It looks like my husband and I will be moving to Karlsruhe this autumn, for my husband’s job – postdoc at the KIT.
I lived in Berlin for the summer of 2003 but it has been a while. My German is OK but quite rusty – mostly used in the past 8 years to read academic prose. My husband has less formal study of German under his belt, but will be working in English, and has the advantage of near-fluency in Afrikaans.
What do I need to know about life today in Germany, and Karlsruhe in particular? Any and all advice appreciated.
I’m particularly interested in advice about the move to Germany. Is it really true that if we rent an apartment we will have to buy all our kitchen appliances?
Things I am already aware of:
The construction of the subway system (tho I hear that the teams and buses still run on time)
VIsa related issues (I’m hoping that my husband will qualify for a Blue Card but if I can’t work right away, or even at all, we’ll manage).
The weather is reportedly great, but humid in the summer. I’ve never lived anywhere with good weather – looking forward to it!
Taxes!
Danke!
PS. Any recommendations for current German popular culture to check out (books, magazines, TV, music) much appreciated.
Probably yes, at least that’s the norm for apartments.
For TV, you might want to check out http://zattoo.com/de/en/, which offers many German channels for free (though you have to register). Here is a list of websites of some quality (IMHO) papers/magazines:
With music, I can’t help very much because I’m much more into American/British music and find almost all German mainstream pop music to be a load of crap. Maybe if you could tell what kind of music you prefer I could give some recommendations (good German pop music exists, just not in the charts and on mainstream radio).
That’s fitting, my two favorite German bands are kind of heroes of German alternative, Blumfeld and Tocotronic.. Also Die Sterne (Alternative with a funky bend. Yeah, funky Germans is a thing!). All worth checking out.
I’m not a great fan of crime shows, but the good old warhorse of German crime tv is Tatort..
Though I don’t read many newer German novels, I liked some books by Frank Schätzing, especially Der Schwarm.
Oh gawd, Karlsruhe. Better you than me, DaphneBlack.
I lived in Karlsruhe several years ago. Honest to pete, I don’t mean to be discouraging, but it’s a tediously uninteresting town, just groaningly boring, especially for anybody who has tasted the delights of Berlin.
It’s architecturally undistinguished, apart from a pretty Schloss, rebuilt after it was bombed out in the war. Luckily for your husband, KIT is located in the Schloss and in outbuildings on the Schloss grounds. The local theatre and opera companies, which are often pretty good in provincial German cities, are third-rate in Karlsruhe. There isn’t much in the way of scenery in the area.
It’s very humid in summer. Back when Germany had colonial possessions in Africa, the prospective colonists used to be sent to spend a summer in Karlsruhe to help them acclimate. The Foehn, an annoying wind that blows in from the south, is notorious for causing headaches.
You couldn’t make me live in Karlsruhe again if you gave me the jewels of the Grand Duchess of Baden. Buy a car and spend your weekends exploring other parts of Germany or nearby Alsace in France.
I have only ever rented two apartments in Germany (both in Freiburg… just south of Karlsruhe). Both apartments included a normal kitchen with built-in appliances. These were short term rentals of just a couple months each.
Isn’t the Schwarzwald nearby? We will definitely be exploring all around the area, especially Alsace. And I at least hope to visit other areas of Germany where we have friends.
I’m ok with boring to be honest, as long as there is decent food to be had. Is there? Boring might mean I get more writing done. Are there decent cafes?
Where do you recommend looking for housing, assuming we’d like a two-bedroom flat if possible?
My husband will not enjoy the humidity – African though he is, he’s from Cape Town. I think I’ll do ok – Chicago has been known to be humid… I’m looking forward to the sun though.
Daphne, I apologize for my ill-tempered post. I regretted it the moment I sent it. I applaud your grace in not taking me to task for my negativity.
