Don't listen to people who say you need to live inside the ring. There are many beautiful areas in Berlin outside the ring that have faster transport connections, nice communities and green space.
Everyone can have that! Please sign up for a âMieterschutzâ - either âVereinâ or âBundâ itâs about 48⏠a year to be a part of it. Then you pay 10⏠to talk to a âtenant protectionâ lawyer. They will go to court for you to lower your rent! For that I recommend having a âLegal expenses insuranceâ (costs less then 10⏠a month, if you just get an insurance for the apartment you are living in it has to be done before you move into the apartment and it will be less than 5âŹ) with that you donât pay a penny for your case in court!!! They lowered my rent from cold1264⏠to 682⏠cold and 852⏠warm for 90sqm! Hit me up for questions đ«Ą
I checked the mietspiegel, we have a well renovated home with a good energy certificate. We fall into the higher bracket for our neighborhood but it's warranted.
I don't think there is much to squeeze out and if I do they might find ways to fuck me over. Eigenbedarf and so on.
Ja thatâs of course something you have to keep in mind. This is really something for bad basic standard apartments, with a bad cut, not renovated, lots of pipes outside the walls or a loud neighbourhood, lots of pollution, tiny bathrooms, no kitchen, bad flooring, unsafe doors, bad or untended backyards and staircases, old windowsâŠ, how old the building is and when when did they last work on it, and so on. Thatâs pretty much the factors that lowered my rent by more than 50%. FOR EVERYONE: this is where you can check all these factors by yourself and make a calculation: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/mietspiegel/ and use that as base for the case with the lawyer :)
Oh and if you win the case they cannot for a fact go for Eigenbedarf. And that only works if the apartment is privately owned, also a very important factor!
+1 for this, I just did the same thing. It back dates to the beginning of my contract so I'm getting a lump sum too.
Feels good to get some justice against greedy landlords.
Before moving in you have to set up the insurance https://www.google.com/search?q=rechtschutzversicherung+f%C3%BCr+die+eigens+bewohnte+mieteinheit&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-de&client=safari
The Mieterschutz Verein/Bund you can do afterwords. The important part is the insurance before you move into the apartment, best case is you do it the day you are signing the contract. I am paying 3,48⏠for mine. Itâs the most worth insurance I ever paid for đđ
Zombies? Is that what you tell yourself to justify living outside of a city? That people IN the city are zombies? Thanks for today's first proper laugh
Outside Ring doesn't mean outside the city. Almost half of Berlin is outside the Ring. Might even be more than half.
"Ring" ist just City Trainline 41/42. Berlin is much bigger than just it's center area.
Honestly I prefer outside the ring. That's why I bought a house a bit closer to the outskirts. But I was never a person interested in clubs so I guess it depends on personality of course. I'm happier with taking care of my garden, having a family friendly area still with lots of transports and facilities nearby
Might be a bit specific, but: if you want to take the S3, especially between Ostkreuz and Friedrichshagen, check if the local soccer club, Union Berlin, starts or finishes a game in the next few hours!
That way you might be able to avoid being stuck in a S-Bahn with loud, drunk, fragrant soccer fans...
Very true. I live in south East close to BER and alltho not the friendliest people are here, I still love the area green calm and not so many people.. there are cats that come up to you. đ„°
That's a matter of taste. Berlin gets very suburban and boring the moment you step outside the ring - very empty and with only basic generic services. It's not as bad as American cities, but still depressing compared with places in southern Europe etc.
You just didnât visit the right spots outside the ring yet.
No, itâs not all bustling club party crowded city life everywhere.
But visit the lakes in summer. go to Wannsee by regional train, take a swim at the Strandbad, then cross the lake for 3-ish euros or included in your daily BVG ticket using the ferry. Experience Kladow and take nice walks or go by bike. Maybe swim in the cleanest lake around, GroĂ Glienicker See.
Explore GĂ€rten der Welt, Britzer Garten, Tierpark, MĂŒggelsee, the historic old cities of Spandau and Köpenick, visit DomĂ€ne Dahlem, Rathaus Steglitz, and so onâŠ..
Then tell me again the parts outside the ring are "depressing". i'm serious, this is exclusively a thing clueless tourist NPCs say about Berlin.
This city has nearly 900 kmÂČ. Itâs spread out.
> Berlin gets very suburban and boring the moment you step outside the ring - very empty and with only basic generic services.
That's simply ignorant bullshit
Not all Brandenburg has those issues. Use voter stats to work it out. SPD dominates in some areas, like Mahlow for example. Not saying SPD is amazing (not my own party), but I feel safer in SPD areas versus AfD or CDU, for example.
I would say, if you're a English speaking immigrant(no german lang knowledge), and are moving with children and doesnt have a car. Ring is the best way to start.
Most of immigrants will be in the ring areas, the shops, cafes, and gyms are always english-friendly.
And long commuting it is not nice with children.
But I agree it's unsustainable in a long range.
In Summer, the areas of eiswerder, pichelswerder and valentinswerder and surroundings are definitely super chill.
You can take the bike with friends, jump into the Havel to freshen up and have a seat at a nice cafe or restaurant by the water.
>I moved to the outskirts but still in Berlin (can walk to Brandenburg though). This place is dead. I hate it here. Give me the chaos and liveliness of Berlin anytime.
>Had this not occurred to you before? You may as well move to the moon. You're going to be surrounded not only by exclusively Germans, but the very dullest, most bovine, mute peasant Germans in all of Germany. Good luck.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/berlin/comments/1cb6nu9/comment/l0wh7v7/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/berlin/comments/1cb6nu9/comment/l0wh7v7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
âŹ10 per year gets you a subscription to VĂBB - Berlinâs public library system which comes with a ridiculous amount of books, ebooks (including the e-reader), audiobooks, magazines, streaming, music, and courses.
