Tell me about Germany transportation and communication.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I looked at Vilseck on Google Maps, and it looks like your best bet is the A9 (A = “Autobahn” = Highway). The problem is getting to the A9, the roads connecting Vilseck seem to be of the smaller variety, where you can only go so fast, and usually have a tractor of some kind in front of you.

That said, from Nuremberg to Munich the car trip would take about 1,5 hrs, while the train trip would be considerably shorter (i.e. just over an hour), as they opened a new high speed train connection between the two cities. However, the train from Vilseck takes about 45 minutes, so that does not save you much (you can check out train times and cost on the website of the Deutsche Bahn ). On the other hand, the A9 is notorious for traffic jams and accidents, so you might be better off taking the train in any case.

Munich to Berlin would be about 7 or 8 hours by car, and also by train. Train transportation in Germany is actually pretty good compared to what other countries have to offer (even if people like to complain about late arrivals and whatnot). If you want to go exploring around Munich, they offer a weekend ticket for 5 people for 33 Euros - the catch is: You can only use slower trains, so it doesn’t really help you if you want to go far, but is good for shorter trips.

As to what is there to do in Munich, I’d echo those posters who said that it depends on what you like, there’s lots of attractions. You might want to check out this website (Toytown Munich), which offers English language suggestions of things to do. If you are keen to do the “slapping dance” (which is called “Schuhplatteln”, btw), you’ll probably be disappointed, though, as that is something mostly shown on American TV but not really practiced other than at touristy events (barring the occasional actual slapdance event in smaller villages). Pints in the pub seems like a good bet - actually, it’s “Halbe Hell” (half a liter of lager) in the Wirtshaus, if you want to go local.

Oh, and I would consider the firefighters here in the South really hard to join - they’re usually a pretty tight knit bunch, in terms of “my father and my father’s father used to be firefighters in this community”. Many of the divisions in the smaller towns are more like an excuse for guys to go somewhere on Friday nights and drink heavily; they might not be the most open people, but rather the more conservative Bavarians DMark described. (YMMV, no actual firefighters were harmed during this post)

I actually live in Munich, so if you have specific questions about events and such I’ll do my best to answer them, you can also drop me a PM or email me if you like.

22

You guys rock. DMark mentioned skiing which sounds awesome. I can’t wait to go snowboarding again. As far as things I like to do: mainly I like to stay away from tourist traps and go where locals like to go. But I do want to see some castles too. Skiing will be a must, as well as visiting somewhere in as many Eurpoean and nearby countries as I can.

I’m going to get rid of my mustang before I go over there. But I still haven’t decided if I will buy a car here first, or wait to get one over there. Are cars cheaper over there? Or more expensive? I heard a BMW is cheaper over there, and it makes sense that it would be. Is it the case? Are there some nice German cars over there that I’ve never heard of? Probably.

Also there’s a town or village or something call Nenno, here and I’m definitely gonna check that place out. Should be fun just getting there.

23

You could hardly be better placed to start heading towards eastern Europe. Prague is almost as close as Munich, then Vienna, Budapest, Krakow…

24

Huh, I’ve had completely the opposite experience. I live in Hamburg and found the people in the south much friendlier and more open. Even the northerners will admit that they consider themselves aloof. Hamburg has been a real trial - it’s been very difficult to make friends. But I really enjoyed myself in southern Germany.

Welcome to the land of sausages!

25

For skiing you’ve come to the right place: there’s loads of excellent skiing opportunities in Austria within a 2-3 hours drive from Munich (barring the “weekend exodus” traffic jam).

As to cars, AFAIK used car prices are somewhat higher than in the US, since you have to get your car examined and approved by a government agency (“TÜV”) every two years, which makes it harder to get really cheap vehicles - but reduces the danger of getting one that breaks down just after getting off the lot (my little red Geo Metro, I’m looking at you). I would suspect BMWs to be cheaper, especially in Munich, what with BMW headquarters being here and all. BMW actually has quite a lot of things on display if you’re interested in automotive history, by the way.

26

Just as Einmon said, in general cars are said to be a bit more expensive here but as far as I have heard it’s not so much that shipping an individual car makes economic sense. Did you know that in Germany cars are taxed by engine displacement? You might want to keep that in mind when you choose a car.

27

Right now I have a 2002 Ford Mustang Convertible. Are American cars popular over there at all? Would I get more money just selling it back to the dealership over here, or could I get more money for it over there?
Shipping is not an issue, since my employer will take care of the shipping. Basically, if I want to bring a car, I can. So here’s my options:

Sell my car here and buy a car here to ship over.
Sell my car here and buy a car in Germany.
Sell my car in Germany and buy a new one over there.

