From lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu Mon May 3 20:50:07 1999 Path: news.nic.utwente.nl!surfnet.nl!newsfeed.wirehub.nl!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newshub.nntp.mr.net!NewsNG.Chicago.Qual.Net!129.79.6.160!news.indiana.edu!news.iupui.edu!mozo.cc.purdue.edu!not-for-mail From: lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu (David Lutterkort) Newsgroups: soc.culture.german,soc.answers,news.answers Subject: soc.culture.german FAQ (posted monthly) part 6/6 Supersedes: Followup-To: soc.culture.german Date: 1 May 1999 10:35:12 GMT Organization: Purdue University Lines: 2457 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: References: Reply-To: scg@cs.purdue.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: proxima.cs.purdue.edu X-Trace: mozo.cc.purdue.edu 925554912 6993 128.10.8.80 (1 May 1999 10:35:12 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@mozo.cc.purdue.edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 1 May 1999 10:35:12 GMT Summary: These postings contain a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) posted to soc.culture.german. Please read them before you post a question. Originator: lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu (David Lutterkort) Xref: news.nic.utwente.nl soc.culture.german:163602 soc.answers:9364 news.answers:73048 Archive-name: german-faq/6 Last modified: 1999-04-29 Posting-Frequency: monthly URL: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/scg/ Version: 1999-04 http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/scg/ (The original !-) ================================================================== This is part 6 of the ASCII version of the FAQ list for soc.culture.german. Find the WWW version at Table of Contents for Part 6 ============================= 21. (Public) Transportation in Germany 21.1 Railways 21.1.1 Deutsche Bahn AG 21.1.2 Which Train to Use 21.1.3 Ticket Prices 21.1.4 International Addresses for Railway Travelers 21.1.5 Timetables; Travel Information 21.1.6 Railservers: Free Access to Timetables on the Internet 21.1.7 The Poor Man's Version of the Kursbuch 21.1.8 Fly and Ride (a Train) 21.1.9 Trains and Bicycles 21.2 Country-Wide/Continent-Wide Bus Travel like Greyhound? 21.3 Regional Bus Service 21.4 Regional Hiking Service ( 21.5 Local Transport (Within Cities) 21.6 You Mean I *Can* Get Around on My Bicycle? 21.7 Buying a Car for Short Period instead of EuRail? 22. Cars and Driving in Germany 22.1 How much is Gasoline in Germany? 22.2 What's the typical Mileage of Cars on German Streets? 23. Tourism 23.1 Tourism Hot Line 23.2 On-Line -- German Cities Info 23.3 Monuments to Visit 23.4 Youth hostels 23.5 Sights to See in the Cities 24. Money Talk 24.1 Currency Names and Nicknames 24.1.1 Mark 24.1.2 Groschen (10 Pfennige) 24.1.3 Taler (3 Mark) 24.1.4 Sechser (6 Pfennig) 24.1.5 Heiermann (5 Mark) 24.1.6 Zwickel (2 Mark) 24.1.7 Pfund (20 Mark) 24.1.8 Hunni or Blauer (100 Mark) 24.2 Sending Money 24.2.1 Sending money to Germany 24.2.1.1 To Others 24.2.1.2 To Yourself 24.2.2 Sending money 24.3 Exchange Rates? 24.4 Tax... 24.4.1 VAT in Germany? 24.4.2 Tax Treaty? 25. Moving! 25.1 European Resources 25.2 Taking a Computer along to Germany? 25.3 Taking Foreign Electronic Equipment to Germany? 25.4 Shipping Your Household US<->Europe/Germany 25.4.1 General Remarks on Shipping your Household 25.4.2 Cars 25.4.3 Specific Shipping Companies 25.5 Things to take to Germany? 25.5.1 Some Presents might be Lucrative Paraphernalia ;-) 25.5.2 Little Things Easily Forgotten 25.6 Postdoc Experiences at a German University 26. Urban Legends 26.1 I am a jelly doughnut 26.2 German Did Not Become the US's Official Language by 1 Vote. 26.3 Once I heard that 27. Humor 27.1 It's True... 27.2 Some Humorists 28. Questions and Answers 28.1 Where do I Keep Up with German Soccer Results? 28.2 Ich lebe/arbeite fuer begrenzte Zeit im Ausland. Wie kann ich... 28.2.1 ...Angehoerige in Deutschland benachrichtigen lassen? 28.2.2 ...mehr erfahren ueber das Land meiner beruflichen Taetigkeit? 28.2.3 ...meinen auslaendischen akademischen Titel uebertragen? 28.2.4 ...mein Wahlrecht wahrnehmen? 28.3 Mail Ordering Other Stuff? 28.4 How can I Find Out about that Famous ... 21. (Public) Transportation in Germany 21.1. Railways The last major change of timetables was on May/27/1995 Trains play a special role in Germany (and in Europe in general.) In terms of traffic they have top priority. They have right of way before any other vehicle. There are lots of tunnels and bridges for trains and therefore they don't have to stop anywhere between railway stations and can go at rather high speeds... 