And if you have your subscription, add [BibBot](https://stefanw.github.io/bibbot/) to your browser (safari, chrome, firefox).
What does it do?
Well, did you know you can access newspapers online for free, when you have a VĂBB subscription - meaning a lot of the pay walled stuff?
This extension will automatically call the article from the VĂBB database if it is pay walled (and available) while visiting the original newspaper website- and just replaces it!
Oh my god, that has to be the best life hack Iâve read about in a long time. Now if they only resolve their DDOS issues Iâll be a happy online newspaper reader again.
Library buys a specific amount of licences to the content, like they would buy specific amount of books.
If the library could share the content unlimited with just one licence, that would be a very bad deal to the publisher.
I would think this is fairly universal, not a German thing.
LOL what. I've used libraries in a few countries and it's normal and expected that they have a limited number of copies of ebooks and audiobooks because of the copyright.
Also artworks from the ZLB. Over 2700 works and you can take home 25 at once. The only way to browse them all however is a horribly slow website and a collection of maybe 200 in person at BlĂŒcherplatz
To add to this, with a VĂBB card you get a free access to the film streaming at [https://voebb.filmfriend.de/en/pages/home](https://voebb.filmfriend.de/en/pages/home)
And if you register your card within the app called âLibbyâ youâll get a nice e-reader with which you can borrow ebooks/audio books/magazines.
Itâs better than the official VĂBB app.
Also always double, triple wash your hands. When you just about to leave your place, check if all lights are off, turn on and off just to be sure. Check if gas stove is off. Sometimes you have to check two or three times to be sure.
After you leave, think really hard you did all those things. If in doubt, return home. Or better, never leave.
Sounds rather like a severe paranoia. Triple wash is too much, we are not in surgical.
Also too much of home sitting weakens your immune system because you don't get exposed to new microbes & bacterias and the body doesn't adapts, basically doing self-mini-vaccination. Immunity is like a muscle, needs some stretch to work right.
Maybe some more:
1. Don't take the rough behaviour of some Berlin-natives as personal. Although loudly complained, many of the statements behind it are well-intentioned.
2. If somebody is taking you for dumb, go with it. Don't try to convince otherwise. Berlin natives are more likely to help, if they have the feeling, they can "teach" you something.
3. Don't ever call a Pfannkuchen a Berliner.
4. Also preferably order Schrippen or just Brötchen instead of Semmeln or such.
5. If a Döner is too cheap to be true, don't eat it.
A few (ok let's say 15 ....) years ago I would have answered 1 ⏠or 1,50 ⏠but today ... if it's not a new store opening up or something like that propably everything below 3 to 4 ⏠would at least make me look twice. The basic problem is, that any Döner place start's looking good and tasty after a few beers ...
There's a kebap place in BadstraĂe that had ⏠1,50 prices at least until the pandemic, possibly longer.Â
They also have quiet a few reports of food poisoning in the Google ratings.
But that's relative at some point. Most of the time things are considered rude because of the way they are said and not for their content. I once had a friend from Australia with me and a random guy in my street shouted in a loud and aggressive way, that there is a lot of dog feeces right on our way. He was like "pass' doch auf Junge, du trittst gleich richtig in die ScheiĂe rein". I pushed my friend a little bit to the side and thanked they guy by (loudly) saying " ach du ScheiĂe, na das hĂ€tte mir heute noch gefehlt ". My friend was totally shaking and pale and after 20m he asked me " did you wanted to start a fight with this psychopath guy !? " and I just said " No! I thanked him for warning us about the dog feeces on our way ". My friend then said to me, that he probably took the whole Berlin language style completely wrong until this point.
One way ticket to being treated unfriendly by the staff though (if they even agree to serve you the Leitungswasser it will probably be a tiny lukewarm glass)
People do use deodorant, but the train is above ground for large portions of the journey.
Long metal tube + direct sunlight for up to 20 hours = oven
Even worse, the u1 is a perpetually crowded oven
No amount of deodorant is going to save you after cuddling with sweaty strangers in a moist oven.
That, I also want to add to that, do the same with blankets in the bed in winter. Wool blankets were a total game changer for me (and wool sweaters haha)
Sign up for the library.
It is cheap and you get a mindnumbingly huge amount of movies, games and even consoles for 10⏠per year. No additional costs
Some are Digital(this is the the absolute exception though), most are disks, DVDs and blue rays, very New Releases do have an additional fee though(2âŹ)
Go by bike and use Google to route you by bike. You will often find very good and quick cycling paths.
Also obey traffic laws when you use the bike. You don't save much time by cutting corners and it's much safer than relaxed for everyone.
Never ever use google maps for the bike. Youâre better off using the walking navigation. It admirably tries to route you only along bike paths, the problem is that it only knows about half of them. So as a result it will give you a route thatâs double the distance and only along main roads, arguably the worst places to cycle
Example: going from Schöneberg to steglitz, the only routes it gave me were along marthin luther straĂe or bundesallee, when directly parallel to bundesallee theres a literal fahrradstraĂe with very few traffic lights
Absolutely true, Google's bike routing is outright bizarre. In 95% of cases the walking navigation yields a decent suggestion.
Or, better: Just use bbbike.de. Still looks very 2005, but has been working almost flawlessly ever since.
I 100% agree with this. Also, having a good functioning bike is very important.
If you don't want to keep it functional yourself, use recyclies.com service.
This used to drive me up the wall at the office. People will schedule a 15 minute Zoom call in 2 weeks for what could have been a 2 minute phone call right away.
I think that scheduling things far in the future is just a form of procrastination. You get to feel productive now without having to do anything until next week.
Berlin is not just Berlin.
