Germany!
Private accommodation
Many students have to rent private rooms or flats. These can also
sometimes be found via the accommodation services offered by student
services (Studentenwerk). Other flat-hunting options are the
noticeboards in the university foyers, corridors (mostly near the
refectory) and the accommodation files kept by the student council or
union (AStA). Another helpful source is provided by the accommodation
vacant ads published in local media (print editions mostly Wednesdays
and Saturdays, as well as online). Online accommodation markets
operating nationwide can be found, for example, on these websites:
- www.studenten-wohnung.de
- www.studentenwohnungsmarkt.de
- www.studentenwohnungen.de
Service
Set for Foreign Students
Foreign students, numbering as they now do close to 250,000, are also
catered to specifically by the Studentenwerke
Association with an international section.
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Accomodation
in Germany
Accommodation in
Germany
As in Australia your choices for accommodation will between renting
student accommodation, obtaining private premises or sharing a
dwelling, usually one available on the private market. Each has their
own advantages in terms of cost, facilities and convenience and you
will have to conduct your own research to find which best suits your
circumstances from what is available from where you choose to study.
The support services for students in Germany are quite extensive and
this includes accommodation services. Thus a good first starting point
is the German
Association of Student Services Organisations (Deutsches Studentenwerk)
that can provide
you with information and assistance in accommodation and other matters.
You should also look for webpages devoted to accommodation on
individual sites.
Rent costs vary considerably across Germany, in general being cheaper
in the states (Bundesländer) of the former East Germany. More
on this can be found on our Living in
Germany
pages
Student Halls of Residence
 Rooms in student
halls of residence are provided by the student services organisation
(Studentenwerk) at your university. To get a room in a hall,
you have to register early because the cheapest rooms –
including shared bathroom and kitchen - are very popular. Around 40% of
German students live in these forms of accommodation.
Many of the Studentenwerk that manage these rooms offer them as part of
packages with other services, ranging from accommodation and meals to
health insurance.
Besides the low prices, halls of residence have another advantage. You
quickly get to know other students and they will often be your best
source of local information. Many student halls of residence also have
leisure and recreation rooms, and are connected to the university
computer centre, which means that you have your own Internet access in
your room.
You can find your Studentenwerk through the university website or via
the Deutsches
Studentenwerk
Shared flats
Shared flats (Wohngemeinschaften – WGs) are an alternative to
student halls. Several people live together in a flat they have rented
privately and share the kitchen and bathroom. Everybody has their own
room, while the other rooms are shared. The advantage is that all the
flatmates share all the costs (rent, telephone and Internet, plus
utilities like electricity and water), which means that living in a WG
is cheaper than living alone.
You can find and/or offer WG rooms on the Internet at:
- www.wg-gesucht.de
- www.wggruendung.de
- www.wg-suchen.de
- www.studenten-wg.de
- www.deutschland-wg.de
- www.wohngemeinschaft.de
- http://zimmersucher.de
Good tips on living
in a WG are offered by the following websites:
- www.job-future.de
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