120km/h (75mph) for regular trains, up to 250km/h (120mph) for the high speed trains. Statistics: o former Western: o 31,443 km total; o 4,022 km non government owned, o 27,421 km government owned, 12,491 km double track 11,501 km electrified o former Eastern: o 14,025 km total; 3,830 km double track 3,475 km electrified 1988 On a typical day an average of about 32,000 trains are scheduled. The railroad system in Germany is currently under constant change. Most important: there is a program to change the German railroads from a government owned and operated system to a free market. Private and foreign companies are now free to operate on the German railroad net. 1994-2 21.1.1. Deutsche Bahn AG Deutsche Bundesbahn (former Western) and Deutsche Reichsbahn (former Eastern) joined to become Deutsche Bahn AG. Despite unification there are still price differences between East and West! The Deutsche Bahn AG is forced to split into several branches (and later into several companies): o Fernverkehr (Long-distance travel) runs all ICE, EC, IC, EN, IR and D trains. o Nahverkehr (Short-distance travel) runs all the other trains. o Personenbahnhoefe (Railway stations) runs the railways stations for all railway companies; rents shops in railway stations. (Remember: It is forbidden by German law to open shops in the evening and on Sundays. But it is legal to sell goods to passengers in airports and railway stations...) o Ladungsverkehr (Big freight service) o Stueckgutverkehr (Small freight service) o Netz (Net) sells the right to travel to railroad companies o Bahnbau (Track repair etc) o Traktion (Traction) Rents out locomotives to railways o Werke Repair of rolling stock material 1994-2 21.1.2. Which Train to Use For the last couple years the Deutsche (Bundes-/)Bahn has been implementing a new philosophy in train travel. One very obvious sign of its modernization are the new cars, which have defined new colors outside and better seats inside. As this modernization is not quite completed, frequently mixed trains of old and new cars can be seen. All modern trains have special color codes: o red-white = High speed trains (ICE, EC, IC) o blue-white = long distance trains (IR, Talgo) o green-white = regional trains (CB, RB, RE) o orange-white = urban train (S) It is a good idea to use these if possible. Foreign cars are also nice. Check the label outside! Only the silver cars (Silberlinge) are really bad. Most trains have some cars where smoking is allowed... There are also first class cars in most trains. You don't really need reservation in most trains. If you found no seat you can ride without a seat or, if you think the train is to full, take another train an hour later... There is no reservation possible for any short-distance trains. Brief overview: Long-distance trains ICE InterCityExpress; the German high speed train. These trains are integrated in the IC network, but have higher prices than other IC. Ticket prices depend on ICE speed and the speed of other trains at the same distance. EC EuroCity; an international high quality train. In Germany most EC's are integrated in the IC net. IC InterCity; a national high quality train. Nearly all IC's run in the IC net. On most lines there is one IC every hour. ICN InterCityNight; a high quality night train; more silent rolling, leans into curves, you can sleep in even after arrival. EN EuroNight; a night train, there were only 4 such trains in 1994/1995. IR Interregio; similar to IC. The IR net is much longer and IR's stop at more stations IC's. On most lines there is one IR every other hour. D Schnellzug; a long-distance train which is not good enough to be qualified as ICE, EC, IC, EN, IR. In May 1994 most of them will get modernized and become InterRegios. Some night trains or trains with foreign destinations will remain D trains. Short-distance trains E Eilzug; a semi-fast train. Some of these trains are as fast as IC, others are slower and stop at every station. RE RegionalExpress; an E-train with modern cars, runs periodically. Stop only at major stations. RB RegionalBahn; a local train with qualified good rolling material. Stops at every station. SE StadtExpress; a local train with modern cars, runs periodically. CB CityBahn; a local train with qualified good rolling material, runs periodically. S S-Bahn; an urban train in areas like Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich,... 1994-02 The following train types are now history...discontinued! RSB RegionalSchnellBahn; a semi-fast train; replaced by the RE's. () (no letter marking) Nahverkehrszug; local train. 1997-06 21.1.3. Ticket Prices 2nd class West 0.24 DM/km 2nd class East 0.17 DM/km 1st class is 150 percent of 2nd class price. ICE price is a little more in 2nd and 1st class. There are special short-distance prices in many areas. In that case the ticket includes local bus and subway, but you can use all short- distance trains with a railroad ticket like Interail etc or a long- distance train ticket. 