Welcome to Munich!

We understand that reallocation is never an easy process and therefore we prepared a small guide on
how to get settled in Germany (if you are foreigner) and also some tips for your apartment search in
Munich.
Table of Contents
General information ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Housing ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Provision‐free housing searches ............................................................................................................... 3
All‐kinds of housing ................................................................................................................................... 4
Local papers .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Shared accomodations.............................................................................................................................. 4
Furnished living ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Registering your address............................................................................................................................... 5
Tax group ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Banking.......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Mobile, Telephone and Internet ................................................................................................................... 6
Prepaid Telephone ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Munich Sightseeing and interesting places .................................................................................................. 7
Munich and surroundings ............................................................................................................................. 7
Meeting people ............................................................................................................................................. 8
German language courses: ........................................................................................................................... 9
Public transport............................................................................................................................................. 9
Visa information............................................................................................................................................ 9
General information
The website below gives some general information of what to expect when moving to Germany:

http://www.make‐it‐in‐germany.com/en/

Housing

Straight away the most annoying and difficult topic.

It is extremely difficult to find houses in Munich ‐ there is no denying this – however not impossible. My
advice would be to plan in up to several months for finding any accommodation. Otherwise you can also
find a short term accommodation for one to two months and then find a full time one. Also please
consider that it is very difficult to find something in the center of the city, while less difficult to find
something on the outside (although the tendency is that the outskirts are getting as expensive as the
city center).

Please note that the prices quoted are often for rent excluding heating etc (ie just the floor space). This
is called “Kaltmiete”. Rent including heating (sometimes including water and electricity as well) is called
“Warmmiete”. Please make sure you know the difference when renting an apartment.

Furthermore, if you pay “Warmmiete” it does not mean that one can use as much as one wants. At the
end of the year, you will get a bill and it will be calculated if what you have paid is more or less than
what you have consumed. You will be charged then for any difference (or get money back if have
consumed less than planned).

Below are presented a few categories of ways to search for housing.

Provision‐free housing searches

Unfortunately for everybody, the Munich housing market relies heavily on housing agents. They are
legally allowed to take 2,38 times the cost of one month rent, meaning that it will be at least 1000
Euros. Below are a couple of sites where you may find provision free accommodation if you are lucky
(where you pay to sign up to the website) :

http://www.null‐provision.de/
www.wohnungsboerse.net
www.cs‐wohnungsagentur.de
 All‐kinds of housing

These are just website that advertise all kinds of housing (with commission vs without commission ,
buying vs renting etc…)

 www.immobilienscout24.de
 www.immonet.de
 www.immowelt.de
 www.immobilienmarkt.de
 www.munichx.de
 www.thelocal.de/munich (in english)

Local papers
Finding it in papers is incredibly effective! You need to be one of the first to buy the papers though
(Please note that these are in German).

 Süddeutsche: every Wednesday and Friday

(also available online later http://immobilienmarkt.sueddeutsche.de)
 Münchner Merkur and TZ (local papers): Thursday and Saturday
(also available online later: http://merkur.immowelt.de)
 Abendzeitung: Every Wednesday and Saturday
(Also available online over http://kleinanzeigen.abendzeitung.de)
 Kurz und Fündig (http://www.quoka.de/muenchen/ )

TIP: It is worth it to set adverts in the above mentioned local papers for a house‐searching!

Shared accomodations

There is really only one website where you can find shared housings (WG).

http://www.wg‐gesucht.de/

Here you can also find short term accomodations if nothing else helps.

Furnished living

These are comparatively easier to find but also comparatively more expensive as they are for shorter
term business persons.
  www.mrlodge.com/accomodation
 www.airbnb.com/Munich
 www.sunnyside‐apartments‐muenchen.de

Registering your address

Within a week of arriving in Munich, you are required to register your place of residence. It’s called
“Anmeldung”, it’s easy and it’s a key formality (fines can be severe if not done). It applies to everyone
who lives in Germany, citizens and foreign residents alike. Without official registration of your local
address you can’t get a residence permit. Nor can you complete your enrollment at the university or do
other official things that require proof of residence.

For Munich addresses, you register at the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR) in its Einwohnermeldeamt
(resident registration office). In the suburbs, the Einwohnermeldeamt can vary from town to town. Just
ask a local. Everyone knows where their registration office is.

I would counsel would be to go personally to the Bügerbüro at the near Poccistraße (KVR ground floor,
Ruppertstr. 19, 80337 Munich, near U3/ U6 Poccistraße.)

You will need to bring the following:

 Passport
 Filled out form (http://www.muenchen.de/dienstleistungsfinder/muenchen/1063475/ , click on
“Anmeldeformular”)
 If you have a car, you need to change the registration
(http://www.muenchen.de/dienstleistungsfinder/muenchen/1063475/, click on “Fahrzeug
Anmelden/ Umschreiben)
 If you are German, your identity card.
Tax group
In order to receive your salary in Germany, you need to apply and get tax group. This can be done in
Finanzamt.

https://www.en.uni‐muenchen.de/students/int_student_guide/life_in_munich/index.html

Banking

For obvious reasons, like getting paid or paying the monthy rent, it is advisable that every person gets a
German bank account.

