anyone know why?

Hey everyone! I recently visited Frankfurt and wanted to share my experience and favorite spots. Before going, I heard mixed reviews about it being "just a financial center," but I was pleasantly surprised by how much character, history, and vibrant food culture the city actually has.

I am just looking for perspectives and possible advice on whether a move back to Germany after 30 years in the US would be a viable option for me, especially with respect to work options.

Background and context: I am a German native and have lived in the US for 3+ decades now. I have a Humanities PhD and MA and was a university professor for 10+ years, before transitioning to K-12 education. I am in my early 50s and worn out; prospects for ever retiring are bleak, and it's likely that I'd have to work in my job until I drop dead. In addition, the workload is overwhelmingly demanding, with little to no work-life balance. Health insurance and expenses for healthcare are also a concern, as I am getting older. I do not really have close family left in Germany, though I do have some friends who would be willing to help me facilitate a potential move back. I am just not sure if it makes sense. I am just so tired of the daily grind in the US. One of my main concerns would be to find work. To be clear, I am flexible and do not need to stay in teaching; then again, I imagine that the options for someone with a Humanities degree, and at my age, might still be limited. The bottom line is: I would not even know where to start.

Is there anybody who has moved back to Germany later in their life, after living in the US for an extended period? How did you manage to do it? How did you look for a job from afar? What challenges did you face? And did you adjust well to being back? Would love to hear from anyone who could offer advice or some perspective.

Thank you.

We all know some media just works better in some languages. Like Shrek being famously best in Spanish and İtalian, Ice Age is phenomenal in Turkish, the Mask better in French etc.

What are some films that are simply better in German? I know about "They Call Me Trinity" but that's about it.

I have never been able to afford to go to Germany but always wanted to I am feeling down today and still shaken up after something traumatic happened on the train last night where I’m from. One of my best friends from my church is from Frankfurt and i just love the one photo she sent from her grandmas house. I am in need of some new widgets (even better if they have pink in them that’s my favorite color) if you would like to share some photos that would be wonderful. Danke!

Does anyone know about connecting the PS Portal to a hotspot? Nothing I’ve found or tried online works—I’m at my wit's end.

I was a student at LMU Munich and was insured by TK, I went back to my country after I graduated my masters. Before I left, I made a phone call to TK telling them that I would like to discontinue my insurance them as I would be re-registering myself and I did not even have a valid residency permit (this was september 2025). Today (14th October 2026) I received an email asking me to pay 884 euros for insurance, I am a bit panicked, because I don't have the deregistration email with me because the laptop it was on stopped working.

Could someone please help me if they have been in a similar situation with TK.

I have an international flight to New York (JFK) this Friday morning. Flight departs at 11:40 AM. The ICE train I booked arrives at 8 AM. I'm now worried that I'm not giving myself enough time to get through security/immigration with just 3 hours. I remember getting out of the airport at 8 AM last Friday and seeing a long line for security.

I was thinking of just rebooking for 7 AM or 6 AM. I'm not sure if that's overkill or not.

Hello,

I'm planning to grow out my beard, but I usually run into the same problem: after about 10 days, my beard starts getting itchy and uncomfortable, so I end up trimming it. I'd like to find a good product that softens beard hair and helps reduce the itching, so I can grow it out without constantly feeling the need to trim it.

Does anyone have any recommendations for products that are available in Germany, especially at drugstores like dm or Rossmann (other shops/online products are okay for me as well)?

I'm open to beard oils, balms, moisturizers, or anything else that has worked well for you.

Thanks to anyone who can help me :)

Hello all,

It's my first winter here in Germany. I am kind of understanding why and when to set the heaters, however most of the heaters I've delt with have a dial instead of this digital one. If anyone has a similar one, is it okay to set it to auto and simply leave it? Or is there a better + cheaper way to keep the house warm. Thanks!

I’m a beginner in German, and I really wanna learn it

I am really wanting to go up in the Kehlsteinhaus and I know the date it closes for sure(I think) is Nov 8th but can close earlier due to weather. How has the weather been and does anyone know if it is likely going to be open on the 8th still? Thanks!

looking for absolutely crazy things to do when we visit for 2 days in 2 weeks. I wanted to do wing walking but they have a limit of 196lbs (atleast in the UK, not sure if germany does it), i am 260-265, Wanted to do bunjee jumping but most arent open until the weekend and we will be there during the week. what else could i do? ive done skydiving before and want to keep doing crazy things like that, that make my family sick lol.

We have a lot of toys, my kids don't and can't even play with them. But my neighbor who is quite wealthier from us, for some reason they don't spend money on kids as such. Maybe because they are very much into sustainability, they always buy expensive things. Their kids also have expensive things for example my son's cycle is from decathlon costs €200 whereas their daughter (4YO) has Woom cycle costs about €400. But day to day toys nowadays are mostly cheap made in China. And their daughter saw my daughter playing with her Baby Born dog cost about €50 and she wants to play so I gave her for sometime to play then we went home and it's been many months she still didn't have it and 2 days back her mother asked on behalf of her daughter if I can give that dog for few days to play for her daughter. I don't really mind, but my wife don't like it and I said let me check with her, my wife said ask my daughter who is 2YO of course she said no. But I still want to give my neighbors daughter that dog, so instead of giving it from my daughter I was thinking of ordering from Amazon and having it delivered to them and I'll pay for it, so it will be a kind of gift from me. Is it ok?

