Hello, I recently moved to Germany specifically Köln. I have been having problems with insects and bugs getting into my room. The windows are all netted and sealed. There’s bug traps near the front door.
However bugs still somehow get into my room. How can I prevent them from getting in and how can I properly remove the ones already in my room.

When I lived in Germany years ago, one of my favorite food items was this Pineapple Curry Sauce from Knorr and Kühne. Unfortunately, it is hard to come by where I live in the USA. Has anyone attempted to make a copycat recipe for these sauces? If so, would you be willing to share?

Vielen herzlichen Dank!

Hi everyone, I need some clarity on my specific situation regarding medical licensing in Germany.

My Background:

• Non-EU citizen (Indian).
• Graduating with a 6-year MD from a medical university in Belarus in January 2027.
• In Belarus, the 6-year degree is academic; a 1-year local internship (Internatura) is mandatory to practice there.

My Plan:

Due to financial constraints, I cannot afford to stay in Belarus for the 1-year internship. My plan is:
1. Graduate in Jan 2027 and return to India.
2. Clear the Indian licensing exam (FMGE) and complete the mandatory 12-month Indian internship.
3. Obtain permanent Indian medical registration.
4. Learn German (B2 general, C1 medical).
5. Apply to Germany (e.g., Baden-Württemberg) for the Anerkennung process and take the Kenntnisprüfung (Knowledge Exam) directly to get the Approbation.

My Questions:

1. The "Incomplete" Degree Issue: I know Austria will likely reject my Belarusian degree because it lacks the Belarusian internship. Will Germany do the same, or will the German authorities accept my Belarusian academics + Indian internship as a combined qualification and allow me to take the Kenntnisprüfung?
   
2. The Berufserlaubnis: While I am in India (or after I arrive in Germany) preparing for the Kenntnisprüfung, can I apply for a Berufserlaubnis (temporary license) to work under supervision? Or do they refuse the temporary license because the primary degree is technically incomplete?
   
3. Visa & Job Search: To get a visa for the Kenntnisprüfung, do I need a job offer first, or can I apply for a job-seeking visa (Chancenkarte) for this specific purpose?
   Has anyone here navigated a "fragmented" degree (academics in one country, internship in another) through the German system? I need to know if I'll be rejected at the first document check before I invest years into German language courses.
   

Thank you for any advice.

I’m going crazy trying to find any information about this guy, I found him at the Goodwill in the US and I think I’ve determined he’s a Steinbeck collaboration? But I cannot find a thing.

Hi guys,
I am asking today for any research associate for help.

I have an engineering degree from non EU country, it's listed as H+ on Anabin, it's a 5 yeard diploma, with a title of Dipl Ingenieur in my home country (Master equivalent).

I have PR and a job in Germany, and I wanna do a Phd, do I need ZAB or Anabin is fine?
also what other things I would need

thanks in advance

Hello everyone, I want to apply to chancekarte and try myself on german market, I have bachelors degree, I speak russian, english, french. Have B C E category drivers license, but don’t speak german yet. Do I have any chances and should I even try?

I have been laid off, and I'm supposed to apply for German citizenship tomorrow; all my documents are complete.

I don't plan to work as an employed person anymore – I have a plan to start my own business, and I'm pretty sure I will be able to generate some revenue to support myself.

I already have permanent residency.

I posted this query on some Facebook groups, and they warned me NOT to apply for German citizenship as a self-employed person, as it can take at least 3 extra years. They advised me to look for a job so that I could get a German passport as an employed person.

What are your experiences?

Hello People,

I have a question about a Radiotax payment and I am unsure how to proceed.

In my previous residence, my flatmate was paying it and I was registered under their account. However we both vacated the apartment and it took me some time to find another apartment. Notwithstanding the amount I will have to pay for this remaining time as well, what is the procedure to get this Beitragsnummer for my new apartment so that I can continue paying? I had already completed the city registration and was waiting for them to send me a letter with the Aktenzeichen and then create a new account for myself. However its been almost a month and I still haven't received a letter.

Should I / Can I also backdate the time so that i pay for the remaining months even though I have only been registered from last month at my official address ?

https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/buergerinnen-und-buerger/formulare/anmelden#step_personendaten \- Do I fill out the data in this webpage and then wait ?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Spotted this extensive motorcade of black armored BMWs and Mercedes vans right outside Hotel Adlon at Pariser Platz in Berlin earlier today. The whole operation looked incredibly high-level and tightly coordinated. Traffic around Unter den Linden and the Brandenburg Gate was heavily restricted. Does anyone know which state visit or summit is currently taking place?