1994-2 21.1.4. International Addresses for Railway Travelers o Australia Thomas Cook Limited, Ground Floor, 257 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 2000, tel (03) 6502442, fax (03) 6507050 o Canada German Rail/DER Tours, 904 The East Mail, Etobicoke, ONT. M93 6K2, tel +1(416)695-1209, fax +1(416)695-1210 o England o DER Travel Service, German Rail Sales, 18 Conduit Street, London W1Y 7PE, tel 071-499 0577 / 0578 o German Rail Distribution, 18 Chertsey Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 5AB Travel Planner: A 38-pade guide to services and fares to and within in Germany. o Continental Rail Agents Consortium (CRAC), c/o 424 Chester Road, Little Sutton, Cheshire L98 RB, 051-339 6171 A group of retail travel agents throughout the country offering a specialist service for the continental rail traveler. o German Tourist Office, Nightingale House, 65 Curzon Street, London W 1Y, 7PE. 071-495 3990 o USA German Rail/DER Tours, 11933 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, tel +1(310)479-41140, fax +1(310)479-2239 1994-6 21.1.5. Timetables; Travel Information There are many timetables you can buy or get for free in Germany. Prices will not be a real problem for travelers, but weight may be a concern, unless you are interested in transporting just timetables... Kursbuch Gesamtausgabe 15 DM; 3000 g All trains in Germany, no subways, no busses. Auslandskursbuch 10 DM; 800 g A selection of long-distance trains in Europe outside Germany. Fernfahrplan 7 DM; 800 g All long-distance trains in Germany. Regionalkursbuecher 7 DM; 800 g (each) 12 books with timetables. Regionalfahrplaene 5 DM; 300 g (each) 30 books with all trains and all federal bus. (But no local bus etc!) Staedteverbindungen 0 DM; 300 g Trains from big towns to other big towns. Staedteverbindungen von ... und nach ... 0 DM; 150 g 160 booklets about trains from the 160 most important stations to 60 even more most important stations ;-) Available only at local railway stations. Streckenfahrplan Strecke ... 0 DM; 10 g Specialized table of all trains on just one line; hundreds of these papers exist. Available only at local railway stations. At some place also available for street cars and/or busses. Oertlicher Fahrplan X DM; X g In all towns you can buy local timetables with all the local bus and subway and local trains and all trains from the main local station. Buy it if you plan on staying any longer than just a few hours in an area. In every major city you should be able to call the travel information service of the Bahn under possible area code prefix to be used 19419 1994-6 Additionally, electronic timetables for MSDOS/Windows are available. There are two versions: Elektronische Staedteverbindungen comes on 3HD floppies, requires 7MB of hard disk space, 80386, 2MB RAM; includes 1000 Stations, 24000 Trains, covers about 90% of all inquiries, DM 29,80 Elektronisches Kursbuch (ISBN 3-932045-31-9) " comes on CD-ROM, requires 80386, 4MB RAM; includes all trains in Germany, and her neighbor countries; other Euopean countries are listed with those trains relevant to travelling to/from Germany. You can opt to search the complete timetables of the Rhein-Main- Verkehrsverbundes (that's a very large local integrated network of trains, busses, subways and other public transportation services) Price of the CD-ROM is DM 30. 1996-12 They can be ordered at Deutsche Bahn AG, Postfach 1157, 53821 Trois- dorf 1994-6 21.1.6. Railservers: Free Access to Timetables on the Internet German Kursbuch On-Line -- including Germany's neighbor contries... The database of the `Elektronisches Kursbuch' can now be accessed directly and promptly at http://www.hacon.de/ Frederik Ramm has sedulously and diligently in pursuit (yip, I enjoy using my thesaurus ;) set up an access to the electronic timetables of the Deutsche Bahn AG. Vielen Dank, Frederik. He offers: The RailServer, a mail server for German railway connec- tions, has all German railway stations and connections available, as well as about 4.000 other European stations (almost all large cities and the trains that run between them an Germany). The RailServer is not not yet :-) an online service; you have to send your queries by mail. However, there is a WWW gateway that not only allows to send requests but also contains lots of info on the server and on railroading in Germany in general. Use your favorite WWW-browser to look up the RailServer main page. 1995-4 The RailServer email address is rail@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de The commands you can use to query the database all begin with a number sign (#). A simple query looks like this: #FROM Munich #TO Berlin #DATE 06-30-94 #TIME 12:00 You can also specify more details, time ranges, arrival time, and you can order various lists. But the most impor- tant command might be #HELP which sends you the RailServer help file (about 300 lines). The RailServer is my (a student's) hobby project and does not have commercial goals. If you have any suggestions for improvement, feel free to drop me a line : (Frederik Ramm). If you maintain any FAQ's or resource lists or other information documents that are traffic-related, I'd be glad to see a note about the RailServer included there. (Frederik Ramm, June/94) Bahnverbindungen in Deutschland Notice, however, that this is just an interface to a mail-based server, requests are answered only twice a day. 1995-5 Austrian timetables... TU Graz offers an http server, as well as a telnet site. 21.1.7. The Poor Man's Version of the Kursbuch The German Kursbuch exists on CD-ROM; but even without it one still gets along quite well, following these simple basic rules: o The service