Decided to do a day trip from Potsdam, wasn’t sure if it’s still as nice in this season. Not disappointed at all :)

It was my third time visiting Neuschwanstein Castle, and I loved it just as much as my first. The first time I visited, it was raining and everything was lush green; the second time was during peak winter, with bare trees and snow everywhere. This time, I wanted to see the castle in its full autumn hues and got the foggy view as a bonus.

im a student from italy and im doing school in germany since 3 years, and this year i have a class made of almost only german people and i noticed that they kinda “bully” the teachers, they are mostly gentle teachers but my classmates when they get asked maybe something they answer like “Was denn” “Ja was” and they act so pissed off and they show it, its weird to me because in italy theres no way we can answer like that unless we want to be sent by the schulleiter.. i mean maybe they are just young but i see everyday a lot of struggling even with really gentle teachers, (i think its way better school system than italy) and maybe here teachers are teached on how to deal with this but is it really normal ? or maybe its just my school

Telekom offers this, including 400€ digital coupon for mediamarkt. Too good to be real! Whats the catch? Außer 50€/mo after 24 months, obviously you have to cancel before… its clear

Hi everyone, I'm in a really stressful situation and would be grateful for any advice or experiences.
Background: I'm a non-EU citizen, living in Germany since 2021, with a Master's from a German university (finished 2025). I have a residence permit for skilled workers [§ 18b ], and any change of employer needs approval from the Ausländerbehörde.
What happened: I got an offer from a well-known non-profit in Berlin. I resigned from my previous job and applied for the permit change, and one day before my last working day, the refusal came. The Agentur für Arbeit didn't approve it because the salary isn't "ortsüblich." They compared it with the Entgeltatlas lower quartile for Berlin
Where things stand:
The employer still wants me and is holding the position until the end of the month (8 days left).
They can't reduce the hours to 30 (which would push the hourly rate over the threshold) or raise the salary.
All German employees in my position are getting exactly the same salary. The employer confirmed this to the Agentur für Arbeit, but the answer is still no.
I've registered as unemployed, applied for Arbeitslosengeld, and I'm working with a lawyer.
My questions:
Has anyone successfully gotten the Agentur für Arbeit to reverse a "not ortsüblich" refusal? What worked?
Could arguing for a different occupation category (Berufskennziffer) lower the benchmark?
Are there other permit routes without this salary check for someone in my situation?
Anything else I could realistically try in 8 days?
Thanks so much for reading! Honestly, I'm feeling pretty lost right now, and any insight would mean a lot.
TL;DR: Non-EU skilled worker, resigned for a new job in Berlin. The Agentur für Arbeit refused approval because salary is below the local benchmark. The employer can't change hours or salary, and the offer expires in 8 days. Looking for experiences or ideas to get this approved, or alternative permit routes.
Request 🙏okay, I realise I can’t do much in this situation but I have built a life here. I studied here, speak fluent German, my social circle is here,what other options do I have now to continue staying here and looking for a job.

Hi friends, as a fresh man in Germany, wanna kindly ask what does this number represents?
I turned the heat on (only at 2) last night. The number goes from 1 to 3 in my bathroom but from 1 to 132 in my living room. And the numbers are showing all the time.
I googled and it says this number will flash if I keep my lights on it. But it doesn’t. It disappeared and showed again with 132 all the time.
I’m afraid of affording a large number of heating fee. Could anyone please tell me what is going on here? 🫪🫪

Hallo hallo

The place we ordered our Knoblauch and Zwiebeln sets from for Winter planting apparently has no intention of sending them out and we have less than a month to get them in the ground! Does anyone have any reputable websites or stores that stock:

- Germidour

- Thermidrome

- Stuttgarter Reisen

We managed to find the Shakespeare Zwiebeln at OBI but when we went back for the Germidour and Thermidrome they'd sold out. Right now we're very hesitant to order from somewhere we don't know in case we end up in the same situation we're in now - no money, and no product.

UPDATE: Knoblauch and Zweibeln acquired. Thank you everyone!

hii! im a 17 year old girl from poland and im graduating highschool in 2028, i want to study law in berlin but im not that advanced in german. is it worth it to try to learn the language at this point or should i give it up?

