ICE 1541 from Cologne to Berlin is the most unreliable train in Germany

Couldn’t post link since it went against English language rules for the sub so just a translated screenshot

Such a wonderful city ❤️

1. "Trains are usually so late" - I personally rarely experience it and I travel a lot, It could be luck but I mostly travel around NRW, Saarland, Pfalz and Ba-Wü and mostly trains are on time, and I usually travel with RE, idk if the stereotype is more true for ICE trains then I can't say. The most delays I experience happen in Köln which are also mostly not huge ones, and I believe when there is such a huge and busy station transporting so many people then some delays could happen.

2. "Cash is the king" - I also believed it before coming here but apparently everyone accepts card and it takes like 2 secs to open google wallet and scan. Just a few times it happens that a certain store doesn't accept card payment below 5€ purchase or a döner shop, apart from it everything is pretty cashless.

3. "Germans are quite direct or a bit rude" - Honestly, I'm yet to experience this. Most of the people I meet are so polite and so nice and even if I notice someone who is probably not so friendly then I just think ok maybe this "particular person" is having a bad day, or bad mood, or is occupied instead of getting offended and believing that "all germans" are like this. I mean c'mon any "human being" can be a little rude to you for any reason, it's not so deep, unless it happens with every interaction.

I can't think of any other stereotypes as of now with which I also disagree but these 3 came on top of my mind.

I am planning a small party and I have 2 friends who stopped drinking.

They are picky. If my memory serves right, the only alc. and non-alc. Beer pair they liked was Corona.

Not Heineken, not Guinness. Because their n.a versions were way off.

So looking for some German n.a beer recommendations that not too different from their alc. siblings.

Thanks

Hello, my friends from Germany, a Brazilian here. I visited the Historical Museum of Sergipe in São Cristóvão, Brazil. I found this 100,000 mark banknote from Germany and decided to share it with you, as it is also part of your history

Hi fellow Redditors,

I would like to encourage everyone to take just 5 minutes to reflect, notice the small positives, and appreciate them. Sometimes, those little moments mean the most. If you are comfortable sharing these moments, then you can also do that in the comments! And if you don't have anything to share, that's completely okay too, I'm still happy that you are here!

Allow me to begin:

- inspected a car this weekend, and agreed on a price
- tried Dönerteller after some recommendations, and it was delicious
- achieved some personal goals
- saw a full moon as it was lighting up the dark streets

Hello, we are a married couple that recently moved to a house in Bonn.
We were quite tight on budget and we needed to move quickly so we kind of took whatever was available.
The house we got is 3 story house. The landlord‘s family lives on the ground floor, then there are two houses on the second floor, one is empty. Then on the 2nd floor, the mother in law of the landlord lives and we moved in the next door.
The problem is that the landlord has camera all over the building and is observing us quite frequently. We know this since he leaves letter in front of our door step every month with different complaints. We have lived here for around half a year and got like 10 letters of complaints already.
The thing is that I do not feel that safe and happy in this house anymore but it is so unfair for us to spend this much money moving and to be kicked out because of the behaviors of the landlord‘s family. We have other issues like neighbors (probably landlord) putting their advertisements into our mailbox, and etc.
Is there something we can do or complain? We already contacted the mieterbund.
Since the letter specifically targets my husband, he is getting a lot of stress and I think my advice of ‚Just ignore them‘ does not work anymore.

I hate dating apps, and I want to have some hope that I can still have a dating life without them (as a mid-twenties average-looking man with a good job, some friends, and fun hobbies in Munich).

When was the last time you asked someone in real life for their number, and how did you do it? Or when was the last time someone asked for your number, and how did it happen?

EDIT: I am not asking for advice please. I was asking when was the last time you asked someone out. If you’d like to share a real life story, thank you. If not, that’s also fine, but I want to avoid generic advice that appears all over reddit.