A good summary is:

http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/Banking_in_Germany

Mobile, Telephone and Internet

The one who thought up the stereotype of the Germans being efficient should come and have a look at
the internet situation. Not only is the market really crowded and very confusing, it can take up to 2
MONTHS for setting up the stupid internet and telephone!

At the end of the day, you will have to scour the internet to find the tariff that suits you most. Below are
a few examples of providers for mobiles, telephone and internet.

http://www.o2online.de/
http://www.vodafone.de/
http://www.telekom.de/?sem=1&wt_mc=sb_zf_336212_22044846634
http://www.kabeldeutschland.de/ (only internet, TV and home telephone)

Please note that the websites are all in German. If you have language problems, it may be advisable to
go to a store of your choice. There are loads dotted around Munich, look it up on the internet.

Also of note here is that O2, Vodafone and Telekom use similar net coverage (the D‐1, D‐2 or O2 net)
while BASE uses the worse E‐Net, however BASE is cheaper.

A good comparison website is also: https://www.check24.de/dsl‐handy/ (althoughI have never used

this one, the reviews of this website are usually quite good)
Prepaid Telephone
This market is very confusing (at least for me…).

I would use this website for comparing the different pre‐paid companies:

http://preis24.de/prepaid‐handy/

Otherwise another way to have a look at the different pre‐paid offers is to go to different shops (go from
Marienplatz to Karlsplatz Stachus in the middle of Munich, you will find every big firm there), get their
offers and then compare it to the other competitors on the market.

Munich Sightseeing and interesting places

Munich has lots to offer beside famous October Fest. It is very alive, full of beautiful green oases that
spread all over the city, there are plenty of leisure, cultural and touristic offers. The best way to get to
know the city is to have a look at this resource. It will give you a good overview.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Munich

There are a couple of companies that organize tours around munich. From experience, the best one is:

http://www.newmunichtours.com/de/taegliche‐fuehrungen/munich‐free‐tour‐copy.html

The tours leave every day at 10.45 am and 1 pm from the central Place Marienplatz.

Munich and surroundings

Munich is situated in one of the most beautiful landscapes of Germany. Visiting the surroundings of
Bavaria is an incredible experience and is definitely something recommended to everyone.

Below are a few examples of websites where good trips outside of Munich can be found.

http://www.muenchen.de/int/en.html (in english)

http://www.muenchen.de/freizeit/ausfluege/umland.html (in German, a lot more detailed than the

English one)

TIP: Bavaria has 44 castles. All of these castles are situated in beautiful towns (at least the 18 which the I
have visited were…). Below is a link to these:
http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

TIP: Around Munich, there are several stupendously beautiful lakes.

 Königssee (the best): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigssee

 Ammersee (can be reached via S‐Bahn): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammersee
 Starnberger See (can be reached via S‐Bahn): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Starnberg

International Friends Munich organizes trips to the surroundings every weekend.

Meeting people

The Bavarians are notoriously difficult to get to know (I am speaking from experience …).
But do not worry!!!
There are a lot of people in the same position as you! Below are some associations that organize meet‐
ups for the persons who are new to Bavaria (or not so new, as you will see if you join them)
 International Friends Munich (English)
(https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/337962059578245/584040611637054/?comment_id=5840
89221632193&notif_t=like) (Website will come out soon)
_ An association that is especially aimed at internationals to meet‐up, organizes trips to
surroundings, bar evenings, football days etc…

 Toytown Munich (English)

http://www.toytowngermany.com/
_A website that is aimed at the English speaking crowd of Germany. Very good website for
informations. The events are a bit cringy some times. Also, mostly English native speakers are going
to it.

 Neu in München! (German)

(https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/newinmunich/)
_A Facebook group that is looking at providing a platform for people that are new in Munich to
organize events like inlineskating, etc… (Only in German)

 Neu in München (German)

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/neuin/
_Same as above

 Kein Raff! (Neu in München)

(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.199239884497&ref=mf#!/groups/keinraff.neuinmue
nchen/ )
_Same as above
German language courses:
http://www.mvhs.de/Deutsch_Migration_und_Integration‐‐1965.htm ‐ here you can find intensive
courses, to finish one level it takes 6 weeks and classes are Mon‐Thu from 18‐21h.

There also many other schools out of which we can mention:

 VHS
(http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/Volkshochschule )
 Berlizt
(http://www.berlitz.de/en/book_online/product_overview/?gclid=CMrBuIKVtLkCFbHItAod1EAAbw )
 Goethe Institute
(http://www.goethe.de/enindex.htm )
 Inlingua
(http://www.germancoursesmunich.com/fileadmin/domain/inlingua‐
muenchen.de/pdf_Deutschkurse_2013/Fees_2013.pdf )

Public transport
The Münchner Verkehrsverbund, Munich’s public transportation authority, offers an extensive and very
reliable public transportation network of buses, trams, subways (U‐Bahn) and suburban trains (S‐Bahn).
The inner‐city part is called the MVG. You will find complete details in multiple languages on
connections, prices, timetables, route planning and everything else on their website.

http://www.mvv‐muenchen.de/en/homepage/index.html

Visa information

The topic of Visas is far too vast to cover here. Please see the official page below:

http://www.auswaertiges‐amt.de/EN/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/Visabestimmungen_node.html