I've lived in Germany for 7 years and have an Irish driver's licence. I don't own a car but I do occasionally rent one when needed.

My partner just passed his driving test here and called me out for not obeying "rechts vor links". The rule is as follows: Unless stated otherwise by a traffic light or sign, you have to yield to the vehicle coming from the street to your right at a crossing if the streets are of equal priority - yes really - even if you're driving straight through such a junction, and the car approaching from the right intends to turn onto the road you're driving on, you are obliged to give them priority.

It sounded so strange and counter intuitive to me and I refused to believe it was real, but it is. It's also a rule in many other countries.

It's obviously convenient that all EU citizens can drive in other EU countries without re-doing their driving test, but it's also somewhat of a hazard having people on the road who not only have never driven a left/right hand drive car, but who are also completely unaware of rules like this.

I ask for help from people who could refer to the relevant law/laws and suggest what I could do in this situation.

I have been renting a house for a year. From the very beginning I noticed this video camera at my neighbor's (the picture is taken from the entrance to my house), I asked him, he replied not to worry because it is fake.

Because I have certain reasons to be suspicious, the other day I asked him to prove to me that it is fake. He replied very aggressively that he does not have to prove anything to me, because I am "just a tenant" and that I have to take his word for it.

I called my landlord, he spoke to them, they invited him into the house to show him that the part of the yard that belongs to me is not visible in the picture.

However, on the one hand, it doesn't seem right to me that every time I leave the house I'll see a camera that's possibly following me, on the other hand, I have reason to believe that they can manipulate the image (their son is studying or working in IT).

So, I would be very grateful if you could suggest what I could do, or what you would do in my place.

P.S. The waste bins in the picture are also theirs, but that's another story, and there are others, but now I'd like to decide what I can do with the camera.

Hi everyone I badly need advice on what to do next. After my trial day in this job position they told me they like me and if I accept the offer they will start making the contract. After 3 days I told them that I want to work with them but they didn’t reply so after 3 days I called them to confirm my decision and they said it’s very good that I accepted the offer but they are busy so they will call me back later that day but I did not get one. I did not expect any call back during the weekend but now it’s already monday I still didn’t get any response. Please help me, what should I do?

I've been living in Germany for four years now. I'm from Sweden, and I really love it here. The people are kind and open. I want to emphasize that I'm planning to stay in Germany for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, in the small town I live in, I haven't met many other Swedes (just one or two tourists per year as I work in the tourism industry).

Has anyone else been in the same situation? Any tips? I've tried searching for Facebook groups, but I got banned because I only created the account to join the group, and Facebook flagged it as suspicious.

Anyone has experience with this kind of heating keypad? I'm having difficulties setting it up to the lowest temperature possible ( even thought in the screen it says "Spare" the heaters are heating a lot.

I’m on the train from Paris to Berlin and I’m noticing little areas beside the tracks with little shacks and gardens. Are these little cabins?

Found it on a river bank on the Rhine

Hi all!

Just now I had two guys claiming to be from vodafone appear at my door. I use vodafone cable internet at home. They said my internet socket was old and needed updating, showing me pictures. they were wearing vodafone shirts, had id cards on lanyards and their tablets with what appears to be a vodafone customer system. They asked to check the socket, I was stupid enough to let them in. They asked for my contract to get customer number, they checked the customer number on their tablet, but couldnt find me on there. They asked me if internet was good and had any distruptions. After that frusturated, they said nothing can be done and left. Is this a sale thing, a fraud or scam or even worse a burglary bait thing? did anyone experience something similar? Please let me know.

Basically the title. I know that generally expectant mothers are protected in Germany but I am terrified about letting my manager know that I am pregnant. This is primarily because this is a new job and I have only been employed for about 3 months. I obviously was not pregnant when I signed the contract (the job started 2 months after I signed the contract) otherwise I would have disclosed it. When is started the job, I was only a few weeks pregnant and I had not even told my family so I did not disclose it then either. This was followed by the worst 2 months of my life where there was a question of even being able to continue with the pregnancy so the disclosure was postponed. As of today, things are better and I am progressing with my pregnancy, just started month 6 and my performance at my new job has been good, no hiccups but I'm terrified of disclosing the pregnancy because I fear they will find a way to terminate my contract anyway since I am still in my probation period. I have not made any major mistakes other than being late for a few days and being out of the office for a few hours due to medical appointments. This is a small company so I'm unsure what they're going to do. My pregnancy isn't exactly coming at the right time for them.

I will say that I'm not a critically important worked and what I do can be done by any other specialist in this field as well. It's not rocket science and although I'm pretty good at what I do, I am DEFINITLEY for sure replaceable.

Would you disclose to HR first or to the manager?

F21 from Russia... I don't know if I have a chance, but maybe someone knows some ways to find any job or Ausbildung to get that damn visa to just escape from this hell. I have a mechanical technologist Fachausbildung, skills with manual machines, CNC, technical drawings, and a little work experience (5 months), But I have probably already sent 20 resumes on my profession field and no one has responded, and my resumes for Ausbildung are simply rejected. Maybe there are jobs where people are really needed and they are ready to give job offers to foreigners (just not Pflege, etc.) Please, at least some advice, I also habe B2 Goethe Zertifikate with nice technical vocabulary... Sorry I'm just already in despair :(

Looking at school bags for kids first school start and I'm from the UK, most kids school bags are pretty good, basic but zip up. Hold everything, cost around £40 max and thats splashing out.

School has told me and the Mrs we need a Shulranzen and honestly, some of these are starting in excess of 100 odd euros! Why so expensive?! The same minecraft bag we want in zip form is £17 from smyths in the UK lol.

