Moving to Germany

I studied for a bit in Munster which is near by. Dortmond just seemed boring at the time 2006?

Blog of a german bikefriend:

http://cyclitis.wordpress.com

Feel free to contact him. Never met the man in person, but he has helped me tremendously with bike building tips. Nice chap.

Munich or no where. I used to live in Hamm (near Dortmund) and it was boring. Munster isn't too bad, but that's just my 2 cents (or pfennigs)

mmmm.. i lived in berlin and all they said that munich was boring..
they do have money though, something berlin hasnt.

a big bike tour, a change of scene in italy for a few months and a wonderful lady in my life and i feel like a new man!

sounds like a succesfull recipe for succesfull life change...

you could starting making money off of that!

mmmm.. i lived in berlin and all they said that munich was boring..
they do have money though, something berlin hasnt.

it's the old hate, based on different city lifestyles, money and prejudices, which are true for both cities.

i prefer munich as it's so close to a lot of nature, hills and good food

Possibly moving to Germany in the New Year for a few months: any experience/thoughts on Hamburg? Also possible I could be in Dusseldorf. Or Freiburg.

Beuys might have taught in Dusseldorf but his impact on local cultural life was always limited. If you love Maidenhead you'll like Dusseldorf but... Freiburg is a nice little provincial town--- just visited there this past November for a conference. Large student population with an even larger tourist influx from Switzerland--- bolstered by a strong SFr and excellent shopping infrastructure. Freiburg continues to be one of Europe's leading Universities. Hamburg? Its an interesting and quite unique town. Well worth a visit. Amongst the three I'd see it as between Hamburg and Freiburg. Its like London/Liverpool versus Canterbury or Nottingham-- Freiburg is not quite Oxford (more maybe like Lund in Sweden).

Beuys might have taught in Dusseldorf but his impact on local cultural life was always limited. If you love Maidenhead you'll like Dusseldorf but... Freiburg is a nice little provincial town--- just visited there this past November for a conference. .

Beautiful passive / aggressive reviewing of Dusseldorf.

Move to Germany may be happening in September...

Studying initially then hopefully internship soon after. Will be about an hour outside Leipzig so thinking of living in the city and commuting rather than be in a quiet student town but equally, might be better to get my head down and just work my ass off too.

Any advice for renting an apartment? Is it really hard to forrins without much German to do and do I need a bank account etc first? Can't be fucked with student housing or sharing as I'm an antisocial bastard at heart.

Also, I'm sure I read that fixed gear bikes need to have front and rear brakes fitted. Is this so?

German StVO (highway code) is mental.
You might have to also fit reflectors, dynamo/lights etc etc to comply.

In terms of rental, I haven't rented a place for a long time since I left in 2003. Expect quite a big deposit, and you might need some references etc etc
Not sure if the east of Germany will be easier.

Had a quick google and this is a pretty good summary to get started: https://www.expatica.com/de/housing/Renting-a-German-property_103803.html

Also: http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/housing.html

As that blob points out, take note of every defect at handover, otherwise you won't see your deposit ("Kaution") back.

Note that most flats are unfurnished, and you're sort of expected to refurbish before you move out, meaning the walls ought to be freshly painted etc

You might have to also fit reflectors, dynamo/lights etc etc to comply.

It's a bit different for road bikes.
No need for dynamo if you are below 11kg iirc. Small battery lights front and rear are enough.
Fixed bikes need front and rear brakes!

Ah yeah, didn't know that. There are probably a shitload of rules around those as well. Good luck running an exposure diablo or the sorts.

Fixed bikes need front and rear brakes!

How many track bikes are drilled for a rear brake! Those clamp on dia compe things are so ugly as well.

No need for dynamo if you are below 11kg iirc.

This is good to know. I might get another dynamo set up for my tourer anyway but preferably when I'm more flush with cash.

Thank you for this too. I just found a room to rent for 185 euros a month-proved much easier to organise remotely even if I'd much prefer my own space. It's in a landscape architect's office so a bit of a bonus there too as I can network a bit not to mention steal books, stationery and printing ;)

Still none the wiser on highway code and which roads can/can't be cycled on though. Will just have to play the daft forrin card for a while!

No worries. Good luck in the Vaterland. I think with cycling, you're obliged to use the cycle lane if there is one. There is a presumption of responsibility by the larger vehicle in german traffic laws, so usually people are better at looking out for cyclists than UK.

Yup, Wohngemeinschaft is the best/only route to get into a place in Germany. So much easier because, sharing.