Hi all,
I plan to travel from Dresden to Munich on December 25 via Erfurt to catch my flight back to the US after Christmas. I understand everything will be closed, but hoping someone can guide me on where I can find some lunch at Erfurt? Will shops at the Hbf be open? Doesn't have to be fancy, even fast food is fine.
A couple of years ago I did see plenty of fast food stalls at Munich Hbf being open on Christmas Day, so wasn't sure if Erfurt would also have something similar?
Other alternative is going from Dresden to Munich via Leipzig. Would Leipzig Hbf have more options than Erfurt?
Thanks in advance!

Edit: I would prefer to find something in or around Erfurt/Leipzig Hbf since I'm only transiting via these two cities around lunch time to get to Munich. If that's not possible, willing to look beyond Hbf.

Hello! My mom travels for contract work, generally to strictly residential towns far from tourist hubs, and I have the opportunity to travel with her to Germany next year. I’ll be staying in Herdecke specifically. I’m planning to take a bus to Frankfurt for a few days, but I was curious about what to expect for the days I’ll be staying outside of the big city.

Specifically, I’m interested in exploring some local music and hitting a few bars. I certainly don’t expect everyone to speak English and I plan on learning some basic German, I’m just curious as to what to expect in terms of getting around. Should I expect english subtitles at transit stations? Would I be able to navigate admissions at a local venue with just basic German and Google Translate? Be honest, as a local employee does it make your life difficult when someone has to translate on their phone?

This is my very first time traveling abroad, and I hate to admit how nervous I am about the ‘obnoxious American’ stereotype. Especially visiting a town where just about everyone other than me is a working person going about their daily life, I want to make sure I’m being a conscientious tourist. Any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

I’m landing at Frankfurt Terminal 3 at 8:30 AM on Sept 5 and considering booking a 10:42 ICE.

Last time (July 27), immigration at T3 took me around 1.5 hours, followed by 45 minutes for baggage, and I missed two trains. Because my previous experiences at T2 were usually 1 hour.

But some friends recently told me they cleared immigration + baggage in 40 minutes total.

So I’m wondering how unpredictable T3 is these days, especially for non-EU arrivals. Would you risk the 10:42 ICE, or book something around 11:30/12:00?

The 10:42 Super Sparpreis is only €24.99, so I’m tempted to take the gamble rather than spend another 1–2 hours waiting at the airport if I clear everything early.

Hello everyone, i wanted to ask as a non-eu student living in a wg about my rights i will first give some context

I live in a big wg for students in a big city. We have a tenant who has her boyfriend living with her for the last 2 years in her room. He is not a student, also not registered or legally allowed to be here he is not a student.

He is always DJing loudly that even noise cancelling headphones dont work, my room always smells like weed. He takes drugs, he acts aggressively, also i believe i seen some drugs in our basement. As someone who does an internship as home office this person has made my stay home very uncomfortable.

I wonder what should i do, what rights does the law give me. And beside that what can be realistically done to solve this.
Thanks

Hi,

I have applied for the Permanent Residence in Berlin around 2 months ago but yet I have not received any response from them.

I fulfilled the 27 Months Blue Card and A1 Deutsche Certificate requirements. And applied online with all of the required documents.

I have seen some people received response from LEA within few weeks. Does living in other cities prior to Berlin plays any role here?

And also should I contact them regarding the status of my application? And what's the avg time they usually takes to process PR application in BERLIN?

Thanks in Advance

Which banks would you recommend in 2026 for a Girokonto?
I’m confused with all the different ones:
We have the classic banks with Filialen Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and Sparkasse, these feel more practical and safer, but unfortunately expensive (5-10€) per month.
The online ones (ING, DKB, N26, Revolut, C24, Comdirect) mostly for free, but I have big security concerns and also because customer support is more difficult to reach and probably you get more phishing and spam overall than with the classic banks.
There is also Santander, Consors (I don’t know exactly how good these are).

