LIVING IN GERMANY Information for international Students - Uni Siegen

LIVING IN GERMANY
                                Information for international Students

International Student Affairs                                            1

Searching for an Apartment

Basic Information
There are a few different options for housing in Germany:
1) A student or private dormitory
2) A private apartment, living by yourself
3) A shared flat, where you share a kitchen and bathroom, but have your
   own private bedroom

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Student Dormitories

Once you’ve been admitted to the University of Siegen, you don’t automatically get a room in the
dormitories.
 You can apply for a dorm (either alone or with roommates) using your letter of admission from the
  university here:
  http://www.studierendenwerk-siegen.de/?id=37&L=1

 Your contact is Mr. Witsch:
  https://www.studierendenwerk-siegen.de/internationales/kontakt

  Rent                          200 – 300 Euro
  Security deposit              2 months rent
  Room                          furnished (most of the time)
                                must be purchased on your own (bedsheet
                                set can be purchased from the
  Basic living supplies         Studierendenwerk for ~50 Euros, cooking
                                utensils and sishes, etc. must be bought on
                                your own)
More information here: http://www.studierendenwerk-siegen.de/?id=37&L=1

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Private Dormitories

A private dormitory is similar to a student one, but the ownership and
administration of the property is run by a private person or company
instead of the Studentenwerk.
Here are two options for private dorms:
http://www.studis-oberstadt.com/index
https://www.city-campus-siegen.de/

 Rent                           on request
 Security
                                on request
 Deposit
 Rooms                          on request
 Basic living
                                on request
 supplies

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Private Living (alone or in a shared flat)

Here are a few websites where you can search for an apartment or shared flat:
Mainly for shared apartments:
https://www.wg-gesucht.de/
https://www.studierendenwerk-siegen.de/wohnen/private-wohnungsboerse-und-kostenloses-wohnraumportal
https://housinganywhere.com/de/?utm_source=StudentenWG

Mainly for living alone, sometimes shared apartments are available
https://www.immowelt.de/
https://immobilienscout24.de
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-wohnung-mieten/c203
https://www.57immo.de/ (under  Wohnungsangebote)

For short-term living, between apartments
https://www.airbnb.de/

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Interviewing for a Shared Flat

If you‘ve found an apartment (on www.wg-gesucht.de for example), send
the residents a short introduction (what your name is, where you come
from, what you do/want to do in Siegen, what your hobbies are, what you
expect from living in a shared flat).
If the people living there are interested in you as a potential roommate, you
will be invited to a short visit. You will have the opportunity to have a look
at the room and apartment, as well as get to know the people you‘ll be
living with a little bit. This is very common in Germany.

Just be yourself! You can also ask for a video call if you aren‘t in Siegen yet.

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Short-term Accommodations

If you want or need to be in Siegen while looking for an apartment, then
you can look for short-term living situations in the meantime:
https://housinganywhere.com/de/?utm_source=StudentenWG

https://www.airbnb.de/

https://www.couchsurfing.com/

http://www.siegen-guide.de/hotel-unterkunft/

https://www.hilchenbach.de/Tourismus/Unterk%C3%BCnfte/Gastgeberverzeichnis/Wilhelm-
M%C3%BCnker-
Jugendherberge.php?object=tx,2632.1550.1&ModID=42&FID=2632.118.1&NavID=2632.180&La=1

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Rent

 “Cold” and “warm” rent
   Cold rent is paid for the use of the room.
   Utilities are paid for water, heating, garbage collection, etc.
   Cold rent + utilities = warm rent (paid to the landlord)
   Attention: Electricity, internet, and phone bills often have to be paid
     separately.

Security Deposit
   Usually two or three months rent
   Fully refunded when you move out, but only if the
     apartment has been kept clean and tidy. This refund can take a few
     weeks or months.

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Monthly Expenses for Housing

There are three housing options for students:
                   a student dormitory
                   a private apartment with roommates
                   a private apartment alone
Monthly Expenses for Rent and Utilities (on average)
For a room in a student dorm                                                              270€
For a room in a shared flat                                                               310€
For a private apartment, alone                                                            390€
                                         Source: Ziel Deutschland Wegweiser für internationale Studierende

This information is also accurate for Siegen.

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Notice Period

Please read your rental contract very carefully- is it usually VERY strictly
adhered to in Germany. For example:

Notice Period
  Usually there is a notice period of 3 months to the end of the month
     you would be moving out in. You must give notice by the third
     business day of a new month if you want to move out three months
     later.
     For example:
  Giving notice before 4. November 2020 = moving out on the last day of
  January 2021;
  Giving notice after 5. November 2020 = moving out on the last day of
  February 2021.
  In shared flats, please let your roommates know as soon as possible
     and ask about the rules for you moving out.