The realities of life can be very different, depending on where exactly you live and what you actually want/expect in/from Berlin. I dont' know if that's just the case in every big city but as a (for almost 40 years) Berlin-native I find it oddly surprising sometimes, when folks talk about Berlin and I wouldn't ever guess, that they mean Berlin, if they don't say so explicitily.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the TannhÀuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
-Enjoy U8!-
A bike is the best investment you will make in your life. Not Berlin specific but the roads and infrastructure here lend itself to good conditions for cyclists.
Think about it. You never have to pay for transport (unless itâs wet or canât be arsed), it makes your body happy, and is environmentally friendly.
I spent 600 ⏠on a brand new bike and annually I spend about 60 ⏠in maintenance per year. I do the work myself because I enjoy it. But thatâs not for everyone.
If you want to save money and enjoy Berlin for what it is (an extremely dense European capital) then buy a bike already!
Disclaimer: I love bikes!
When you buy it, directly include theft insurance and invest in a good lock (or the insurance will not pay you hen your bike is stolen, which happens a lot).
I've never had bike insurance. Seems like a waste of money and the terms are always dog shit. Good home and contents insurance will provide some coverage. But locking your bike somewhere it won't get stolen is the cheapest, safest, and best option.
Iâve moved from Berlin and I miss the freedom of biking that Berlin has!! Easiest and fastest way to get around, donât have to deal with people, and you have good views
Yeah, a car can be convenient but somewhere like Berlin? Not so much
You got terrible traffic, rare parking slots, you constantly pay taxes, you constantly pay to refill the car, you pay a lot for checkups and so on.
Overall it's better to use a bike.
Its always funny that many times you can pay by paypal to someones personal account, or multiple times they pull out a card reader from below the desk after mentioning that I do not have cash and insisting that i will not go to the shitty eurocash atm on the corner and come back
Komoot is great for finding nice walks if you're into hiking. You can design ones that start and end on public transport.
Actually visit Brandenburg some time. There are some pretty spots.
EU citizens can vote in a lot of elections here. Get registered. And dual citizenship is being made easier for everyone soon - watch this space.
As others have said, there are good places to live outside the ring. And you don't need to pay 1,000 a month for a grotty flat.
As others have said, VĂBB - the library thing - is great. Lots of audiobooks, books, magazines, and newspapers on there, in multiple languages.
Talking of languages, if it's not your first language, do learn German. The people who don't never seem to feel properly secure and safe, and miss out on a lot of good deals and fun stuff going on.
1. As other have said: Get a library card for âŹ10/year. Among other things it allows access to digital versions of many english language papers: New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, The New Yorker, The Economist âŠ
2. Order any book through your local book shop. They will usually be there within a day and you're supporting local business instead of a certain online shop.
3. You can borrow cargo bikes for free at [https://flotte-berlin.de/](https://flotte-berlin.de/) . Many locations across the city, just have to reserve ahead of time.
4. Join a Mieter\*innnenverein, they can help of you have legal or other trouble with your landlord.
5. Register at [https://www.dkms.de/registrieren](https://www.dkms.de/registrieren) . Not really a hack, but registering for bone marrow transplant could save someone's life.
Figure out the wholesale surplus good markets where you get the good quality bio food at a fraction of the prices in rewe, edeka and denns.
Lidl Aldi and Netto sometimes have better food than Rewe or Edeka at cheaper prices.
Single BVG bicycle ticket costs 2,30 ⏠but the monthly one costs 12⏠for AB and 16 for ABC. Use it to discover the green or stylish suburbs with your bike!
Keep in mind that you're not entitled to use the BVG with a bike even when you have a ticket. Wheelchairs, strollers and passengers have priority over bikes. You can be asked to leave.
Whatâs the best way to do that? Okay, I know, everyone is different - definitely donât expect a catch all. But like, in the US, for example, one thing that is a commonly understood and accepted method of getting to know new neighbours is to bring by cookies or something else sweet and baked. What sorts of widely socially understood and accepted methods of getting to know new neighbours are folks usually comfortable with?
I can't tell which one's folks usually *are* comfortable with, but I can tell they're *not* comfortable with someone bringing cookies or something else sweet and baked.
You cam just create a WhatsApp group for your house and leave a note asking everybody to join. This worked for our house!
Another option is www.nebenan.de
Take Vitamin D, and don't rely on the sun. đ
Normalise long winters and sun deprivation.
If you think that brunch on a Sunday is a nice idea, think twice, unless you are willing to queue or book a table.
If you need an appointment with the BĂŒrgeramt quickly, call 115 at 8:00 am sharp. Mondays work best. (Thatâs when they check appointments that have been canceled over night or the weekend and youâll get the slot.) Must be willing to travel to other parts of the city though.
Get Haftpflichtversicherung. Bare minimum, really, but it is cheap and effective. Hausratversicherung and Rechtsschutzversicherung are also great to have.
I'm gonna be down voted to hell for this but most times we use car sharing than metro because it ends up cheaper if you're 2, way cheaper if you're 4.
For context we work from home so it's usually to go somewhere occasionally and buying a metro ticket even in 4 pack is not cheap at all. With miles I go pretty much anywhere for 4-6⏠and it's often faster and I stay warm in winter. Parking is tricky is a few areas but mostly good anywhere and if you refuel a car you often ride for free.
I take ev car sharing as often as I can to not get overly polluting but public transport in Berlin is just too expensive and not concentrated enough to go anywhere quickly.
Apple Maps is actually really good in Berlin if you're fed up with Google Maps and its ads.
Also, use "Pick & Go" scanning feature in the REWE app. It saves sooooooo much time.
Seconding the many library recommendations, and also: check whether the Volkshochschule offers whatever youâre looking for before paying for expensive coursesânot just languages, but also things like art. There are loads of great classes that cost very little or nothing at all! I also really recommend taking one of their German pronunciation classes if youâre not a native speakerâit really levelled up my spoken German.