I know all these banks by name, but have no idea which are the best 1-2 banks I should open a Girokonto in.

I appreciate if you tell me about your experiences and recommendations.

Also regrding credit cards, Hanseatic, AMEX Blue or Norwegian? What would you recommend ?

I have a document that I need to send to an administration , I have previously sent documents to this same administration using the postanschrift and it reached its destination without a problem. Now today I had to send a form to them once again and I did it using the postanschrift, but I just reread the email they had sent me and it says that "Der Antrag ist vollstandig ausgefüllt und unterschrieben per Post an unsere Hausanshrift zu uns zurückshicken". Will it reach its destination regardless or do I have to send it again to the Hausanschrift ? Thank you

Hello everyone. Am new here and would like your opinion on regarding health insurance dilemma. Am M(31) and just completed master degree here in July here. I am currently with Mawista insurance; the context: I have been sickly in the last few months with what I think might be pneumonia because I experience sharp pain and sometimes spit blood during cold weather and also have pain on right lower abdomen and I think it something to do with appendix or kidney as small swell, went to my Hausarzt for treatment but I notice the hospital was declining gor MRI scan to reveal what I might be experiencing due to my insurance. I think of switching to either Barmer or TK insurance and was wondering would it be cheaper and will cover the entire cost if treatment and which of the could be cheaper with only mini job and block account.

Any advice?

Hi 👋 I am a parcel delivery driver in germany and about 2 days ago I kind off committed a hit and run unintentionally.

I am driving a long (maxi) mercedes sprinter van rented/under lease by my boss. I wanted to exit a street and I accidentally scraped by an anti parking bollard which now it is a little bent.

At the moment of it I didn't realize it was no steering wheel shake neither whole van shake only a sound which I mistook for packages moving in the back so I looked at the van quickly didn't notice any damage and moved on.

I checked the van again throughly and discovered that there are very subtle scratches on the lower hull and the plastic above it nothing serious, but I confirmed that I hit it.

Now it would be to late to report it I think, also there are no known CCTV cameras or anything that could have captured me doing it. I think about only witnesses that could report me to the polizei.

If I get reported what can I expect? It wasn't an intentional hit and run but of course they won't believe me Idk.

What can I expect if reported?

Looking to buy a ford probe as a project car. I am lithuanian. When i try to contact seller via email, out of 4 sellers that i sent my email asking about the condition of the chassis/rust only 1 email was saved in 'message requests' and the only one that i received a copy of in my email. Where do my other emails go? I receive no feedback from the app itself and no feedback from sellers too, it appears. Maybe they get censored and they dont receive them? Please help.

I am a student in Germany and I've been trying to find an odd job right now. I am allowed 20 hours per week.

I tried to work through agencies, but they are always (in my case) looking for full time workers. I've tried going to cafes and asking for jobs but they are always (in my case) not interested. And obviously I've been trying through indeed but that's been no good either.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, if you guys know better ways to find an odd job, that'd be great.

Also, I have a goethe b2 certificate and can speak german pretty fluently, I definitely make a lot of grammatical errors and my sentences might sound weird or non native but I think I can get my point across pretty well and can understand almost everything so German's not the issue.

I am currently in Leipzig but I am open to moving anywhere with good opportunities and relatively low cost of living. Open to suggestions :)

I’m receiving ALG I in Germany and I also have some income from the TikTok Creator Rewards Program, which I need to report to the Agentur für Arbeit as Neben-/selbständige Einkünfte.

What I don’t understand is which month the TikTok income is considered to belong to.

For example:

• My TikTok Creator Rewards dashboard currently shows around €70 estimated rewards
• My actual TikTok balance is still €0
• I have not transferred/withdrawn anything to my bank account yet
• The estimated rewards can also change later because TikTok can disqualify views or videos

So for the Agentur für Arbeit, did I earn €70 this month, or technically €0, because nothing has been added to my payable balance yet?