TLDR: neighbor not buying toy for their kid, instead ask me if they can borrow from us for a few days. My wife doesn't want that but I want to give that's why I want to gift that toy (baby born dog) costs €50 is it ok?

I started to learn german and one day I am planning to move there and,

I'm looking for a german friend preferably 20-25 years old and girl (Because I already have a lot of male friends and I aim find a balance) to practice german / english and cultural exchance.

I am from istanbul Turkey 21-22 years old studying civil engineering. My hobies are fitness-bodybuilding,self improvment, I used to watch series like atla,got, friends after watching and finishing many series and movies I had enough with watching stuff. I rarely watch movies when I am with friends and family now.

Hey everyone, I'm British but living in Munich. I would like to start investing in the stock market via a German broker or investment vehicle but I'm a little confused currently. The UK has what's known as an 'Individual Savings Account", or ISA for short, which basically enables residents to invest up to £20k per year in the stock market and then any realised capital gains are tax free.

Does Germany have an equivalent tax-wrapped investment product, or another solution (not including a pension), which would either enable tax-free capital gains, or help me reduce the amount of income tax I pay annually?

I’m German, my wife is American, currently living in Germany.
Once I finish my apprenticeship here, there’s a chance that we‘ll move to America.
While I’m generally open to moving, I have concerns regarding quality of life, work-life balance, and social security compared to Germany. I’d like to get a reality check from Germans who have made this move.

Background:
I’m learning to become an industrial electrician (Elektroniker für Betriebstechnik).
Neither my wife nor I work in Tech, Finance, or Management. We are not going to earn 200k each.

1. Work-life balance and vacation days: I hear that in the US it’s common to basically start with 0 vacation days, and to need to work for years to earn like 10 days, for example. In Germany on the other hand, it’s normal to start with 28-30 paid days and have 35-40h work weeks. Summarized, I don’t want to live for work and I don’t want to „earn“ my vacation days. What is your experience with that?

2. Healthcare: I don’t want to take up a credit just to pay for childbirth, surgery or sickness. I would prefer to have good insurance that just pays when needed, and without out of pocket costs for me. How realistic is that without top tier corporate benefits?

3. Family friendly benefits: I don’t want to miss things like pregnancy protection, paid parental leave, affordable child care and education (whereas education in Germany is basically free).

The information about life in the US I have, comes from media, hearsay and my wife.
Not from my own experience, as I haven’t lived there. I might be too prejudiced and have things wrong.
That is why I would appreciate your input and experience. Especially from people outside the high earning people.

Thank you in advance!

Hi all!

I came to Germany in april 2026 for erasmus exchange semester. I have already extended my bachelor for a year, erasmus also added one more year. So in total, with the english prep school, i have 7 years 🫩. Then my father found a job here and we decided to move as a family. Since getting a visa is a long and hard process, i have decided to stay here without dealing with visa process. So i extended my stay by getting a fiktionsbechenigung.

I spent my erasmus semester in Westfälische Hochschule, mechanical engineering. Then i spoke to my erasmus office about transferring my credits after getting C1. They said it is possible to some extend if not %100. I am living in Wuppertal rn and going to an intensivkurse. but i am very anxious about my bachelor and whats gonna happen to it. I wanna graduate asap an start working. Aachen and Wuppertal Unis are close to me but Aachen is said to be very hard and i dont wanna take any chances. I could go to Westfälische Hochschule bc our uni has an agreement for erasmus so maybe there is more chance to transfer my credits than Wuppertal or Aachen.

My questions regarding mechanical engineering are:

What is the difference between Hochschule and Uni? in means of income and job opportunities, landing a master's.

Is Aachen or Wuppertal Uni really hard to graduate or is it just a rumor like every field every uni has? bc so many people say their field is so hard.

My aim is to graduate quickly as possible and land a job hopefully.

Thank you for reading.

Hi, everyone, I have been struggling to find any doctor to get treatment for my ADHD, I came here last year and I was totally unprepared how difficult it is get the help needed and it has now spirel out of control.
How much it would cost to find a doctor privately and then I also heard online that Diagnose is one step and treatment is whole anotherr struggle, is that true?
26M

This might be a shot in the dark. I am hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction or know it themselves. I am not looking for legal requirements, but recommendations from those in the community. German husbandry has always been significantly better than the rest of the world when it comes to this fancy. I spoke with a few people on a different platform, and they told me that the current recommendations were 2m² and 1m tall. I am now being asked to prove that information, and I can't ask within that community because most Germans don't frequent those communities due to differences in standards of care. I am waiting to hear back from them,I would love other viewpoints as well. I appreciate any help!

Habyt Frankfurt ex-tenant here. I moved out at the end of July. Contract says that they will pay back the deposit within 8 weeks.
We are currently on the 11th week🤡

They answered to my email like “The deposit refund is processed in the 8th week after the contract end date. We are currently experiencing a high volume of deposit repayments, so there may be a slight delay, but the situation is under control. We appreciate your patience while we finalise the last checks before the refund is released.”

But it seems like they ain’t gonna pay back this amount in a couple of months at least.

Do I need to proceed with Mieterschutzbund? If yes, which one?
Any suggestions?

Hi I really wanted want to go to a midevil kings dinner in Bavaria, I wanted to go to schloss kaltenburg but when I’m there they won’t have one going on. I came upon this place looks pretty fun just wanted to see if anyone else had been or has suggestions for something else. I did want to dinner in a castle but I felt like it could also be really fun to do something with the entertainment factor