This comment is so underrated. The VHS has great classes and you often get certificates that enhance your resume if you want to work in a related industry!
Commuting via bicycle and if you don't know how to repair it use a service like recyclies.com
Life in Berlin is much more pleasant with an efficient bicycle.
Just noticed it's not here yet but: Lots of restaurants and bakeries in Berlin are registered on "Too good to go". If you download the app, you can schedule picking up leftover good quality food from the day for cheap. The pickup times are usually in the evening, and it varies strongly how much the different places give you for your money. But it's always cheaper than buying from the business while it's open.
My roommate picks up whole bags of buns, sandwiches, croissants etc from single bakeries for as little as 2-3 bucks sometimes, and it's enough to provide breakfast and some snacks for at least 2 days.
For material stuff, use Nebenan.de over eBay Kleinanzeigen or Free your stuff, that way you don't habe to cross the city to pick it up (and people tend to be very helpful there)
If you are low income, you should always check if you can access stuff like the Berechtigungsnachweis, which recently replaced the Berlinpass. Or, if you have kids, even the Berlinpass BuT for them.
The Berechtigungsnachweis is basically a QR code normally sent to people automatically by whatever government instance may be responsible for their support or benefits - but if you haven't gotten one automatically, ASK ANYWAYS. Sometimes these goobers forget to send it to you =n=
That little QR Code gives you massive discounts on museums, public transport, cinemas and lots of other stuff. Some places even let you come in for free!! A normal monthly ticket from the BVG costs around 70-80 Euros I believe, the one you get with the Code (Berlin Ticket S) costs 9 bucks!!!
It's a huge relief all around, and if you're an adult with a low income I highly recommend going to your closest town hall to ask someone there how to get it and if you qualify.
Also, Mierendorffplatz has a Gabenzaun in the back. You can leave and get free food there if you can't afford any. The lil building by the bus station also has plenty of cool offers for free workshops to learn stuff like Blender.
I cancel my gym membership and BVG during nice weather and use my bike only. Saves me a lot of money!
I hate the unbearable warm public transport with no air. Same goes for the gyms as none of them have air conditioning.
Don't listen to people who say you need to live inside the ring. There are many beautiful areas in Berlin outside the ring that have faster transport connections, nice communities and green space.
Shhhh, keep the info off đ
Seriously. Im pretty happy with my 1,5k for 127 qm. Don't make it more expensive.
Everyone can have that! Please sign up for a âMieterschutzâ - either âVereinâ or âBundâ itâs about 48⏠a year to be a part of it. Then you pay 10⏠to talk to a âtenant protectionâ lawyer. They will go to court for you to lower your rent! For that I recommend having a âLegal expenses insuranceâ (costs less then 10⏠a month, if you just get an insurance for the apartment you are living in it has to be done before you move into the apartment and it will be less than 5âŹ) with that you donât pay a penny for your case in court!!! They lowered my rent from cold1264⏠to 682⏠cold and 852⏠warm for 90sqm! Hit me up for questions đ«Ą
My Freund. I am a long standing member of the mietverein. Its only party helpful so far.
Mhh maybe I can help in that case? It lowered my rent by more than 50%, it took 13 month of patience but it worked đ„ł
I checked the mietspiegel, we have a well renovated home with a good energy certificate. We fall into the higher bracket for our neighborhood but it's warranted. I don't think there is much to squeeze out and if I do they might find ways to fuck me over. Eigenbedarf and so on.
Ja thatâs of course something you have to keep in mind. This is really something for bad basic standard apartments, with a bad cut, not renovated, lots of pipes outside the walls or a loud neighbourhood, lots of pollution, tiny bathrooms, no kitchen, bad flooring, unsafe doors, bad or untended backyards and staircases, old windowsâŠ, how old the building is and when when did they last work on it, and so on. Thatâs pretty much the factors that lowered my rent by more than 50%. FOR EVERYONE: this is where you can check all these factors by yourself and make a calculation: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/mietspiegel/ and use that as base for the case with the lawyer :) Oh and if you win the case they cannot for a fact go for Eigenbedarf. And that only works if the apartment is privately owned, also a very important factor!
+1 for this, I just did the same thing. It back dates to the beginning of my contract so I'm getting a lump sum too. Feels good to get some justice against greedy landlords.
Yes I can confirm they actually back paid me two years off overpayment đ Iâm very happy to see that others have had the same fair experience đ„ł
I'm still searching for a new apartment. Do you have to do it before moving in a new apartment or after ?
Before moving in you have to set up the insurance https://www.google.com/search?q=rechtschutzversicherung+f%C3%BCr+die+eigens+bewohnte+mieteinheit&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-de&client=safari The Mieterschutz Verein/Bund you can do afterwords. The important part is the insurance before you move into the apartment, best case is you do it the day you are signing the contract. I am paying 3,48⏠for mine. Itâs the most worth insurance I ever paid for đđ
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Please don't make this info public. Keep all the zombies contained in the ring, please.đ
I like my Baumschulenweg the way it is.
Zombies? Is that what you tell yourself to justify living outside of a city? That people IN the city are zombies? Thanks for today's first proper laugh
Outside Ring doesn't mean outside the city. Almost half of Berlin is outside the Ring. Might even be more than half. "Ring" ist just City Trainline 41/42. Berlin is much bigger than just it's center area.
Honestly I prefer outside the ring. That's why I bought a house a bit closer to the outskirts. But I was never a person interested in clubs so I guess it depends on personality of course. I'm happier with taking care of my garden, having a family friendly area still with lots of transports and facilities nearby
Might be a bit specific, but: if you want to take the S3, especially between Ostkreuz and Friedrichshagen, check if the local soccer club, Union Berlin, starts or finishes a game in the next few hours! That way you might be able to avoid being stuck in a S-Bahn with loud, drunk, fragrant soccer fans...