I’ve been working for over 3 years at my current job, and I keep getting the feedback that I don’t really seem fully integrated in the ‘team’, along with the question of 'how can they help me feel more comfortable?'. Truthfully, I just don’t like the vibes there at all, and I’m looking for a new job at the moment. My colleagues are all German and I’m the only foreigner. They’re pleasant enough but there’s no camaraderie really to speak of. The ones I share an office with never even go for lunch, just eat at their desks. They sort of barely say hi in the morning and sometimes chat if there’s a reason. I’m not sure but I sometimes get the feeling that they don’t want to ask me for help (with things I’m good at) due to ego. It’s not even like I want to be everyone’s friend, it just fees like a lie when my boss talks about ‘team spirit’ and wonders why I’m not incredibly outspoken (despite being usually decent at my job).

Anyway, I’m just looking for ways to give the impression that I’m trying to fit in here, for the time being. It would be nice if it also helps my main issue, but I’ve sort of given up on feeling like I have any future at this job. Like, I can’t exactly tell my supervisor to fix the vibe.

ETA: I should mention that while I do bear the responsibility of integrating more, part of the reason I feel that the culture is also a bit off is that I've had conversations with ex-colleagues and current ones (Germans) where we agree that the culture and the leadership in our working group just isn't super great. My supervisor puts a lot of pressure on people and the team has been getting smaller due to lack of funding.

Hey yall I live arround the frankfurt area and im looking to buy some good quality lamb chops. The few turkish markets I went to was selling lamb but to be honest those were more like old sheep or mutton.

I tried lidl but the quality again was pretty bad.

If anyone has experience buying quality lamb lemme know which places yall would recommend.

Hello everybody,

I’m planning to move to Homburg (Saar) for a job at the Saarland University Hospital next year and would like some insight into the cost of living there, especially rent for a single person, average monthly bills, transportation, and general day-to-day expenses.

Any tips for someone moving from abroad would be very welcome.

Thank you so much in advance!

So after being with EWR for nearly 1.5 years I decided to change to something cheaper and more foreigner friendly and Ostrom was heavily recommended to me. However when I signed up I picked the option "cancel my previous contract for me" and for some reason they set my starting date as July 2027. My contract with EWR is monthly cancel-able so I was pretty confused and I have been having issues with contacting customer support that wasn't an AI bot and even with just logging in to see my details for some reason. I then decided to read about Ostrom on reddit and realized that this seems to be a common issue and that opinions on Ostrom is actually pretty mixed here and those posts are usually from 3-4 years ago and I don't fully trust Trustpilot.com .

So can anyone share their real experience with Ostrom as an electricity provider? What issues you've had and if it really lives up to the hype online as an affordable and good customer support option or is it all just paid ads at this point? Because at this point I might as well go with Tibber or something else.

I want to create a Commerzbank Startkonto account but am stuck on this page. Right now, I am going to a Sprachschule to get C1 in German then will go to college in winter semester 2028/2029. I have no plans on attending an Ausbildung. What should I put here. Also all the tutorials I tried to find are either for the standard bank account or dont have this section at all.

Hey everyone,

I'm an international Master’s student living alone in NRW and honestly pretty shaken up right now. I don’t know many people here, and I'm really unfamiliar with how these things work in Germany, so I could really use some grounded perspective and advice.

Yesterday (Sunday), I ordered lunch on Lieferando from a local place - biryani and a sausage. When I opened it, the "biryani" didn't look or taste anything like biryani. I ate two or three bites, realized it was wrong, and threw the rest in the bin. I opened Lieferando's support chat, selected that the order was different, uploaded a picture of the food as requested, and the app automatically agreed to refund of 17.80 euros. 

Ten minutes later, the restaurant owner called my personal phone number from the delivery receipt. He was screaming at me, threatening to call the police, and furiously demanding that I "give the food back". I told him I tasted it and already threw it away. He kept yelling, so I hung up. About five minutes later, someone was violently buzzing my apartment intercom and knocking. I stayed inside and kept the door locked. I blocked his number, reported the harassment to Lieferando, and left a factual 1-star review on the app explaining the late delivery and hostile phone call. 