in the West is better than in the East. o You can rely on the backbone of the ICE/EC/IC/IR inner net with trains running at least every other hour, usually every one! (In some highly frequented areas three times an hour.) o Some ICE/EC/IC/IR may also connect to less important cities (outer net). o They always run at the same minute after the hour and they are very punctual. o On more than 90 percent of the railway lines there are more than just a few trains every day. Almost certainly there is a service of at least one train every other hour, usually there's better service. o Missed a train? You may or may not be well-advised to take the very next. On many lines there are different trains stopping not at the same stations. (Typically one train may stop at many stations and an hour later the next train stops at fewer stations and the next train after that one stops again *everywhere*... Because of this mixed service it is good advice to check if using a short-distance train is an option when you missed a long-distance train. Check first! Many short-distance trains stop at rural stations and wait to let a long-distance train pass. In that case it would be better to wait for the faster long-distance train... o Short-distance service is somewhat limited on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays (no rush hour back-up trains; usual trains run less frequently.) Nevertheless, nearly all long-distance trains usually do run on these days. Check before traveling on less important lines on weekends! 1994-2 21.1.8. Fly and Ride (a Train) Airports with railway stations near or under the terminals: o Duesseldorf: S-trains to Duesseldorf und Duisburg and other towns in the area. o Frankfurt: S-trains to Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden and other towns in the area. IC/EC Service to many German towns. o Stuttgart: S-trains to Stuttgart and other towns in the area. o Muenchen: S-trains to Muenchen. It is a good advice for travelers to the North to check the bus shuttle via Freising Be ready to have German coins. It is not legal to enter an S-train without a valid ticket. So you might want to use the ticket vending machines. Other airports can be reached by local public transport. Taxis cost a lot in all areas and may also be time consuming in some areas. 1994-2 21.1.9. Trains and Bicycles Take your bike along on a train! It costs 8.60 DM to transport a bike in an IR TRAIN with reservation and self service, but costs double price without reservation. Note: It is not possible to transport a bike in 95 percent of all long-distance, non-IR trains! Only the InterCityNights do carry bicycles. It costs 8.60 DM or less to transport a bike in any short- distance train; no reservation necessary (or even possible). It is possible to transport a bike in 95 percent of all short-distance trains. Some of the RSB and E trains are real semi-fast trains. It is very easy to take a bike across Germany's border by train. Take a train to the last station before the border. Than ride across the border to the next station... It might be possible that there is another method... :-O ask! :-) In tourist areas it is possible to rent bikes at railway stations or from private. 1994-2 21.2. Country-Wide/Continent-Wide Bus Travel like Greyhound? There is no national or private bus company like greyhound. There are, nevertheless, a few lines run by the European railroads or private companies. Some of the lines you can find in the Kursbuch. On many lines there is only one bus every day or even week. Some airport bus lines have real service. A return ticket Hamburg-Paris costs about DM 150. In towns with many foreign workers there might also be some bus services to the South, but you have to be a local to know about it. 1994-2 21.3. Regional Bus Service There are regional bus services run by bus companies of the federal railroad. Ask at a railway station about the service. Exception: In some areas, mostly in the Eastern, there is no regional bus service run by any railway related company. Ask for the local transport company. 1994-2 21.4. Regional Hiking Service ( Mitfahrzentralen ) Though hitch-hiking is not commonly encouraged, it's still a fairly common way of getting around in the summer time. There is no promise that it's more or less dangerous in Germany than in other parts of the world. You'll have to weigh up the risk and inconvenience yourself. If you're not in a rush, have a sense of adventure, and want or need to save money, it may be an option for you. If safety and comfort are your priorities it's probably much better to use the widespread network of ride sharing agencies (the so-called Mitfahrzentralen) to find a ride -- Organized hitch-hiking so to speak. Based on the idea that single drivers and hikers just need some place where they can meet, these centers charge hikers a small fee for a successful match. Drivers don't get charged, because these centers live on their offers. The service bureaus usually note down the names, addresses, phone numbers and license plate numbers of the involved parties -- adding a lot of safety to the