Also, what about motorcycles. Better deals over there? If I wanted a Ducati or something, are they cheaper in Germany?

28

Cars made by American-owned corporations are very common but most of them are made by German subsidiaries. Some models are basically the same as in the US but all in all the product ranges differ significantly. There are fans of “real” US cars but it’s only a small segment.
Here is a list of new car registrations in 2005/2006. Unfortunately it’s in German but the important things should be recognizable. Opel is owned by GM, Ford refers to the German branch that sells mostly European-made cars. Those are Ford’s current products (GT is sold out, only remaining stock of Mondeo and Maverick)

Another issue to think about is your driver’s license. The first 6 months you can drive with any foreign license. After that you will need a German one. Depending on the state that issued yours, either you can exchange your for a German one or you have to take a test.

29

This is a big piece of info! Nobody told me that back then, and by the time I figured it out, I had been living in Germany three years! Thus, I would have had to get a German driver’s license from scratch - and it is really, really expensive!!! (At that time, I believe it was about $700 or so! Who knows what it costs now!)

I was able to drive in Switzerland with my US license when I worked there in the summer, but never able to drive in Germany - at the time it was no big deal for me (Berlin has an excellent subway and bus system) but still…it would have been a simple thing to do, if I had known the fact.

So don’t waste any time in getting that US license changed to a German license - pronto, fast, ASAP - or you will regret it!

30

Will I have problems trying to use my American HDTV in Germany? Will I need a signal converter or something? I’m sure I’ll need a power adapter, but what about the cable or satellite. Will it work with my tv, or will I need some kind of adapter or converter?
Also, Air Conditioning. I was just told that central air conditioning is pretty non existant over there, and some land lords don’t allow window units. Is air conditioning really not popular over there? How hot and uncomfortable does it get indoors in the summer? I can’t believe that people would just not mind it being hot in their house. In Korea they sometimes had that one unit in the living room, but it only cooled the one room.
I like my apartment to be 69 degrees. Maybe 2 degrees warmer in the winter, but that’s it. I dont like it any warmer or colder than 69. Is that going to be an issue over there? Is electricity pretty expensive? Maybe it just doesn’t get very warm over there?

Thanks guys.

31

The only thing that I could imagine standing between you and TV happiness (well, apart from the sometimes abysmal lag between German and American TV series) would be if your TV was not equipped to deal with the PAL standard. AFAIK, most new TV sets should be able to handle both, though. Usually, apartments here come equipped with some kind of TV connection - antennas are free (but limit your program choices to 6 or so), a cable connection is usually paid separately by the tenant, whereas a satellite dish might be included in the rent; then you just have to purchase a receiver.

If your apartment has none, I’d recommend just getting a digital antenna and receiver (DVB-T), they come cheap, and in Bavaria we have quite good reception (of our still measly 20 programs).

Alas, indeed, air conditioning is virtually non-existant over here. But it’s a DRY heat. You’ll get used to it, and when you go back to the States you’ll shiver and sneeze like we do when we enter a building chilled down to sub-zero temperatures.

Just kidding, last year everybody was complaining about the heat. We compensate for it by going swimming a lot and visiting the beer garden in the evening for a cold one. (Fun fact: You can take as much food as you want into a beer garden, even if they sell food there. Only drinks have to be purchased there. So lots of Bavarians take their evening meal there and eat outside.)

32

On air conditioning: yes, domestic air conditioning is pretty rare; air conditioning in businesses usually exists if the building is needs to be centrally ventilated anyway (i.e. large supermarkets, office towers, etc). The main reason being that we don’t see much need for it - a typical summer has maybe two “If only we had A/C” weeks, so it’s considered more a matter of unnecessary convenience than of need. Also air conditioning carries an association of being chilled in hot weather being dangerous to your health (we typically also eschew really cold drinks for that reason).

In an office or residence without A/C, just dress lightly, drink a lot, and sweat a lot. (That said, my brother and I bought our parents a portable A/C unit for their living room last summer, but they are 153 years old between them and only used it for three days or so.)

Personally I drink a lot of mineral water in the summer; my employer happens to offer unlimited soft drinks at the office. I recently wondered how many kinds of mineral water the large supermarket I shop at sells by the crate, but I stopped counting at fifty. So there should be ample latitude for anyone to find their preferred taste in water.