I hoped that was the end of it, but today (Monday afternoon), he came back. 

He was ringing my doorbell non-stop and started heavily pounding on my apartment door and windows. I was terrified, kept everything deadbolted, and managed to record a 30-second video from inside showing the loud banging and ringing. He eventually left. 

I'm sitting here with the blinds closed, completely stressed, and I have a few questions:

1. Is taking a few bites to inspect food, throwing out an inedible meal, and getting a platform refund considered fraud or a violation under German law? 
2. I was hesitant to call 110 today because I'm an international student on a residence permit and I'm terrified of getting entangled in police cases or having something affect my visa. If he shows up again tomorrow, is 110 the right move? Will the police actually take this seriously, and is there any risk this backfires on me?
3. Isn't using customer delivery info to call me privately and show up at my home to harass me a massive GDPR (DSGVO) breach and criminal intimidation? 
4. Next steps: I already sent an email to Lieferando and reached out to my university's student union (AStA) for their free legal advice, but is there anything else I should be doing right now to protect myself? 

Any advice from people who know German law or tenant rights would mean a lot right now.

Thanks guys.

Hi everyone

I am currently experiencing significant distress regarding my five-year-old daughter's(born here) residence status. Despite both my spouse and me holding permanent residency and having a stable history in Germany, a delay in renewing my daughter's residence permit—caused by an honest misunderstanding and a delay in receiving her passport—has resulted in her being issued a Duldung 60a. This situation has become particularly complicated because I am currently in the process of applying for citizenship. Having waited two years for my application to progress, the case worker is now requesting her current residence permit, and I am uncertain how to navigate this without jeopardizing my application.

I have been advised by a migration service(migration deinst) to inform the official only that I am waiting for an update from the ausländerbehörde but I remain deeply concerned about the outcome. I would appreciate any advice or insight from anyone who has navigated a similar situation.

Some details for context

Me and my spause have neiderlassung.

I did my Masters here and working at a good job for last 6 years. Never received any help or aid from government. No criminal records.

Here is the text from the letter given by ausländerbehörde for info.

"""Ihr bisheriger Aufenthaltstitel war bis zum juni 2026 gültig. Sie beantragten erstmals nachweislich am august 2026 die Erteilung/Verlängerung Ihres Aufenthaltstitels. Ihre Antragsstellung erfolgte damit 80 Tage zu spät. Mangels fristgerechter Antragstellung sind Sie gemäß § 50 Abs. 1 AufenthG in Verbindung mit § 58 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 AufenthG vollziehbar ausreisepflichtig. Das bedeutet, dass Ihr derzeitiger Aufenthalt in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland unrechtmäßig ist. Vom Erlass einer Ausreiseaufforderung inklusive Abschiebungsandrohung wird vorerst aufgrund lhrer bestehenden familiären Bindungen im Bundesgebiet abgesehen.

Unter Berücksichtigung Ihrer familiären Verwurzelung im Bundesgebiet wird derzeitig das Absehen vom Visumverfahren gemäß § 5 Abs. 2 Satz 2 AufenthG bzw. die Ausstellung einer Duldung gemäß § 60a Abs. 2 Satz 1 AufenthG geprüft. Unabhängig vom Ausgang jener Prüfungen werden Sie hiermit darüber belehrt, dass Sie gesetzlich zur fristgerechten Antragstellung verpflichtet sind. Die Antragstellung muss für die Ausländerbehörde stets nachvollziehbar sein."""

I could not find any such case online and how it ended. Maybe someone who have dealt similar situation in the past can help. Would really appreciate any support.

Best Regards

I don’t know if that the right community.
I know there is a lot of scamming at Kleinanzeigen but can anybody tell me if this is a good deal?
I remember playing NES and all those games like super Mario bros and so on.
There has to be a cracked version on it but is this a dealbreaker?
Thank you!

EDIT: It’s solved, thank you!

Hi everyone,

I'm living in Germany and would appreciate some advice.

On October 15, I ordered an iPhone Air 256GB with a 24-month Otelo mobile contract through CHECK24. The seller was Sparhandy.

Today (October 19), a DHL courier delivered the package directly to my apartment door.