relationship, not just predictability. The general procedure is: o You call them and say what you want o They tell you what they've got, with an option to reserve a ride o You show up, pay the (modest) fee and get the name, phone # and license # of the driver and the meeting time and place, plus a copy of the insurance that is included in the fee. o You show up at the rendezvous and pay the driver your share of the gas costs after he brought you to your destination. In the office they will tell you how much the driver may charge at maximum. All in all, you pay about 1/3 to 1/2 of the train fare. 1994-5 Quite a number of the Mitfahrzentralen are connected by the so-called Citynetz. The general phone number for all member centers of the Citynetz is 19444 It is available in the following cities (followed by area code prefix): Berlin(030) Bonn(0228) Braunschweig(0531) Bremen(0421) Dortmund(0231) Duesseldorf(0211) Erlangen(09131) Frankfurt/Main(069) Freiburg(0761) Goettingen(0551) Hamburg(040) Hannover(0511) Heidelberg(06221) Kassel(0561) Kiel(0431) Koeln(0221) Mannheim(0621) Muenchen(089) Muenster(0251) Nuernberg(0911) Osnabrueck(0541) Wuppertal(0202) Your requests are handled on a computer network...return/continuing trip requests can automatically be forwarded; you may pay by Bankeinzug (only from German accounts) examples of price totals (including fee; VAT; gas share) o Cologne - Paris DM 46 o Munich - Frankfurt DM 41 o Berlin Duesseldorf DM 51 from a brochure 3/94 There is also an internet address for the Mitfahrzentrale at the university of Stuttgart (non commercial!) also accessible via telnet 1994-10 21.5. Local Transport (Within Cities) In all German towns there are local bus service or streetcars or subways. To get information about it ask local Germans. If that's not possible call the local railway station and ask them for the name and phone number of the local transport company. Then call the local transport. If you stay longer than a day in an area, it's a good idea to buy a local transport timetable and get a map of their local net. 1994-2 21.6. You Mean I *Can* Get Around on My Bicycle? You may or may not be used to cycling at home - in Germany cycling is definitely worth considering: for your daily commuting, for short- distance errands, for pastime, or for longer vacation tours. Bring along your bicycle, or buy one in Germany. Prices range from under 100 DM on the fleamarket to several thousand DM. Cycling conditions in the cities vary between comfortable (Muenster) and horrible (?.) Ask your German colleagues for advice. Cycling is probably more regulated in Germany than in your country - which has both advantages and disadvantages. It's a good idea to know about German traffic rules regarding cycling and the required equipment of your bicycle! All kind of advice on cycling in Germany (among other: cycling maps) have the various bicycle clubs and traffic clubs. See also: `Trains and Bicycles,' and the newsgroup de.rec.fahrrad (see `The Internet') with their very informative FAQ list (a second source. ) 1994-6, mw 21.7. Buying a Car for Short Period instead of EuRail? Summary of a thread from Fall 1993. The overall tone of the responses was pessimistic. In particular: o Registration and insurance are difficult to arrange for foreigners without residency o Gas is expensive o Parking can be a hassle. Here are selected parts of the responses: Driving in Germany is not cheap! A tank of gas that would cost you about US$12 ( 20 DM) in the USA would cost you about US$50 there ( 80 DM) in Germany (Assuming a rate of 1.60 DM per US$1.) If you don't buy a car from a dealer you do not pay vat any- way. For that kind of money DM 2000-2500, US$ 1200-1500 don't bother about shipping it to the States. It would be so old that it wouldn't have a catalytic converter. Your Insurance will be astronomical just because you're a foreigner. ... You've also got to pay property taxes on the car. That means you must have an address in Germany where you are angemeldet residency. There also may be some legal hang-ups against buying a car if you're just using it to travel. In addition to these thoughts, the buying process is also quite different. You can't just walk into a car dealer and come out with a car -- like you can in America. There's quite a bit of paper work that needs to be done before you can even test drive the car. You'll have to come back a cou- ple of days later to do that and then afterwards you can negotiate the transaction. Primarily central parts of the cities are closed for cars. Parking can be a hassle. To my knowledge, you have to be resident of the Fed. Rep. of Germany in order to register a car. ... re-selling the car can be quite a hassle. There are times (not particular sea- sons, though) when the market is not really in favor for sellers. ... Renting a car might be worth considering. It should be no problem to get a car which is still running for this price. Make sure it has some state inspection time left, otherwise it will not be registered. ... You will need insurance, of course. This is based on the hp of the car. For 40 hp it