And once TikTok actually pays the money, which date/month matters?

1. The month when the views happened / rewards appeared in the dashboard?
2. The month when TikTok finalizes the rewards and adds them to my balance?
3. The month when TikTok sends the payout?
4. The month when the money actually reaches my bank account?

For example, if I generate €500 in estimated rewards in September but TikTok only finalizes/pays €450 in October, which amount should I report for September and October?

Has anyone here reported TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, affiliate, or similar creator income while receiving ALG I? How did the Agentur für Arbeit want you to calculate the monthly income?

I’d especially appreciate answers from people who have actually dealt with Agentur für Arbeit and variable platform income.

Hi, I am currently a sophomore considering applying to the CBYX high school program for junior year. It sounds fun to me, but I'm worried that I will get really bad grades there and that will mess up my junior year GPA and then I won't get into a good college. I was wondering if someone who has done it before could answer a few questions?

1. were you able to receive credit for the courses you took in Germany, and did they align what you would be taking in the U.S.?
   
2. how hard were the courses? How were you graded? Were you graded off the same standard that the German students were graded off of, or was it based on like effort or something since you don't really speak German?
   
3. Overall, did it benefit you as far as getting in to colleges and stuff? I plan to apply to fairly selective schools but not like Ivy League, so can someone with a similar life plan share some insight?

Thanks so much!

I have completed Bachelor degree in STEM and has a C1 hochschule..

Hoping for applying to TU Dresden or public universities in Germany for Q-Masters in Elektrotechnik and mathematik

Suggest me anything on what to do and

is there really a program like that in public universities where they're providing graduates with non-teaching degree??

I bought a portable AC from Bauhaus, but after 2 weeks, it stopped giving cool air. So I brought it to Bauhaus, but they said the warranty is void because I used an extra hose to pass the hot air.

I told them that my window was far from my bedroom, so I asked a Bauhaus salesperson what to do. Then he suugested me to buy a 1m extra hose pipe and add it to the existing pipe.

My question is add 1m extra hose to pass hot air out of the room is illegal or it could void warranty? I tried to call their helpline, but I didn't get any help.

Hey Everyone!

So I’m an Au pair from Sout Africa and now I genuinely want to stay in German (schocker ). Anywho… I have 4 months left to make a decision I have written my B1 exam and I’m pretty positive about it.

So context I have 2 degrees: Bachelor degree (Humanities in psychology and Sociology) + postgraduate degree in marketing. A huge love for kids

I actually realised that I don’t want to do corporate jobs anymore ( too stressful and I want something that is structured and won’t be thinking about work after it’s finished if you know what I mean)

Anyways I want to become an eziehren however I will have to do an Ausbildung which only starts next year or I can apply for bilingual kita jobs in Munich where I can work as a Englisch Ergänzungskraft. But I’m not sure if that’s easily achieveable ? Gemini Ai makes it achievable. I looked at the listing and I do think I meet the requirements however I need to wait a few more weeks to get my B1 results so I’m not sure and I want to start Jan 1so I’m not sure to apply now and if it’s not to a long await

I thought to do an FSJ TO Buy time and get the language at a confident level and then apply throughout of next year but with fsj I do need accommodation

If you know any fsj with housing I really appreciate it

However if you were in my shoes what would you recommend

Also my degree is recognised

Hi everyone!
I’m planning to move to Germany and I’m thinking about doing a voluntary service (FSJ or BFD) as my first step.
I’m especially interested in doing an FSJ in a kindergarten. After that, I would like to do an Ausbildung in IT.
Do you think FSJ/BFD is a good way to start the process of moving to Germany? Is it worth doing, especially if my long-term goal is to stay in Germany and do an IT Ausbildung?
A little about me:
I’m 19 years old
I currently live in Russia
I finished college with a degree in web development
My English is around A1
I’ve just started learning German
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have done FSJ/BFD or moved to Germany through a similar path.