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HTG-Digital-Winter-2020-2021.Pdf 4˚ 8˚ 12˚ Hassleholm 16˚ 56˚ Arhus Karlskrona 56˚ Helsingborg Kristianstad Kalundborg Copenhagen Vejle Lund Germany Malmo Kolding DENMARK Roskilde Ystad International Boundary Esbjerg Slagelse Koge Bornholm State (Land) Boundary Odense Korsor Naestved Trelleborg (DENMARK) National Capital Ronne State (Land) Capital Sonderborg Rivers Baltic Sea Flensburg Rugen 50 100 Kilometers Rodbyhavn Gedser 0 SCHLESWIG- Sassnitz Kiel Bay Puttgarden HOLSTEIN 0 50 100 Miles 4˚ Mecklenburger Pomeranian Kiel Bucht Stralsund Bay Kiel Canal Rostock Lübeck Swinoujscie North Sea HAMBURG MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN Bremerhaven Wilmhelmshaven Hamburg Schwerin Emden Szczecin BREMEN Elbe Groningen Havel Oldenburg Bremen Wittenberge POLAND Oder Gorzow BRANDENBURG NETHERLANDS Wielkopolski GERMANY Warta Ems NIEDERSACHSEN Berlin ellan Amsterdam itt dk Potsdam M an Hannover a Frankfurt Osnabrück l BERLIN 62˚ Utrecht Enschede Wes Braunschweig 52˚ Arnhem er Magdeburg Rotterdam Bielefeld Spree Zielona Münster Oder Maas Rhine SACHSEN Gora ANHALT Dessau Cottbus Eindhoven Göttingen Elbe Neisse Duisburg Dortmund Halle Antwerpen Essen Leipzig Düsseldorf SACHSEN Gorlitz Kassel NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN Dresden Jelenia Gora Brussels Cologne Eisenach Erfurt Maastricht Bad Siegen Jena Hersfeld Decin Aachen Werra THURINGEN Gera Chemnitz Bonn Fulda Zwickau Liege Usti nad Labem 16˚ Meuse HESSEN Charleroi BELGIUM Hradec Kralove Koblenz Frankfurt Hof Am Main Prague Wiesbaden Main Cheb Mainz Bamberg CZECH LUX. Moselle RHEINLAND- Würzburg Luxembourg Trier Rhein-Main- REPUBLIC PFALZ Donau-Kanal Plzen Mannheim Meuse SAARLAND Vitava Nürnberg Saarbrücken Heidelberg Metz Ceske Rhine Karlsruhe Heilbronn Regensberg Budejovice Nancy Stuttgart Danube BAYERN Passau Strasbourg Isar FRANCE Neckar Ulm Linz Canal de Rhone BADEN- Danube au Rhin WURTTEMBERG Augsburg Inn 48˚ München 48˚ AUSTRIA Freiburg Mulhouse Salzburg Konstanz Lech Garmisch- Bodensee Partenkirchen Saone Dijon Doubs Basel Liezen Zurich Salzach Besancon Aare SWITZERLAND8˚ Innsbruck12˚ HOW TO GERMANY DIGITAL 2 FALL/WINTER 2020/21 he editors and publisher of How To Germany www.howtogermany.com and Digital Edition the How To Germany digital T Volume IX• Issue 2 magazine have made every reasonable Fall/Winter 2020/21 effort to be factually accurate. No responsibility is assumed for editorial or clerical errors. Every attempt has been made to ensure the information contained herein is valid at the time of publication. How To Germany reserves the right to make changes, corrections and/or improvements at any time and without notice. In addition, How To Germany disclaims any and all liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, Publisher omissions or discrepancies. Chuck Emerson The information in the magazine and Contributing Writers on the website is provided as a service Cathy Matz-Townsend to the public and is intended merely to Advertising Sales give a general overview of living and Thomas A. Lipton working in Germany. Advertising Design/Production How To Germany does not offer Ryan Schossow legal advice through its website or the Cover Photo: The village of Berchtesgaden near magazine. The information provided the Austrian border at sunrise. The mountain in the on both the website and in the maga- background is the Watzmann, one of Germany’s zine is solely for individual education highest mountains. © istockphoto.com/mthaler and understanding of legal and other issues. Do not act or rely upon any of This digital publication is for all English- speaking people who want to know more the resources and information avail- about how to live and work in Germany. able on or from the website or maga- zine without seeking professional legal A special thanks to all the advertisers. advice relating to your own particular Their support and participation make it possible for this magazine to be made situation. available to you free of charge. This interactive, digital publication For information on editorial, distribution and website contain a number of links and advertising, contact: to other websites. In providing these Chuck Emerson Media Services, links, How To Germany does not in any Auf der Schorr 10 way endorse the contents of these other 54331 Pellingen, Germany websites. How To Germany has not Tel: +49 (0) 65 88-99 25 65 developed or reviewed the contents E-mail: [email protected] of those websites and does not accept Website: www.howtogermany.com any responsibility or liability for the All rights reserved. No part of this magazine contents of these other websites. may be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. HOW TO GERMANY DIGITAL 3 FALL/WINTER 