will be about 100 DM per month. You must also pay car tax, this is based on the cc of the engine. For 1 liter is it about DM 200 per year. You get a refund, if you sell the car earlier for the unused time. I personally would not recommend buying a very cheap car, because it will likely break down. I would look for a really cheap car (<1000 DM), which will last for the time you are in Germany. Q: Are there Mercedes diesels from the 70s that are reason- ably priced? A: They are about DM 2000-6000 US$ 1200-4000 ... maybe more if in very good shape. I lived in Germany for over a year and one of the nicer things ... about living there is the fact that you don't need a car. Addendum: In July/94 the insurance market became more liberal (following an EU guide-line.) Whatever the consequences are -- it's very likely more diverse now and less transparent to the customers. 22. Cars and Driving in Germany Some general information. For questions regarding moving to or from Germany and taking your car along, pleas look at the `Moving' chapter. 1996-06 22.1. How much is Gasoline in Germany? Expect prices around Diesel DM 1,15/Liter Ben- zin bleifrei 91 octane unleaded DM 1,49/Liter Super bleifrei 95 octane unleaded DM 1,55/Liter Super plus bleifrei 98 octane unleaded DM 1,59/Liter Super verbleit 98 octane leaded DM 1,68/Liter (Assume a range of about 0.10DM more or less throughout Germany.) 1994-5 ...these are among the highest in Europe, and about 3x of what you might find in the USA. 22.2. What's the typical Mileage of Cars on German Streets? Actually, kilometerage would be more accurate. The typical German car runs at below 7 liters/100km; (roughly 33mi/gal and more, if I did my math right here. To get a first, rough estimate of miles per gallon, divide 250 by the number of liters per 100: 250/7=35) If you want to meet about average costs for driving, your car will have to match at least that consumption. Many (many!) cars, though, get to a low consumption of less than 5 or even 4l/100; i.e. more than 47 or 59 mi/gal... no surprise when considering the many diesel engines in use even for small cars. 1997-06 An annual kilometerage of 12,000km/year is considered typical (less than the 10,000 mi/year average in the US; possibly because Europe is smaller;-) If you estimate costs for gas at around 1.60DM per liter times 12,000 km times 6 liters/100km, you end up with some DM1150 per year 1996-06 23. Tourism 23.1. Tourism Hot Line The Deutsche Fremdenverkehrsverband (DFV) has created a network of information hot lines to connect to local touristic bureaus, using always the same telephone number. In most cities you can now get information by calling (possibly the area code and then) 19433.1996-1 23.2. On-Line -- German Cities Info An excellent overview of the following cities gives the CityNet: Aachen, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bonn, Bremen, Chemnitz, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Darmstadt, Dresden, Erlangen, Frankfurt/M., Freiburg, Goettingen, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Muenster, Mainz, Mittweida, Munich, Oldenburg, Paderborn, Passau, Regensburg, Rostock, Schwalmstadt, Schwandorf, Stuttgart, Trier, Ulm, Wiesbaden, Worms, Wuppertal, Zwickau 1995-5 Additionally you find at the tourist guide of leo.org: Bayreuth, Kaiserslautern, Kiel 1995-5 And you may try the Kulturbox. 1995-10 23.3. Monuments to Visit For a rather conventional description see Scharf, Helmut: Kleine Kunstgeschichte des Deutschen Denkmals. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (1984) ISBN 3-534-09548-0. It's a short history of monument-building and -art in Ger- many, covering early middle ages to almost present. o The Voelkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig, or Monument to the Battle of Nations, commemorating the victory over Napoleon in 1813 by the Russians and their German allies. o Niederwalddenkmal near Ruedesheim; Emperor Wilhelm I 1871 - 1888 o Kyffhaeuserdenkmal east of the Harz-mountains o Bismarckdenkmal in Hamburg o Denkmal am Deutschen Eck in Koblenz/Rhine o Kaiser-Wilhelm-Monument at the Porta Westfalica, Westphalia; on the slope of the Wiehengebirge, overlooking the river Weser valley. o Hermanns-Denkmal, South of Detmold; built in the last century to commemorate the victory of the germanic chieftain Arminius (aka Hermann) over 3 roman legions in the year 9 A.C. o Walhalla near Regensburg; resembles an ancient greek temple overlooking the river Danube; it contains busts of a number of famous Germans. 