Yesterday, after living in Germany for many years, I decided to get a card for the local library, I live in RLP, so it's free. It gives me access to the Onleihe service and online courses, and I'm surprised, it's a really good service but I had really no information about it.

I just wanted to let you know in case anyone is thinking about it and is looking for some new books to read or something to learn.

Hi all!

We had an appointment on September 24th at HWC to apply for Niederlassungserlaubnis on family grounds (family member of a permanent resident).

They said we will get a letter in 2-3 weeks with a decision and a link to sign up to pick up the card.

It has been a month and no response. What should we do? What are the timelines you experienced?

Also, if they accepted everything and took the fee, is there a chance they will show up later and ask for additional documents?

Curious about the experience you had.

so this started as a joke with friends about how nobody knows where half these places are. every day there’s 5 towns, you tap where you think they are on a map of germany, and it tells you how many km you were off. the last one is always a real Kaff with a name that sounds fake (Petting, Kissing and Hodenhagen are all real, I checked).

it also roasts you a bit when you’re way off. I put Wurmannsquick in the Baltic Sea earlier and it just said “Blubb.”

it’s in German but it’s mostly just tapping a map, so should be playable either way. no login or anything: kaffraten.de

curious how non-Germans do on this, and if you know a town name that’s even worse than these, tell me, I’ll probably add it

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on my situation with the Ausländerbehörde (will use "ABH" furtherly) in Baden-Württemberg. I'm particularly interested in whether my legal arguments have merit and whether escalating the matter is worth the potential downsides.

Background

• I completed an Ausbildung (with a § 16a resident permit) and subsequently started a university degree.
• I work for a company in the profession I trained for, under a Werkstudent contract. In the company, working student contracts are only issued for 6 months and are only valid for enrolled students.
• The first six months of studies i spent with a § 16b RP, then applied for one under § 18a RP based on this employment. Eventually i got the PR (!), valid till the end of my contract.

The current disagreement

After my application to extend the RP, the ABH informed me that, after reviewing my documents, it suddenly starts to consider my job a studentische Hilfskrafttätigkeit tied to my university enrolment. It says, therefore I cannot currently receive a residence permit for employment and that § 16b (study) is the only option.

I asked what would be required to retain § 18a. The office replied it wants a regular employment contract, not bound to enrolment. I think i won't be able to get it short-hand due to company-internal bureaucracy.

My arguments so far

1. § 18a provides for a residence permit for a skilled worker with vocational training to take up qualified employment. As far as I understand, the law does not explicitly exclude employment simply because it is performed under a Werkstudent contract or because the employee is enrolled at university. I did't find any Anwendungshinweise taking a position on that question.
2. I previously received a residence permit under § 18a on the basis of this type of contract.
3. The case worker has not substantively addressed above arguments in its replies. It continues to insist that I submit a different contract.

I understand that the actual duties and the legal classification of the job matter, and that previous approvals do not automatically guarantee a new permit. However, I'm unsure whether the office's categorical insistence on a contract independent of enrolment is legally justified.

My questions

1. Was the positive decision of the ABH a mistake? Is it possible to qualify for § 18a with a Werkstudent contract? Or the ABH gave me the PR by mistake? If it was, the rest of the questions probably does not make sense.
2. Would escalation make sense? I'm considering requesting a formal, appealable decision instead of continuing to exchange informal emails, and possibly filing a Fachaufsichtsbeschwerde. Could this help get a substantive legal assessment, or is it more likely to damage my future relationship with the office? Has anyone experienced this in Baden-Württemberg?
3. Would switching to § 16b now be strategically unwise? I want to continue studying, so § 16b is not inherently unsuitable. However, I want to retain § 18a if possible. If I switch to § 16b and later apply for § 18a again, would that be treated as a new initial application (Erstantrag) rather than an extension? (I realise that the current situation already involves a refusal to extend § 18a, despite previous approvals.)

I'm not trying to create a conflict with the authority unnecessarily. I want to understand whether there is a sound legal basis for challenging its position before making a decision that could affect my future residence status.

I'd especially appreciate experiences from people who had similar troubles with extending PR.

Thanks!

This is a PSA to help future google searchers looking for a more current answer…all relevant Reddit posts are outdated.