2020/21 A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER Leaving home and moving to a foreign country is always a challenge. Whatever the reasons for your reloca- tion – work, school, accompanying a partner or looking for adventure or a better opportunity – when you arrive at your destination you will be face to face with many important tasks and decisions that will require your full attention. It is almost inevitable that you will have to enlist some sort of help to integrate and assimilate into your new life abroad. Fortunately, there are now many places to find that assis- tance. How To Germany has been a source of information for over 21 years. We operate a website and now we are in the eighth year of digital publications. We continue to provide authoritative, comprehensive and up to date information on just about every aspect of living, working and studying in Germany. We do this using all the available media platforms. If you need information about getting residence and work permits before leaving your home country, information about what to do in the first days and weeks after arrival in country or information that will make your continuing time in Germany pleasant and productive, How To Germany can help. The publisher and writers are all long time expatriates. The experts we call on for editorial assistance and expertise are providers that specialize in products and services for the expat community. As a pioneer in the expat publishing market we take pride in the fact that we been able to help countless people as they adjust to life in Germany. We have fielded thou- sands of questions about every topic imaginable. And we have answered every inquiry. If we don’t know the specific answer to any of the questions we get, we can most certainly provide the information on where to get the answer. We hope you enjoy this digital edition and find it useful. Don’t forget to sign up for our newslettter to get the continuing updates. And, if you have any questions about life in Germany, by all means ask us. Chuck Emerson Publisher – How To Germany HOW TO GERMANY DIGITAL 4 FALL/WINTER 2020/21 TABLE OF CONTENTS Map of Germany . 2 Masthead/Disclaimer . 3 Message from the Publisher . 4 Germany: Basic Facts . 6 Residence Permits, Work Permission . 7 The EU Blue Card in Germany . 10 Housing: What You Need to Know . 12 Rental Furniture in Germany . 15 Furnished Apartments for Temporary Rental in Munich . 18 The Workplace . 20 Finding Work in Germany . 21 Social Security and Employee Benefits . 22 The German School System . 24 International Schools in Germany . 27 Higher Education . 39 Language Schools . 41 Children’s Allowance - Kindergeld . 42 Telephone/Internet Services . 44 Banks & Banking . 48 Health Care in Germany . 49 Health Insurance in Germany . 55 German Legal System . 62 Taxes in Germany . 66 Retirement/Pension Plans-Basic Facts . 71 Buying a House in Germany . 72 Driving in Germany . 78 Road Signs . 82 The German Post Office . 85 Television & Radio . 87 Pets in Germany . 90 Shopping in Germany . 94 German Holidays - 2020 . 96 Traveling by Train . 97 Rothenburg ob der Tauber . 99 Index of Advertisers, Website Articles . 104 HOW TO GERMANY DIGITAL 5 FALL/WINTER 2020/21 GERmaNY: BASIC FACTS Population: 80,4159,622 (July 2020 est.) Size: 357,022 sq km (slightly smaller than Montana) Bordering countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland Coastline: 2,389 km • Forests and woodland cover 31% of the country Climate: temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm, mountain (foehn) wind Lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster (-3.54m) • Highest point: Zugspitze (2,963 m) Life expectancy at birth: 78.7 for males, 83.6 for females (2020 estimate) Religions: Protestant 25.5%, Roman Catholic 27.7%, Muslim 5.1%, unaffiliated or other 41.7% (2018 est.) Government type: federal republic • National capital: Berlin • Voting Age: 18 States: Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thüringen Political parties: Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), Free Democratic Party (FDP), Social Democratic Party (SPD), Alliance 90/Greens, Left Party (Die Linke) Currency: 1 euro (€) = 100 cents Internet country code: .de • Internet users: 73.365 million (2016 est.) • Broadband subscribers: 33.217 million (2017 est.) Telephones: Land lines - 44.4 million, Mobile phone subscribers- 106 million (2017 est.) Railways: 43,468 km of track Highways and roads: 644,480 km (12,800 km Autobahn) Waterways: 7,467 km • Airports (large and small, paved and unpaved): 539 Source: CIA Fact Book Number of residents in Germany from English-speaking nations as of 31 December 2018, not including members of the military: Canada
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