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Apartments

Behavior
   Other students will also want to have an apartment in the future. For
    that reason, please be friendly and respectful with your landlords and
    roommates and take good care of your apartment, so it can continue
    to be available for other students.
   In Germany, there are quiet hours. Please respect these times,
    otherwise there can be consequences from your landlord.

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Registration with the City

After coming to Siegen, you have to register with the town hall / citizens’
 office within 2 weeks.
 What you‘ll have to bring with you:
    Passport
    „Wohnungsgeberbestätigung“ (a form filled out by your landlord)
    https://www.siegen.de/fileadmin/cms/olsformulare/WohnungsgeberbestaetigungEinzugInclSpeichern.pdf

Even if you haven‘t moved into an
apartment yet, you still have to register
with the city! Then the hotel owner
would have to fill out the form, for
example.

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(Private) Liability / Household Insurance

If you accidentally hurt someone or break something, this can be very
 expensive in Germany.
Therefore, liability and household insurance are strongly recommended.
Can be purchased at a insurance company or bank.
Only a few euros a month.

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Liability / Household Insurance

Liability Insurance                              Household Insurance
For example, when someone                        Applies in your apartment, for
                                                 example
 Hurts someone else
  (compensation for pain and                      Fire
  suffering)                                      Water damage
 Breaks something (accidentally                  Theft
  dropping a friend‘s phone)
 Loses a key (only covered by                    Some landlords require
  some insurance companies)                        household insurance

                                         Options for insurance:
https://www.check24.de/privathaftpflicht/lp/vergleichen/a/?wpset=google_phv_brand_01&gclid=EAIaI
                QobChMIruaL9fTw2QIV0cmyCh29dwiLEAAYASAAEgIo8vD_BwE

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Rundfunkbeitrag

The Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee) pays for public radio and television
  (which you have to pay even if you don’t have a TV or radio!)
ONE household = ONE payment of 17.50€/ month
Only one payment is required per household. If several people live together
(e.g. in a shared flat) only ONE person has to pay the fee- the others can then
split the fee evenly and give that person their share.

                                When you move into a new apartment, you can
                                 register the Rundfunkbeitrag here under „Wohnung
                                 Anmelden“:
                                  https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/buergerinnen_und_buerger/formulare/index_ger.
                                  html

                                IMPORTANT: Everyone in the apartment must
                                 register and enter the contribution number of the
                                 paying roommate.

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Sorting Trash
                                                Lids have different colors

    Yellow bag                 Compost/Bio                 Paper                     Glass          Non-recyclables
 Plastic                    Fruit and              Newspapers              Bottles and        Everything else
 Metal (tin cans)            vegetable waste        Notebooks                 glasses             (but no electric
 Packaging                  Eggshells              Cardboard              (sorted by color:      waste or toxic
 (milk cartons,             Teabags                Egg cartons            brown, green, and      materials)
  yogurt cups, etc)          Food waste                                     clear)               Hazardous waste
 Aluminum                                                                                       disposed of
                                                                                                 separately!

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Garbage Collection

Please remember:
If your apartment doesn’t have a caretaker, you have to bring your garbage
to the edge of the property the evening before collection. You can also ask
your landlord where/when collection happens.

Information also available here:
https://www.siegen.de/leben-in-siegen/buergerservice/abfallentsorgung/abfall-abc/

https://www.siegen.de/fileadmin/cms/pdf/Abfallentsorgung/AbfallTrennenMehrsprachig.pdf

https://www.siegen.de/leben-in-siegen/buergerservice/abfallentsorgung/abfallkalender/

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Deposit Bottles

When buying drinks in glass bottles, plastic bottles, or cans, you usually
 have to pay between 8 and 25 cents as a deposit.
When you return these bottles and cans to the store, you get this money
 back.
  So don’t just throw them away.
If you want to throw deposit bottles away anyway, please put them next
 to the trash can  Deposits belong next to the trash, not in it!

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Quiet Hours

Night hours: between 10pm and 6am
Sundays and holidays: all day

= Loud music, loud conversations, or other loud noises are prohibited.

For example, if you want to plan a birthday party, it’s best to put a letter in
your neighbor’s mailboxes and warn them that you might be making some
noise. You can also invite them to the party or give them your number so
they can text you if you get too loud.

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Dormitory Tutors

Support with moving in/living in the large dormitories of the
Studierendenwerk:

      • Engsbachstraße                            Fouad
      • Tiergarten

      • Adolf-Reichwein-Straße                    Max
      • Glückaufstraße

                                 wohnheimtutoren@zv.uni-siegen.de 

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Thanks for listening! 

                  More information and contacts can be found here:

       https://www.uni-siegen.de/isa/wege_nach_siegen/internationale_studierende/

All images in this presentation have been taken from www.pixabay.de and the image database of the University of Siegen.

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