1996-1 23.4. Youth hostels For budget-conscious travellers, Youth Hostels offer some of the cheapest accomodations available. Some of the Youth Hostels in Germany are located in stunningly beautiful parts of town: for example, the Youth Hostel in Nuernberg is in the Burg (castle), dab-smack in the center of town, in a medieval building. The Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk runs almost all Youth Hostels in Germany. It's mailing addresses can be found at this website 1999-02 23.5. Sights to See in the Cities Frankfurt o Paulskirche (assembly of first German parliament) o Art Museum Stuttgart Staatsgalerie (Modern Art) Dresden Zwinger (Art) 1997-06 24. Money Talk 24.1. Currency Names and Nicknames 24.1.1. Mark Supposedly Mark was a term coined in Cologne. People there used to put marks in equal distances on silver bars, and cut them at these marks if they needed smaller amounts of silver to pay someone. So the smallest fraction of one silverbar was one Mark. The Mark has gone through quite some changes with history: Before 1871 Germany was comprised of some 40 single kingdoms, each of whom had their own currency with their own name. 1871 United Germany comes into existance, and so does the Mark. 1871 - 1923 Mark (abbreviated M) 1923 Hyper inflation after WW1 causes the value of the Mark to drop by a factor 1,000 each month. At the end of the year, prices like 1,000 billion Mark for everyday items are common. A new currency was introduced, rendering old money worthless. 1923 - 1924 Rentenmark 1924 - 1948 Reichsmark (RM) After WW2 The four allied forces (U.S.A., Great Brittain, France on the one hand and USSR on the other) introduce new currencies in their respective zones. The former three agree to use the same kind, whereas the latter choose a different one. (Soon after this the two post-war States of Germany were established.) Period West East 1948 - 1964 Deutsche Mark (DM) Deutsche Mark (DM) (same name butdifferent!) 1964 - 1967 (same) Mark der Deutschen Notenbank (MDN) 1967 - 1990 (same) Mark der DDR (M) 1990 (same) adoption of West German currency 1990 - today Deutsche Mark 24.1.2. Groschen (10 Pfennige) The Groschen was an official currency unit in Prussia until 1871. The Prussian currency was the Taler (see below.) 1 Taler = 30 Groschen = 300 Pfennig (originally, 360 Pfennig, but this changed in the 1850s). The Taler currency was also in use in smaller states in northern Germany. Note that the Austrian Groschen (1/100 Schilling) is quite different from the German Groschen. 1997-01 24.1.3. Taler (3 Mark) remained a common term for 3 Mark coins until they were discontinued a few years before WW I. It has the same origin, by the way, as the US Dollar, the Danish Rigsdaler and the Swedish Riksdaler. (If you pronounce it correctly you'll still hear it ;-) Namely, they stem from the name of the currency used in the area of Joachimsthal in the 16-th century: the Joachims-Thaler. 1996-10 24.1.4. Sechser (6 Pfennig) The term dates back to the mid-19th century. Until the 1850s, a Groschen had 12 Pfennige, which was later changed to 10. The new 5 Pfennig coins were still, colloquially, called Sechser, which persisted until today. 24.1.5. Heiermann (5 Mark) It probably refers to the heavy weight of the 5 DM coin. 24.1.6. Zwickel (2 Mark) Casual name for the 2 Mark coin; some loved/hated politicians' portraits have appeared on its backside recently. (Strauss, Brandt etc.) 1996-06 24.1.7. Pfund (20 Mark) A less common term is Pfund (pound) for 20 DM. This might date back to times when a British pound was still a pound and worth about 20 DM. 1996-04 24.1.8. Hunni or Blauer (100 Mark) Very simply derived from the blue color of the hundert Mark note. 1997-01 24.2. Sending Money Getting money across international borders can be tricky. The following hints are mostly based on experiences of posters on s.c.g who needed to send money to mail order places in Germany / to transfer their funds when working abroad / for their own or their relatives' traveling needs / etc. (Says one reader:) As for financial transactions, let me point out that combin- ing various strategies you've listed really works well. For one thing if you have accounts on both sides of the Atlantic (or elsewhere for that matter) it's good to have checks of those accounts with you wherever you go. Here, for instance, I pay my bills in the US simply by sending checks from an American checking account. That way cash flow stays within the respective country and doesn't have to undergo exchange rates or excessive fees. To bring the money across the Atlantic international credit cards work great. 1996-10 24.2.1. Sending money to Germany Ruesch International Financial Services will issue a draft in DM (and other currencies) at the current rate of exchange, plus a service charge of US$3 per transaction. Their services are for deposit only, meaning, the recipient needs an account in Germany! Call the U.S. headquarters (in Washington, DC) at +1(800)424-2923 to set up an account. 1997-06 Regional offices: Atlanta (+1-404-222-9300), Boston (+1-617-482-8600), Chicago (+1-312-332-5900), Los Angeles (+1-310-277-7800), New York (+1-212-977-2700), Washington, DC (+1-202-408-1200) Switzerland: Ruesch Devisenhandel, Schipfe 7, CH-8023 Zuerich, tel 01-212-5300, fax 01-212-5406, (They charge 5 sfr for a check.) Other ways to get US$ across the ocean are: 24.2.1.1. To Others Sending an (e.g. American) personal check may or may not work for paying bills...if you like to gamble then this is your way ;-) sending your own Eurochecque Send one of your own Eurochecques; possibly you can get them from a German bank's branch. Catch: Need to have a German bank account. deposit with foreign branches of German banks if you are lucky enough to find a major German bank's branch in your city you might be able to direct deposit money. international postal money orders International money orders are issued by American post offices, indeed; but the process is very bureaucratic (surprise!) You pay at the local P.O. in US $$ (you have to guess the conversion), mail your receipt to St. Louis, which office in turn issues the M.O. in foreign currency direct to the party you name. The service fee is supposedly US$7.50. 