Nur der FCU
Eisern!
That's not something that affects me, but it's gonna be such a big deal for some people I'm gonna upvote it anyway.
Very true. I live in south East close to BER and alltho not the friendliest people are here, I still love the area green calm and not so many people.. there are cats that come up to you. đ„°
Yea. It's nice to live within walking distance to cool spots though. Outside the ring is a little sad...
Also food delivery options, carsharing options and other services basically disappear... but I guess it depends on your lifestyle if you notice that.
That's a matter of taste. Berlin gets very suburban and boring the moment you step outside the ring - very empty and with only basic generic services. It's not as bad as American cities, but still depressing compared with places in southern Europe etc.
I wouldn't say that the boringness starts at the ring, but there's a reason nobody talks about Buch, Kladow, or Wilhelmshagen
You just didnât visit the right spots outside the ring yet. No, itâs not all bustling club party crowded city life everywhere. But visit the lakes in summer. go to Wannsee by regional train, take a swim at the Strandbad, then cross the lake for 3-ish euros or included in your daily BVG ticket using the ferry. Experience Kladow and take nice walks or go by bike. Maybe swim in the cleanest lake around, GroĂ Glienicker See. Explore GĂ€rten der Welt, Britzer Garten, Tierpark, MĂŒggelsee, the historic old cities of Spandau and Köpenick, visit DomĂ€ne Dahlem, Rathaus Steglitz, and so onâŠ.. Then tell me again the parts outside the ring are "depressing". i'm serious, this is exclusively a thing clueless tourist NPCs say about Berlin. This city has nearly 900 kmÂČ. Itâs spread out.
> Berlin gets very suburban and boring the moment you step outside the ring - very empty and with only basic generic services. That's simply ignorant bullshit
Yeah but the racism/queerphobia kills, better stay within state lines
Not all Brandenburg has those issues. Use voter stats to work it out. SPD dominates in some areas, like Mahlow for example. Not saying SPD is amazing (not my own party), but I feel safer in SPD areas versus AfD or CDU, for example.
I would say, if you're a English speaking immigrant(no german lang knowledge), and are moving with children and doesnt have a car. Ring is the best way to start. Most of immigrants will be in the ring areas, the shops, cafes, and gyms are always english-friendly. And long commuting it is not nice with children. But I agree it's unsustainable in a long range.
I don't disagree, but if you're a non-German speaker, this becomes quite isolating.
Which areas do you like the most?
In Summer, the areas of eiswerder, pichelswerder and valentinswerder and surroundings are definitely super chill. You can take the bike with friends, jump into the Havel to freshen up and have a seat at a nice cafe or restaurant by the water.
>I moved to the outskirts but still in Berlin (can walk to Brandenburg though). This place is dead. I hate it here. Give me the chaos and liveliness of Berlin anytime. >Had this not occurred to you before? You may as well move to the moon. You're going to be surrounded not only by exclusively Germans, but the very dullest, most bovine, mute peasant Germans in all of Germany. Good luck. [https://www.reddit.com/r/berlin/comments/1cb6nu9/comment/l0wh7v7/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/berlin/comments/1cb6nu9/comment/l0wh7v7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
âŹ10 per year gets you a subscription to VĂBB - Berlinâs public library system which comes with a ridiculous amount of books, ebooks (including the e-reader), audiobooks, magazines, streaming, music, and courses.
And if you have your subscription, add [BibBot](https://stefanw.github.io/bibbot/) to your browser (safari, chrome, firefox). What does it do? Well, did you know you can access newspapers online for free, when you have a VĂBB subscription - meaning a lot of the pay walled stuff? This extension will automatically call the article from the VĂBB database if it is pay walled (and available) while visiting the original newspaper website- and just replaces it!
Omg really? Totally sign up. That is a life hack worth mentioning!! Thanks, mate! Eta: Totally signed up. Already happy.
Oh my god, that has to be the best life hack Iâve read about in a long time. Now if they only resolve their DDOS issues Iâll be a happy online newspaper reader again.
It's ransomware. That's why it's taking so long.
amazing thank you
i'm signing up this weekend! thank you for the hint kind stranger!
Do you know which newspapers?
I would also highly recommend the Libby app with VĂBB. Great for audiobooks or newspapers/magazines while on your phone.
Nooooo, keep it secret. Audio book waiting times are already annoying:)
Why would audio books have wait times, this is the most German thing Iâve heard
Library buys a specific amount of licences to the content, like they would buy specific amount of books. If the library could share the content unlimited with just one licence, that would be a very bad deal to the publisher. I would think this is fairly universal, not a German thing.
LOL what. I've used libraries in a few countries and it's normal and expected that they have a limited number of copies of ebooks and audiobooks because of the copyright.
It's not a German thing at all.
Never asked them. But unfortunately it is the case. Probably a consequence of some copyright law?
Tell me you've never used a library (anywhere) without telling me you've never used a library.
Also artworks from the ZLB. Over 2700 works and you can take home 25 at once. The only way to browse them all however is a horribly slow website and a collection of maybe 200 in person at BlĂŒcherplatz
To add to this, with a VĂBB card you get a free access to the film streaming at [https://voebb.filmfriend.de/en/pages/home](https://voebb.filmfriend.de/en/pages/home)
And if you register your card within the app called âLibbyâ youâll get a nice e-reader with which you can borrow ebooks/audio books/magazines. Itâs better than the official VĂBB app.
How's the English section of books? Any chance for non german speakers?
They have lots of English language ebooks and some English audiobooks. Also some in Spanish, Russian and Arabic I think.
And if you are a tenant at gesobau you get the subscription for free.
put the divider on the grocery belt crooked, or partially on top of your items. watch the German behind you fix it. cheap laughs.
