Are you planning to live in Germany or to move to Germany as an expat, a student, to work, as an AuPair or to travel to Germany as a tourist for a longer period of time? Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne and many other cities are very popular travel and residential areas to start a new life. To master the first steps well, you should note the following points:
- Open online current account or bank account in Germany (free of charge / low priced)
- Find apartment / house and rent / buy
- Registration of your residence at the town hall or local district office
- Electricity provider
- Gas / water provider
- Telephone / Internet provider
- Mobile phone provider
- Important German insurance
(Health insurance, liability insurance, accident insurance, foreign health insurance, dental insurance) - Do not forget to quit the church / religion because you pay 7% church tax for evangelical or catholic denominationFederal States of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) is divided into 16 federal states. Germany’s federal states and provincial capital are:
Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart)
Free State of Bavaria (Munich)
Berlin (Berlin)
Brandenburg (Potsdam)
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Bremen)
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Hamburg)
Hesse (Wiesbaden)
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Schwerin)
Lower Saxony (Hanover)
North Rhine-Westphalia (Dusseldorf)
Rhineland-Palatinate (Mainz)
Saarland (Saarbrücken)
Saxony (Dresden)
Saxony-Anhalt (Magdeburg)
Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel)
Free State of Thuringia (Erfurt)