But, Mrs says we get told off if we buy any old bag and we dont want to ostracize the kid first day.

What the hell is up with these bags and the cost?

Good morning first of all! We just had a baby, and my wife gave birth certificate to her employer because of motherly leave and mutterschaftsgeld. But I won't be taking fatherly leave. Do I still need to give my employer birth certificate of our baby ? Thanks !

Hello everyone, I surprisingly got accepted to the university here in Germany, and therefore moving here.

I have braces installed, and have 1.5 years to go, but unfortunately it turns out to be pretty expensive to go back to my country every time to get them tightened.

Could anyone please tell me how realistic it is to find a doctor who would take over the job? Thank you!

I am in the process of converting my driving License , here in Germany. My foreign (Non-EU Third country) driver's license has classes B, C and C1. It's relatively cheaper to convert within the first 6 months of entering Germany. Which is the most cost efficient way of converting - B first then later classes or all of them at once? I don't foresee a situation where I will need to drive a truck within the next year. I have already started learning theory via the apps, as I await Tüv Letter. I got a letter requesting for medical for C and C1 classes, which is why I am asking this question. What are my options?

Hi everyone, I have been living in Germany about 10 months. This month I change my job and get my working permit for my new job from the auslanderbhörde where my exjob was, After I moved the new city I applied the local office for a residence permit or a visa extension, since I hav only 1.5 months left on my visa.They gave me an appointment and wrote me I can not get residence permit until I have 3 months of payslip in my new job, which I need 3 months more for that. Now what is going to happen are they going to provide me a temporary visa/permit ? Anyone faced with this situation ?

Where can I find replacement of this device. It is quite old and not working. It is used to control the heating system(activation based on time and temperature).

Hello Germans! I’m an American who has been running equipment made by Hinterkopf which I believe is located in “Eislingen” and I need to travel there for about a week to do some long over due training.

I’m curious when would be the best time to go, and where should I stay that’s within a 30 minute drive to Eislingen. I’m looking to do lots of sight seeing outside of my work hours. I’m very big into history as well as nature.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Hello to everyone, I am living in Miunich and My wife is 8 months pregnant and unfortunately two days ago she broke her ankle. This situation results quite unfortunate also because we are living on the second floor without elevator... My wife will need regularly to go doctors but this means going down and up from two floors which is impossible to her now. Do you know if there is any equipment which we can buy to go up and down? Or maybe there is any kind of service like hospital etc which can take of you when you need to go to make medical appointment. Thanks a lot in advance for the answers.

Hello,

I've been working remotely since covid, starting with automation development. It was not easy to find jobs because most companies used old systems and weren't ready for change. There were talks of switching to RPA tools, and we even ran some trials.

Later, I went into low-code/no-code development, using things like Make (Integromat) and Zapier. It was a change from my previous coding, but I came around quickly and used code whenever needed.

Most of my jobs were with startup agencies. After a few months, I heard things like "We're changing our business model," or "There's no more work available," or the startup just... failed. It became a sad pattern.

It's not nice to work somewhere always having this in the back of your head that you might not have this job in 3 - 6 months. The only upside was a high salary that they offered.

I always found it easier to get hired from companies in Germany, probably because I speak and write both German and English fluently. But getting hired still had problems. Companies mention issues with Germany’s employment laws and EU frameworks for remote hires - especially outside of Europe.

I’ve been thinking of upskilling and going into RPA (Robotic Process Automation), hoping for more long term jobs with established companies. I’m not sure if this is even a solid niche in Germany...

Do German companies actively hire RPA developers? Is it a field with future potential and job security in Germany?

Hi everyone, I'm planning to propose to my girlfriend soon and I'm looking for a great photographer to capture the moment. If you've worked with someone you’d recommend, I’d love to hear your suggestions. Thanks in advance!

My partner and I will be visiting Trier next week and while we’re away it will be his birthday. I’m looking for any suggestions of any fun, quirky things we can maybe do while we are there?

My dad has lived in Trier for 12 years now, my partner visited with me a while ago and we did all the touristy first visit things for him then.

Looking for some out there suggestions, unusual, fun activities, please help!

Hi everyone Have been living in Stadt Landshut and struggling to find a gynac as I think I am pregnant. I called about 6 doctors all of them said can't take new patients now. What are my options? Should I look outside in different cities nearby?

Hi All,

My parents are going to visit Germany next month.

They are above 65 and also have health conditions related to diabetes and past history of heart attack.

So, I am looking for good health insurance from Germany, which is really good (preparing for the worst case scenario)

Thank you in advance.

I just moved to a new place at the start of April and I realised my old address was on my invoices last week. I'm going to do the Anmeldung tomorrow so I'm not "officially" registered yet.

Shall I void the invoices and send them with the new address or would it be ok? It takes a while to get a new Tax-ID (and already been told that the old one is okay until you get the new one after registering) Thanks!

Hello, just like the title says, today I received the following email from DB :

on your journey from München Hbf to Köln Hbf on 21 April 2025 there is a timetable change: • Your train departs from München Hbf earlier. New departure time is 01:48 am. Please note the changed time schedules. Because of the scheduling change, your original ticket is now valid on any route to your original destination with any of DB's long-distance (ICE, IC, EC) or regional (RE, RB, IRE, S-Bahn) trains. You can choose a later connection, and you can also travel earlier in the day on your original travel date. NOTE: For travel within Germany, all you will need to show is your original ticket; you will not need to show any additional proof of the scheduling change.

My questions are : 1. Can I take any train that goes from Munich to cologne on that day? Or do I need to select one train from the alternative options showing in the DB navigator app when I am opening my booking? 2. I have reserved my seat on this train. If I take some other train on that day - will my seat reservation be refunded?

Thanks! 😊