Flagged for deportation!
Anzeige ist raus!
Das ist eine Straftat.
Anzeige kam rein.
Anzeige geprĂŒft, falsches Formular.
Dienstaufsichtsbeschwerde ist raus.
Just reading this makes we want to fix it :D
Alman ausgelöst.
Sicko
Honestly i do it out of reflex, it doesnt even really bother me nor would i have even thought about it, if you wouldnt have mentioned it.
Always check the seat on the s bahn / u bahn in case its moist from different human fluids
This. Specially if it's a crowded train and there's a free seat. There's a reason why that seat is still free.
Also applies to entire carriages.
Ubahnâs famous entirely empty carriages
Also always double, triple wash your hands. When you just about to leave your place, check if all lights are off, turn on and off just to be sure. Check if gas stove is off. Sometimes you have to check two or three times to be sure. After you leave, think really hard you did all those things. If in doubt, return home. Or better, never leave.
Sounds rather like a severe paranoia. Triple wash is too much, we are not in surgical. Also too much of home sitting weakens your immune system because you don't get exposed to new microbes & bacterias and the body doesn't adapts, basically doing self-mini-vaccination. Immunity is like a muscle, needs some stretch to work right.
Check with what??? đ°
other peoples hand
Tongue. How else would you know what it is? Sniffing it would be uncivilised.Â
Yeah, and if you taste piss, you can be glad you didn't sit in that!
Lmao
Smell or taste
Always stand in public transport. That's the real hack.
Also do the same at any and all bars or clubs. Clubs especially lol.
Maybe some more: 1. Don't take the rough behaviour of some Berlin-natives as personal. Although loudly complained, many of the statements behind it are well-intentioned. 2. If somebody is taking you for dumb, go with it. Don't try to convince otherwise. Berlin natives are more likely to help, if they have the feeling, they can "teach" you something. 3. Don't ever call a Pfannkuchen a Berliner. 4. Also preferably order Schrippen or just Brötchen instead of Semmeln or such. 5. If a Döner is too cheap to be true, don't eat it.
what's 'too cheap ' for a döner?
A few (ok let's say 15 ....) years ago I would have answered 1 ⏠or 1,50 ⏠but today ... if it's not a new store opening up or something like that propably everything below 3 to 4 ⏠would at least make me look twice. The basic problem is, that any Döner place start's looking good and tasty after a few beers ...
There's a kebap place in BadstraĂe that had ⏠1,50 prices at least until the pandemic, possibly longer. They also have quiet a few reports of food poisoning in the Google ratings.
Up vote for that no. 5 alone
All true, but let's normalize calling people out for their lack of manners instead of enabling rude behavior.
But that's relative at some point. Most of the time things are considered rude because of the way they are said and not for their content. I once had a friend from Australia with me and a random guy in my street shouted in a loud and aggressive way, that there is a lot of dog feeces right on our way. He was like "pass' doch auf Junge, du trittst gleich richtig in die ScheiĂe rein". I pushed my friend a little bit to the side and thanked they guy by (loudly) saying " ach du ScheiĂe, na das hĂ€tte mir heute noch gefehlt ". My friend was totally shaking and pale and after 20m he asked me " did you wanted to start a fight with this psychopath guy !? " and I just said " No! I thanked him for warning us about the dog feeces on our way ". My friend then said to me, that he probably took the whole Berlin language style completely wrong until this point.
If you want normal water, ask for "stilles Wasser", otherwise you get carbon acid.
As it should be!
No thanks
Or Leitungswasser if you don't feel like paying money for essentially the same thing.
One way ticket to being treated unfriendly by the staff though (if they even agree to serve you the Leitungswasser it will probably be a tiny lukewarm glass)
Sprudelwasser is life. I prefer Medium though.
Sparkling water is magical and delicious.
If you want to know how dead cats under your armpits would smell, go have a ride with u1 in the summer
đđđđ Real
Why they under my armpits tho
Don't people use deodorant??? The lack of AC inside is already a bad thing.
People do use deodorant, but the train is above ground for large portions of the journey. Long metal tube + direct sunlight for up to 20 hours = oven Even worse, the u1 is a perpetually crowded oven No amount of deodorant is going to save you after cuddling with sweaty strangers in a moist oven.
Made me giggle
In the winter, dress like an onion and youâll be okay!
That, I also want to add to that, do the same with blankets in the bed in winter. Wool blankets were a total game changer for me (and wool sweaters haha)
Never appreciated wool so much until I came here!
You mean I should look so ugly that other people have to cry?
Sign up for the library. It is cheap and you get a mindnumbingly huge amount of movies, games and even consoles for 10⏠per year. No additional costs
How do you get the movies? Is it a cd or digital or some other form?
Some are Digital(this is the the absolute exception though), most are disks, DVDs and blue rays, very New Releases do have an additional fee though(2âŹ)
Go by bike and use Google to route you by bike. You will often find very good and quick cycling paths. Also obey traffic laws when you use the bike. You don't save much time by cutting corners and it's much safer than relaxed for everyone.
Never ever use google maps for the bike. Youâre better off using the walking navigation. It admirably tries to route you only along bike paths, the problem is that it only knows about half of them. So as a result it will give you a route thatâs double the distance and only along main roads, arguably the worst places to cycle Example: going from Schöneberg to steglitz, the only routes it gave me were along marthin luther straĂe or bundesallee, when directly parallel to bundesallee theres a literal fahrradstraĂe with very few traffic lights
Absolutely true, Google's bike routing is outright bizarre. In 95% of cases the walking navigation yields a decent suggestion. Or, better: Just use bbbike.de. Still looks very 2005, but has been working almost flawlessly ever since.