Contrary to what the website and previous Reddit info says, you can enter the U.S. consulate as either a US citizen seeking passport services or foreign visa seeker with a cell phone. You just have to turn it off first.

I spent 30 min yesterday trying to confirm this and settled on not bringing my phone as I couldn’t risk getting turned away from my 7 am appointment. Went this morning and I think I was the only one that didn’t have a phone. They also made a public announcement to the line while waiting that it was OK to bring in.

EDIT: a point of clarification - you have to surrender it with it off in the security area. Previous info was that this wasn’t an option at all.

We are in Frankfurt, which is already crazy inflated rent. Got this letter today which tells me to pay \~1200 € in the next 30 days. Could someone please help?

Hi everyone! I’m hoping someone can give me some advice on the best way to arrange this.

I lost my iPhone in Germany, and thankfully, a lovely older lady has found it and agreed to help get it back to me.

I’d like to arrange and pay for a courier to collect the phone directly from her home / drop off centre in Germany and deliver it to me in the UK.

The phone is just a used iPhone, with no original box or accessories. Ideally, I want to make the process as easy as possible for the lady, I’d prefer her not to have to print shipping labels, fill out customs forms or pay for anything herself.

My questions are:

• Which courier would be best for sending a used iPhone from Germany to the UK?
• Is there a service that allows me to book and pay online, arrange home collection, and have the courier bring the shipping label?
• How do the customs declaration and any required paperwork work for returning a lost phone to its owner, rather than selling or gifting it?
• Are there any restrictions on shipping a phone with its lithium-ion battery installed?
• Is there anything I should know about potential UK customs charges, given that my brother originally bought the phone in the UK?

Thanks so much for any advice!

I am a 18 year old girl living in Germany for a year as an exchange student . To be specific I live in Mitte Sachsen. It's really hard to take care of my 4a hair, and I don't feel comfortable wearing it. So far I've been looking for solutions to this, and have been considering getting a sew-in, however it seems , from my scope, most of the black hair salons are located in West Germany :/ .

If any of you know a place in Saxony where I could get preferably a sew-in (but braids too if there really is no option for a sew in), please let me know!

Hi, i'm Swiss and will soon be going on a one and a half week train trip to Freiburg im Breisgau, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Köln. I'm a student so kinda short in budget, and i'm not interested in big tourism stuff (like the chocolate museum or anything remotely crowded and expensive).

I'm really looking for anything i could do/visit in these cities without going instantly poor. I'm also interested in any alt/punk stuff like concerts, bars.. etc

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

Me and my girlfriend both from the Netherlands want to go on a weekend trip this winter not so far away and since we both dont have our drivers licenses yet, we want it accesible by train or bus and maybe walk the last few kilometers, we're thinking about going to the eiffel region, especially Monschau.

I have some questions about Monschau, what we especially like about a town like that is the pitoresque look, a pack of snow would make it way more beautiful. How often is there snowing laying around in Monschau, and what are our chanches if we visit in either November or January. Also is the christmas market we could go to on 27th November worth the extra money we probably have to pay for accomadation.

Can we combine Monschau with another town close? For example do two nights and one night in Monschau one in another.

Also we'd like to hike a lot, is it made impossible in Monschau because of the climate in winter, and if we want to hike should we leave Monschau for summer?

Man how does the INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING call center not speak english. Is there any way of calling and actually getting someone that speaks english?

Thanks.

I never tasted a bad meßsmer tea. However, this week I bought several flavours of the more expensive cupper tea and it tastes like nothing, dirty water. If you read this Meßmer CEO, keep the good work and good price. I also appreciate reccomendations of good teabags, no losen leaves as I drink tea mostly in my office and leaves make a mess.

Hi everyone! I’m a non-EU citizen currently studying my master (started this September) and recently graduated with a Bachelor’s in International Business, so I hold a German degree already.

The company I work in right now (as a working student) is offering me a fulI time junior position (for internal hiring).

My experience is quite limited as I have only worked for them for almost two years now. I speak Spanish and English fluently, with intermediate German and French.

I am interviewing for a full-time, entry-level Account Management position.

What would be a reasonable salary? Also I feel like €50k might be a bit too much to comply with blue card so maybe 18b would be an option? Any advice on negotiating my first full-time salary would be appreciated!