The parcel felt unusually light. When I opened it, I found only the SIM card and some paperwork. The iPhone was completely missing.

What makes this particularly concerning:

Sparhandy's shipping confirmation explicitly lists both the iPhone and SIM card under the same DHL tracking number.

The invoice includes the iPhone and its IMEI.

The DHL shipping label states a weight of 0.41 kg.

I have photos of the packaging and everything inside.

The mobile contract is already active.

I've already contacted Sparhandy by email and phone. Their customer service told me to wait for a response, but I haven't received confirmation of an investigation yet.

I've also contacted CHECK24 by email.

My questions:

Has anyone experienced something similar with Sparhandy or DHL? How was it resolved?

Should I submit a DHL Schadensanzeige myself, or should Sparhandy handle it?

What happens if Sparhandy claims the phone was packed and shipped correctly?

What evidence should I preserve to protect myself?

Since the mobile contract is already active, what are my rights if the phone isn't delivered?

I would prefer to receive the iPhone rather than cancel the contract.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

A small background, I tore a small ligament on my wrist a few years ago while working, I didn't think it would be important since I didn't notice it until quite recently where it started to flare up because of my new job. The doctor said the only way I could get this healed up was to quit working physical labour job and to take at least 3 months to heal after surgery.

The problem is, I just recently returned to Germany. I am not qualified for any ALG nor anything of that kind yet, I didn't pay enough into the Sozialversicherung according to Arbeitsamt.

I took a new job not long ago out of desperation, it was labour intensive work, that really hurt my wrist again. If I opt for the surgery, I would have much relief to my hand but my new workplace would let me go for sure, which again, means I won't be able to get any financial support whatsoever (I am still in Probezeit).

The pain is so unbearable on most days, I can't take painkillers without the risk of me being giddy and losing concentration, causing work-place accidents.

I'm looking for any sort of advice on what to do here.

My friend, who immigrated from her home country to Germany in June of this year is on FRV since that time. She got married almost a year ago. Due to some major issues, she plans to divorce her husband. What will the procedure of divorce and the Visa after divorce?

PS. Advice from a lawyer would be appreciated.

Hey all,

I’ve been living in Berlin for the past 5 years (lived for 3 years in Munich before that) and I’ve been considering moving to southern Germany and look for a job in Switzerland and commute. Been thinking about potentially moving to Freiburg (and commute to Basel). Has anyone here done that or a similar move and would like to share their experience?!

At this point, I just want to have a bit more net at the end of the month, hence why Switzerland (would need to stay in Germany due to my partner’s health situation and Germany’s health insurance system). I still love Berlin, but I’m just getting tired of seeing the city getting dirty and more dangerous every day. The fact that the city will probably get a government that wants to defund the police doesn’t help with the idea of staying here either. I don’t wanna end up living in a Berlin that will resemble Paris and other French cities with civil-war type of environment. I’m not necessarily a party guy, but I do enjoy bars a lot, so the ‘nightlife Berlin’ doesn’t impact me a lot.

I’m just afraid that moving from a city with >3.9m people to a city with <250k is a massive change and I’ll end up regretting that decision.

Thanks in advance for your input.

The worst one that I know, would be John Oliver, who literally just shouts something and then makes a comment about the language sounding harsh and ugly.

link

second link

I am interested in a German actress. Christiane Krüger, and her wikipedia page says she was in Playboy. I dug around and she was in the issue of November 1972, the nr.11, page 71. anyone has scans of that one ? Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,
I applied for a German police certificate (Führungszeugnis) from Algeria, and I’m wondering if anyone is in the same situation.
Here is my timeline:
August 25, 2026: My application was delivered to the Bundesamt für Justiz in Bonn.
Payment: €13 paid, and I have proof of payment.
Current status: Still waiting for the certificate.
Follow-up: I’ve called several times over the past 10 days and sent more than six emails, but I haven’t received any response.
I need the certificate for my Canadian permanent residence application, and IRCC has given me until December 15, 2026, to submit it.
My questions:
Has anyone whose application was received by the Bundesamt für Justiz in August 2026 received their Führungszeugnis yet?
How long did it take from delivery of the application to receiving the certificate?
Has anyone managed to contact the Bundesamt für Justiz recently or received a response to their emails?
If you applied from outside Germany, how long did you wait?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your recent experiences, especially from people who applied in August.
Thank you!