K’he isn’t all bad. Rents are reasonable. I lived on one of the main drags, the Kaiserallee, which is a wide boulevard lined with old apartment blocks built around courtyards. Many of the apartments are spacious and have high ceilings, balconies and large windows. It’s convenient to KIT and I recommend the neighborhood if you can find something there. Refer to your husband as Herr Doktor Black, and don’t mention that he’s a sort of student, because a lot of the landlords in the Kaiserallee area won’t rent to students. They probably won’t understand the idea of a post doc and will take him for a student if you say he’s enrolled or studying or anything like that.
You can find the cheapest housing in outlying burbs, such as Duermersheim and Durlach. There’s good public transport from the burbs into the city.
Before you come over, contact your husband’s department at the uni and see what they suggest for housing. There may be grad housing available to you. It won’t be spacious - maybe two, three smallish rooms, tops - but the uni accommodations are usually furnished and have kitchens installed.
Your American bottom sheets won’t fit on German mattresses.
If you can’t get uni housing and you have to furnish your own kitchen and apartment, then Ikea will be your new best friend. There’s one near K’he in the town of Walldorf.
There are some good places to eat (German cooking is fantastic) but I hesitate to recommend any by name as restaurants can be ephemeral and the ones I liked may not be in business any longer. Weber’s Baekerei has a couple of locations and should be in operation still - they have wonderful Vollkornbrot.
The Black Forest is indeed close. I recommend visiting the charming town of Sankt Blasien there. It’s a lovely place and has one of the most beautiful small cathedrals in Europe.
Don’t miss the Rhineland. Koblenz is a delightful place to visit. You’ll want to see the cathedral in Cologne.
Anyway, sorry again for my downer post. I’m off to take some Johanneskraut in hopes it’ll elevate my mood. Have a wonderful time in Karlsruhe. Yes, it can be done.
No worries, and thanks for the info. It’s good to get all perspectives! And glad to hear that the food situation is good. And that there is a nearby IKEA! We won’t have to completely furnish the apartment as we will be bringing over as much as we can from our apartment here. But having to buy a new kitchen does not fill me with joy.
We are both looking forward to being called Herr Doktor and Frau Doktor(in?) Black. But he’s no student, his job is classified as Civil Service somethingorother.
What is the current opinion on the ICE? We have friends in Cologne and Göttingen we’d like to see as often as we can.
Can’t quite comment on the ICE quality-wise as I’ve never traveled with it myself, but I think it has a good reputation by now. Looked it up on bahn.de: Karlsruhe-Cologne by ICE in 2 hours 49 minutes, Karlsruhe-Göttingen 3 hours 52 min.
On reread, I couldn’t let that go without some links to actual music. Despite my rant above about German pop music, there is a wealth of good music to explore here, and since music is my pet issue, here’s some good stuff:
You mostly won’t be called Frau Doktorin in the sense of being the wife of Dr. Black unless you run across some very old-fashioned people. That usage pretty much vanished in the '80’s and '90’s. If you have a doctorate yourself, you’ll also be Doktor Black in your own right. Or sometimes Doktorin Black, though the militant feminists don’t like it (the “-in” suffix) much. They think it’s infantilizing. It’s a “Don’t call me an actress, I’m an actor” kind of thing. Mostly, you’ll be Frau Black. Or Daphne.
The Germans are (hallelujah!) a lot less stiff-rumped and formal than they used to be when I first arrived here in the '70’s. (Yes, I’m old.That’s why I’m sometimes grumpy.) They are also nicer than they used to be.
Get used to being called Du by people you don’t know all that well. It used to be that Sie was the absolute rule and that two people making the transition from Sie to Du would to do so only after seeking mutual formal assent after an acquaintance of many years’ duration, but not any more.
Boy, how things have changed. I called my German in-laws Sie for the first few years of my marriage. I knew people who were sleeping together who used Sie in public. Nowadays, Du is almost taken for granted. My hairdresser, the nurse at my doctor’s office, the twenty-something friends of my son, all say Du to me without a second thought. The salespeople at the Apple Store call me Du. People say Du to me even though I’m old (and I’m not the twinkly, cuddly kind of old woman who would seem to invite familiarity, either.) Nonetheless, I’m fine with the new informality. My housekeeper and I use “Frau” and “Sie” to one another, and frankly, I wish she’d unbend a little and let us use first names at least, even if she prefers to continue the Sie.