After a couple WG's you may have the references and experience necessary to find a real place.

From my experience the WG has huge benefits like other people eating your food without asking or using your toilettries but not replacing the empty bottles. In all seriousness, there can be a real mentality toward what's yours is mine, so be forewarned to keep the good stuff hidden, and enjoy the shared meals with your housemates. Much moreso than London.

As far as bikes, yea, it's tricky. When I was involved in the rtc I had to pay a small fine (even though any logic would show it wasn't my fault), the provincial police eyeballed the roadbike but were too lazy to throw that book at me as well.

Use the radweg whenever you see one, it is much less ballache than arguing with the drivers. Chances are you can still cruise at a fairly good pace if you choose your route/time to avoid the dutch bikes.

n26 bank account is your friend. it breaks the catch 22 of not having a bank account until you have an address, and not being able to get a rental contract without bank account! see through card is sweet too. in terms of moving to germany the things that tripped me up a bit were:

do not expect chip and pin, let alone contactless. always carry some cash! a few of my early rides were finished on an empty stomach as little shops would not let me buy much needed snax! (cash withdrawal are also not free)

you have to go to the local burgeramt and do your anmeldung within 2 weeks of moving to any new place. they often dont/wont speak english so worth getting a few phrases memorised. mostly if you at least try that is enough.

there are two different tax numbers, both sound similar but are not. steuernummer steueridentifikationsnummer. one is your personal ID and one is your tax code ( I THINK?!) but it tripped me up a bit when I was getting my first wages.

'Mitnehmen' means take-away. Super useful for coffees and late nite kebab adventures!

i have not been stopped for reflectors but I have also not actually had a run in with the bike police yet. i would deffo advise having two brakes though as they will stop you if they see you riding fixed. also, if you are that way inclined, 80€ on the spot fine for red lights. they will deffo not take daft forrin card for an excuse!

edit: i found sendbike very helpful and reliable for shipping, not just of bikes, and well worth giving them a call for good deals.

The situation is a little more complex than that. In principle, the vast majority of the Radwegebenutzungspflicht was abolished by a revision of the StVO in 1997, but in practice traffic authorities did bugger all about that. The Bundesverwaltungsgericht (the highest administrative court in the country) confirmed the 1997 measures by a definitive judgement in 2011, but as far as I can see very little has been done about even this since, e.g. where I tend to go in Germany, the required measures have not been taken, even though they've been promising for years that they will take them.

In simple terms, where there are certain traffic signs attached to sidepaths (either a blue circle with a white bike or the two kinds of blue signs that show pedestrians and cycles either side by side or one above the other), you can assume that the official decision ("Amtsentscheid") to impose the Radwegebenutzungspflicht still exists, even if this is in violation of the requirement to remove them except in very exceptional circumstances (e.g., for major dual carriageways, etc.) imposed by the 1997 revision and the confirmation of that by the Bundesverwaltungsgericht in 2011. I suppose you could try to explain that to any police officers who might stop you. :)

Unfortunately, the situation on the ground does not match the legal situation. In theory, the vast majority of the signs should have been removed by now. You can only hope that authorities get better at this.

Typical german law clusterf*ck. One of the reasons why I never managed to hack it back there, even though I am native german, is the "Paragraphenwald", the jungle of regulations and by-laws that is tripping you up at every corner, as if they want you to fail.

German StVO (highway code) is mental.

You might have to also fit reflectors, dynamo/lights etc etc to comply.

They have changed the laws. Battery lights are no longer reserved for sub-11 kg bicycles. Reflectors? Police tend not to be terribly stringent on enforcing reflectors but reflective sidewall tyres or even reflective rim tape do meet the requirement. The fine for missing reflectors or a bell is also relatively modest-- I think now 10 or 20 EUROs.

The law does require 2 independent working brakes-- "Fahrräder müssen 2 voneinander unabhängige Bremsen haben"-- but gives a lot of leeway into what constitutes "working". Courts have rulled that a fixed gear is a brake. This means that a single rear brake or front brake is all that is required. The law does not stipulate which but only demands redundance-- a chain or cable can, afterall, fail.

How many track bikes are drilled for a rear brake! Those clamp on dia compe things are so ugly as well.

They work, however, relatively well and are fast to remove should you also use the bike at the velodome. Solutions for the front-- especially if your fork does not fit into any of the 3 standard types supported by the DiaComp solution-- are generally less flexible and more problematic but required if you use a freewheel..