Finding Accommodation in Marburg
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Finding Accommodation in Marburg for international students INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOREWORD We hope that the information in this bro- Legal information chure will help you in your search for a Editorial staff: Carmen Fels, Nicole Gal- place to live in Marburg. Please feel free landt-Lautier, Julian Klauke to contact us any time if any information is unclear or if you have questions. We Last updated: July 2015 will be glad to assist you. Available through the International Office Links of the Philipps-Universität Marburg, In- You can click on words marked with to comings: International Student and Scho- be taken to the corresponding web page. lar Services (ISSS) International Office and Family Disclaimer 2 Services No information in this brochure is bin- Incomings: International Student and ding. The publishers assume no responsi- Scholar Services (ISSS) bility for actions based on information provided in this brochure. It is the re- Deutschhausstr. 11+13 sponsibility of the reader to verify the ac- 35037 Marburg curacy of information provided herein. tel.: +49 6421/28 24 929 e-mail: [email protected] Foreword CONTENTS General Information 4 Time and duration of your search 5 Personal ideas about accommodation 5 Marburg – geographically speaking 6 Costs 6 Living Arrangements 7 Dormitories 8 3 Student housing office dormitories 8 Service package provided by the student housing office 8 Private dormitories 10 Private housing market 11 Living in exchange for some help 11 Online apartment listing 12 Short term renting 16 Practical Tips 1 8 Life in shared apartments 19 Furniture and furnishings 21 Abbreviations in Ads 22 Contents GENERAL INFORMATION GENERAL INFORMATION Time and duration of your Personal ideas about ac- search commodation Marburg is a city with a high percentage There are very many students seeking a of students in its population. This gives place to live at the start of the semester in Marburg a very special atmosphere, so- Marburg. Of course, most of them want mething cherished by many. But it also low rent, a big room, and an apartment means that many students – especially at close to the university or in the middle of the beginning of a semester – are simul- town. You, too, probably have an idea of taneously in search of a room. Many how your new home should look. For rooms and apartments are likewise vaca- particularly attractive rooms and apart- ted at the end of each semester because ments (for example, large, inexpensive numerous students graduate, continue rooms in the center of town) there are li- 5 their studies in another city, or move kewise lots of people interested. While away to complete an internship. So the you should not accept an offer that does best time to search for a place to live in not appeal at all to you, you should go in- Marburg is at the end of a semester. As to the search knowing that no room will the new semester approaches, the search fulfill all your wishes – so be prepared to becomes increasingly difficult. It is thus make compromises. important to start early and allow your- self time for the search because it can ea- In the event that you don’t like your ac- sily last weeks until you find what you are commodation and you would like to mo- looking for. ve, we recommend waiting a few weeks until later in the semester. While there are For many options (for example, in a dor- fewer options during the semester, there mitory) you have to apply very early. In- are also fewer students searching for an formation on various application deadli- apartment during the semester – so your nes can be found in the respective chances are often very good. chapters of this brochure. General Information Marburg — geographically categories: a so-called cold rent and a warm speaking rent. Cold rent entails only the bare rental price of a “cold” apartment, i.e. rent wi- Marburg is a relatively small city with ma- thout the cost of utilities. Warm rent is ny different districts, with a total populati- the cold rent plus utilities (expenses for on of around 75,000. As a student you water, electricity, heating, garbage disposal, automatically receive a Semesterticket, etc.). Utilities in private apartments are with which you can use the entire bus and normally estimated. In the event that you train network throughout the state of use less than the estimated amount, you Hesse. This ticket is also valid for the bu- will be reimbursed the difference at the ses in Marburg, which run very frequently. end of the subsequent year. Should you It is thus not necessary to live close to the use more than the estimated amount, you university or in the center of the city be- will have to pay the remaining difference. cause you can travel from almost any part This is referred to as a back payment (Nach- of town to another in less than 30 minu- zahlung in German). In addition to cold tes. and warm rent there are often additional fees for telephone, internet, and television The University of Marburg is not a cam- expenses. pus university. That means that the insti- tutes and lecture halls are spread throug- When you enter a rental agreement you 6 hout Marburg, so your classes will not will normally have to pay a deposit in the necessarily take place in the city center. amount of one to three months of cold For some majors (e.g. chemistry and me- rent. The deposit will be returned to you dicine) it can therefore even be advanta- when you move out, provided that the geous to not live in the center. apartment is left in good condition and you always paid your rent. The security deposit exists to protect the landlord. Costs Monthly rent in Germany falls under two fraud warning You may possibly encounter fraudulent advertisements during your search for living quarters. We therefore strongly discourage you from sending a po- tential landlord any person information (for example, a copy of your pass- port) before having seen an apartment. You should also not transfer any mo- ney before a rental agreement has been finalized. General Information LIVING ARRANGEMENTS DORMITORIES Student housing office rental agreement and information about dormitories the room. If you agree to the terms of the contract, return the signed contract to the The student housing office of the Uni- housing office. versity (Studentenwerk) offers living space in dormitories at affordable prices (around If you do not get a room for the date you 200-250 € per room per month). Types of were hoping to move in, you will automa- living space available range from single tically be placed on a waiting list. You’ll rooms to a room in a shared suite or lar- remain on the list for three months star- ger apartments. Most rooms are in shared ting with the original date you were ho- living space arrangements where the kit- ping to move in. Should you still not have chen, bathroom and other common areas received an offer by the end of this three- are shared among the students. The hou- month period and you are still interested 8 sing office also offers special apartments in living in a dormitory, then you should for families and persons with disabilities. contact the housing office in advance All rooms are furnished. and let them know that you are still inte- rested and that you would like to remain The option of living in a dormitory is wi- on the waiting list. dely known and popular among students, so there are very many students who apply for a room through the housing office. Service package provided For this reason it is very important that by the student housing of- you apply as soon as possible. It can ne- fice vertheless happen that the housing office is not able to offer you a room for the The housing office has developed a speci- first one or two semesters. al service package for international students . You pay the full amount one time and re- When the housing office has a room be- ceive in return the following services: come available for you, they will contact you two to three weeks prior to the date when you could move in and send you a Dormitories Private Housing Market Short Term Renting Warm rent monthly rent is relatively inexpensive. As After transferring full payment, you have an example, the monthly rent for the win- a guaranteed dormitory room for six ter semester 2015-16 came out to: months. For this time period your rent is already paid. After the six months period has passed you may be able to keep the room if you indicate this wish in advance. Crediting your U-Card The U-Card is a money card with which So the service package is a good choice you can pay for things at various locati- for all students who would like to live in a ons in Marburg. You can use it to eat in dormitory and can pay the full amount the cafeteria, to pay at the coffee machi- due at once. Application deadlines are 31 ne, or for printing or copying documents July for the winter semester and 31 Janua- in the library or other university buil- ry for the summer semester. dings. The U-Card also functions as your library ID for checking out books. The service package includes a U-Card with a 250€ balance. Semester fee 9 All students are required to pay this fee at the beginning of the semester.