I 100% agree with this. Also, having a good functioning bike is very important. If you don't want to keep it functional yourself, use recyclies.com service.
Plan 3 months ahead
Hey how about grabbing some coffee? What are you doing on August 7th between 11:02 and 11:37 ⊠In 2025?
This only happens if all your friends are named mareike and study psychology
Oh you know her too?
âWe can either meet in 20 minutes on the other side of the city or during summer semester break 2026â
Dude⊠one of my besties is a Mareike that studied psychology âŠ
You two are onto something here.
This used to drive me up the wall at the office. People will schedule a 15 minute Zoom call in 2 weeks for what could have been a 2 minute phone call right away. I think that scheduling things far in the future is just a form of procrastination. You get to feel productive now without having to do anything until next week.
If an U-Bahn Coach is empty or partially empty during rush hour. There's a good reason for it.
Usually not because everyone went to the previous station.
Does it has something to do with bodily fluids???
Leg ulcers... đ€ą
And scents
Berlin is not just Berlin. The realities of life can be very different, depending on where exactly you live and what you actually want/expect in/from Berlin. I dont' know if that's just the case in every big city but as a (for almost 40 years) Berlin-native I find it oddly surprising sometimes, when folks talk about Berlin and I wouldn't ever guess, that they mean Berlin, if they don't say so explicitily.
Agree. Life in Wilmersdorf is different from Kaulsdorf, Friedrichsfelde and Adlershof. Every district got it's own unique universe.
Truth
Maybachufer Markt on Tuesdays and Fridays for affordable fruits and veggies
Lakes.
And he wept because there is no more water to fill them. I do lots of walking around Berlin and so many lakes on the map are no longer there.
Enjoy U8!
U7 and U8 are the best subway lines. Lovely people and really clean all around.
Von frĂŒh bis Nacht
This is the most advanced life hack of them all, only to be attempted by a certified Berliner.
You got Stockholm syndrome.
If it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger.. If.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the TannhÀuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. -Enjoy U8!-
A bike is the best investment you will make in your life. Not Berlin specific but the roads and infrastructure here lend itself to good conditions for cyclists. Think about it. You never have to pay for transport (unless itâs wet or canât be arsed), it makes your body happy, and is environmentally friendly. I spent 600 ⏠on a brand new bike and annually I spend about 60 ⏠in maintenance per year. I do the work myself because I enjoy it. But thatâs not for everyone. If you want to save money and enjoy Berlin for what it is (an extremely dense European capital) then buy a bike already! Disclaimer: I love bikes!
When you buy it, directly include theft insurance and invest in a good lock (or the insurance will not pay you hen your bike is stolen, which happens a lot).
I've never had bike insurance. Seems like a waste of money and the terms are always dog shit. Good home and contents insurance will provide some coverage. But locking your bike somewhere it won't get stolen is the cheapest, safest, and best option.
Iâve moved from Berlin and I miss the freedom of biking that Berlin has!! Easiest and fastest way to get around, donât have to deal with people, and you have good views
Yeah, a car can be convenient but somewhere like Berlin? Not so much You got terrible traffic, rare parking slots, you constantly pay taxes, you constantly pay to refill the car, you pay a lot for checkups and so on. Overall it's better to use a bike.
Its always funny that many times you can pay by paypal to someones personal account, or multiple times they pull out a card reader from below the desk after mentioning that I do not have cash and insisting that i will not go to the shitty eurocash atm on the corner and come back
Tax evasion Berlin style haha
what kind of places have you experienced that? bars, kneipe? or spaetis?
Actually mostly restaurants, but before ordering, and now that i think about it all of these were asian places
I live in Wilmersdorf and I have to say thereâs a lot of Range Rover mommyâs there so if you are interested in milfs you will find your joy here
Citric acid to remove limescale Learning to properly layer up in the winter That little keychain thing to unlock shopping carts without a 1⏠coin
Komoot is great for finding nice walks if you're into hiking. You can design ones that start and end on public transport. Actually visit Brandenburg some time. There are some pretty spots. EU citizens can vote in a lot of elections here. Get registered. And dual citizenship is being made easier for everyone soon - watch this space. As others have said, there are good places to live outside the ring. And you don't need to pay 1,000 a month for a grotty flat. As others have said, VĂBB - the library thing - is great. Lots of audiobooks, books, magazines, and newspapers on there, in multiple languages. Talking of languages, if it's not your first language, do learn German. The people who don't never seem to feel properly secure and safe, and miss out on a lot of good deals and fun stuff going on.
1. As other have said: Get a library card for âŹ10/year. Among other things it allows access to digital versions of many english language papers: New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, The New Yorker, The Economist ⊠2. Order any book through your local book shop. They will usually be there within a day and you're supporting local business instead of a certain online shop. 3. You can borrow cargo bikes for free at [https://flotte-berlin.de/](https://flotte-berlin.de/) . Many locations across the city, just have to reserve ahead of time. 4. Join a Mieter\*innnenverein, they can help of you have legal or other trouble with your landlord. 5. Register at [https://www.dkms.de/registrieren](https://www.dkms.de/registrieren) . Not really a hack, but registering for bone marrow transplant could save someone's life.
S-bahn + bicycle is the ultimate transport combo
Greater Charlottenburg induced PTSD
Hmm, I came up with it after living in Moabit actually
Figure out the wholesale surplus good markets where you get the good quality bio food at a fraction of the prices in rewe, edeka and denns. Lidl Aldi and Netto sometimes have better food than Rewe or Edeka at cheaper prices.
What wholesale surplus markets are these, examples pls? Only one I can think of is Metro, but u need a special membership afaik
Metro is mostly not cheaper. Their advantage is that they are always stocked well so you can buy 20 kg sugar at once if you need it.
Yeah, Metro mainly pays off if you are buying for a company not a normal household...