You asked about the ICE. I recommend it! I take the ICE fairly often from my home in the Rhineland to Berlin and back. It’s great service. Be aware, trains run behind schedule fairly often (yes, I know, there goes the great German stereotype) so book all the way through to your destination without connections if you can, or else allow plenty of time to make connections at railway hubs.
There are also intercity buses run by the Bundespost. I haven’t tried these, but they are cheaper than the train and people I know like the service.
If you book early and online, you can get sometimes get really good discounted rates. For example, I was able to book first class to Berlin for only 10 Euros more than the 2nd class fare last month. Best deal I ever made. You get better rates online than if you buy tix at the local Bahnhoff. It costs extra to talk to a live human being at the ticket office. Important: any time you book passage, whether in person or online, make sure you get reserved seats assigned to you. The ICE sometimes overbooks and while you’ll be allowed on board without a confirmed seat number, you may sit on your suitcase in the aisle the whole way.
Speaking of being online, it’s the law in Germany that every household must have an online connection. You don’t have to use it, you don’t have to own a computer, but you have to pay for internet service. The country is full of 88-year-old grannies who are paying for a service from their military widows’ pensions that they have no idea how to use.
You have to show you have the internet connection and also proof of health insurance and proof of income when you apply for your Aufenthaltstitel. So bring all that and also several passport size photos. The office where you apply used to be in Pforzheim, just outside of K’he, but it may have moved.
Anyway, best of luck and lots of happiness. K’he may be dull and humid, but it’s centrally located and not unpleasant. And the local wine, Mueller Thurgau, is cheap.
Wut? Are you maybe confusing it with the televison license? That may sound as strange to an American as an obligatory internet connection, but there’s no such thing at all in Germany. How did you come to this strange conclusion? (In fact, some more rustic parts of Germany very much lack good net infrastructure)
Doch! (I like that word. We need its equivalent in English.) It is the law here. I know because I renewed my Aufenthaltstitel only last fall and I had to produce:
marriage license to a German citizen
proof of income
proof of health insurance
US passport
several passport-type photos
proof that I had an internet connection. I think that I showed a monthly bill.
Do you live in Germany, Einstein’sHund? I know you speak German because you helped me with my tassel question. Thanks again, btw
Just wait till you renew (you’re a fellow Ami, right?) because honest to pete, it is the law here now. The nice man at the Auslanderamt said so. So did the nice lady at the town hall. (You know, it’s amazing how pleasant and helpful public servants are in this country.) It must be a new law, because I’ve had a German “green card” for going on 40 years and this is the first time I’ve been asked for the proof of online connection. Anyway, you’re here with us, E’sH, so you obviously don’t have to worry.
I’m the germanest German you’ll ever meet on this board :). I’ve never been much outside of Germany, never been to an English speaking country, For German natives, an online obligation doesn’t apply. But I wouldn’t rule it out at all it it was only obligatory for foreigners/ex-pats/whatever: welcome to German burocracy. And if you went through several German amts and kept your sanity and your calm, I can only congratulate.
E’sH, I am in awe, in awe, of your English! You had me convinced that you are a compatriot of mine. Never been to an English-speaking country? Unglaublich! I’ve been coming here for forty years and I humbly confess that I don’t speak German as well as you speak English.
Okay, we’ve got to plan a German Dopefest (after Daphne arrives in Karlsruhe, naturally) because I want to meet you. You amaze me. (Not flirting here; as previously mentioned I’m old and married.)
Ah well, I’m flattered of course. As for a German dopefest, I don’t live very close to Karlsruhe (about 300 km) and my current health isn’t very good, but I’d love to see it happen!
Go to Karlsruhe? Gawd no. Dullsville. We’ll find another venue. Daphne is young. She and Dr Black will travel. So will I. There are lots of other German Dopers. We are so going to do this.
Then I propose Cologne. Granted, it’s in my best interest cause it’s close to me. But it was already supposed in this thread (the cathedral!), is about in the center of Germany and has great museums.