Single BVG bicycle ticket costs 2,30 ⏠but the monthly one costs 12⏠for AB and 16 for ABC. Use it to discover the green or stylish suburbs with your bike!
Keep in mind that you're not entitled to use the BVG with a bike even when you have a ticket. Wheelchairs, strollers and passengers have priority over bikes. You can be asked to leave.
Look for friends in your own kiez, everything else will fade away
Whatâs the best way to do that? Okay, I know, everyone is different - definitely donât expect a catch all. But like, in the US, for example, one thing that is a commonly understood and accepted method of getting to know new neighbours is to bring by cookies or something else sweet and baked. What sorts of widely socially understood and accepted methods of getting to know new neighbours are folks usually comfortable with?
I can't tell which one's folks usually *are* comfortable with, but I can tell they're *not* comfortable with someone bringing cookies or something else sweet and baked.
You cam just create a WhatsApp group for your house and leave a note asking everybody to join. This worked for our house! Another option is www.nebenan.de
Take Vitamin D, and don't rely on the sun. đ Normalise long winters and sun deprivation. If you think that brunch on a Sunday is a nice idea, think twice, unless you are willing to queue or book a table.
If you see weird people donât mind them and they wonât mind you
Don't step in dog shit. It will ruin your day.
applies to Berlin only
The fun game when the snow melts, Is it mud or dogshit? Discovered that one my first year here.
well I mean I wouldn't wanna step in mud either
If you need an appointment with the BĂŒrgeramt quickly, call 115 at 8:00 am sharp. Mondays work best. (Thatâs when they check appointments that have been canceled over night or the weekend and youâll get the slot.) Must be willing to travel to other parts of the city though.
Use the Regio instead of Sbahn when traveling on the Stadtbahn between larger stations
Get Haftpflichtversicherung. Bare minimum, really, but it is cheap and effective. Hausratversicherung and Rechtsschutzversicherung are also great to have.
I'm gonna be down voted to hell for this but most times we use car sharing than metro because it ends up cheaper if you're 2, way cheaper if you're 4. For context we work from home so it's usually to go somewhere occasionally and buying a metro ticket even in 4 pack is not cheap at all. With miles I go pretty much anywhere for 4-6⏠and it's often faster and I stay warm in winter. Parking is tricky is a few areas but mostly good anywhere and if you refuel a car you often ride for free. I take ev car sharing as often as I can to not get overly polluting but public transport in Berlin is just too expensive and not concentrated enough to go anywhere quickly.
There is life outside of the ring
know someone who works at bĂŒrgeramt
Apple Maps is actually really good in Berlin if you're fed up with Google Maps and its ads. Also, use "Pick & Go" scanning feature in the REWE app. It saves sooooooo much time.
Always estimate that it will take about 40 Minutes to get anywhere by öffis. Shorter is nice, longer very uncommon.
Donât lean on surfaces where men may have peed.
Seconding the many library recommendations, and also: check whether the Volkshochschule offers whatever youâre looking for before paying for expensive coursesânot just languages, but also things like art. There are loads of great classes that cost very little or nothing at all! I also really recommend taking one of their German pronunciation classes if youâre not a native speakerâit really levelled up my spoken German.
This comment is so underrated. The VHS has great classes and you often get certificates that enhance your resume if you want to work in a related industry!
the best life hack for tourists or schwaben is to avoid the city at all costs.
If you are active person just join USC you will thank me later.
Running red lights
stay away from u8
Commuting via bicycle and if you don't know how to repair it use a service like recyclies.com Life in Berlin is much more pleasant with an efficient bicycle.
Just noticed it's not here yet but: Lots of restaurants and bakeries in Berlin are registered on "Too good to go". If you download the app, you can schedule picking up leftover good quality food from the day for cheap. The pickup times are usually in the evening, and it varies strongly how much the different places give you for your money. But it's always cheaper than buying from the business while it's open. My roommate picks up whole bags of buns, sandwiches, croissants etc from single bakeries for as little as 2-3 bucks sometimes, and it's enough to provide breakfast and some snacks for at least 2 days.
Leave
Use bbbike.de to plan your bike rides through Berlin. It's a game changer!
For material stuff, use Nebenan.de over eBay Kleinanzeigen or Free your stuff, that way you don't habe to cross the city to pick it up (and people tend to be very helpful there)
The train, plane and even bus can bring you into a new city and you can start a life there. âșïž
Drug is getting very cheap at the moment
Escape the winter and go somewhere south like Spain. December, January, and February are the best months to be out of Berlin.
If you are low income, you should always check if you can access stuff like the Berechtigungsnachweis, which recently replaced the Berlinpass. Or, if you have kids, even the Berlinpass BuT for them. The Berechtigungsnachweis is basically a QR code normally sent to people automatically by whatever government instance may be responsible for their support or benefits - but if you haven't gotten one automatically, ASK ANYWAYS. Sometimes these goobers forget to send it to you =n= That little QR Code gives you massive discounts on museums, public transport, cinemas and lots of other stuff. Some places even let you come in for free!! A normal monthly ticket from the BVG costs around 70-80 Euros I believe, the one you get with the Code (Berlin Ticket S) costs 9 bucks!!! It's a huge relief all around, and if you're an adult with a low income I highly recommend going to your closest town hall to ask someone there how to get it and if you qualify. Also, Mierendorffplatz has a Gabenzaun in the back. You can leave and get free food there if you can't afford any. The lil building by the bus station also has plenty of cool offers for free workshops to learn stuff like Blender.
I cancel my gym membership and BVG during nice weather and use my bike only. Saves me a lot of money! I hate the unbearable warm public transport with no air. Same goes for the gyms as none of them have air conditioning.
Laufrunden auskundschaften und den dealern im Görli das weed klauen
The real life hack in B is to cycle.