1994-10 travelers checks (TC) Go to a local (e.g.) American Express office and purchase DM travelers checks. You lose a lot when you change your $-TCs at German banks. You can get single checks, 20's and above. No service fee, but a few points off the bank exchange rate. Make sure to fill out the Pay to the order of: field for security! Problem: You may not get the exact amount you need (DM 57.89) when paying, say, a mail order bill. 1996-10 American Express money orders Are well accepted by German banks. For long term you might consider opening a German bank account and depositing a regular payment with American Express money orders. Then you can pay German bills off of that account. 24.2.1.2. To Yourself American account -> German Account People have been able to transfer money from their American accounts to their German ones (notably a Postgirokonto and Raiffeisenbank.) It's possible to cash a personal check from a U.S. to a German account Postgiro charges a fee of only DM 3 for one check, Raiffeisen takes out DM15. No other hidden costs, but, alas, you probably need to have an account with the respective institute for using this service. US checks must be made payable to the bank that cashes them. 1994-11 American ATM's if there is some US military close by, they might even have American ATM's, so that your Cirrus or whatever card should work there properly. 1994-11 24.2.2. Sending money from Germany international postal money orders Available at every post office. Charge is about DM30 for the first DM500, then DM10 for every next DM500 started. 1996-07 German account -> credit card -> pay have a credit card withdrawing from your German account. Try to avoid cash advances (extra fee) but buy things with your card (note: not only the currency exchange rate is applied, but also an extra fee of typically 1%.) 1995-4 German account -> Eurocheque -> American account At times the most convenient way for transfering ones own money from Germany to the US is by depositing a Eurocheque (or simply a Verrechnugscheck) into one's checking account. Exact procedures vary from bank to bank, but you probably need to insist that that is possible as most tellers have never handled personal cheques drawn on a European bank. You should get reasonable exchange rates, but American banks often charge a processing fee of US$5-10. This scheme should be good for large sum transfers, i.e. right after arrival in the USA. 1997-06 German account -> EC ATM Take along your Eurocheque (EC) card as long as you are travelling within Europe (and selected other countries; ask your local bank). Then you can get money from every ATM (Geldautomat) with EC sign. The fee is DM 5 for every take, but you get 100% of the exchange rate (not the lower rate you get for TC). 1996-10 travelers checks You pay DM 10 at the time you buy DM-denominated travelers checks. Supposedly you should be charged no additional fees when you redeem them at your destination for their currency, which, however, does not turn out to be true in some places, as s.c.g readers report. Theoretically, in such cases, you can be reimbursed by your local German bank, once you are back ...what an overall hassle... 1996-10 24.3. Exchange Rates? On the web: o Deutsche Bank offer both Devisen and Sorten rates. 1997-01 o gnn server (weekly updated US$<->others) o currency overview 1996-02 o Olson's currency converter 1996-02 o Exchange rates in Amsterdam (daily Hfl<->others) 1995-6 o Daily exchange rates from the federal reserve bank, New York (US$<->others) o Exchange rates of the last four weeks (federal reserve bank, New York; US$<->others) 1995-6 Ok telnet sources: o A gateway through TU Graz offers a handy Valuten calculator 1995-6 24.4. Tax... 24.4.1. VAT in Germany? In Germany every retail price includes 15% (1993 value) Value Added Tax (VAT) (in German: Mehrwehrtsteuer, MwSt). If you buy goods in Germany and plan to take them with you to a foreign country it is possible to get a refund for the VAT. In some places you even get a discount in the shop. To get the VAT refunded you usually need some proof that you do not life in Germany (Passport ...) and a special receipt from the store. It is possible for Germans to get a refund if their Passport shows a foreign address. Then ask for your refund at the border or airport (if the store did not deduct the tax already). Please ask the customs people for details. This refund might be not available for residents of European Community member states. 24.4.2. Tax Treaty? The US and Germany have a tax treaty. This means that, as a US citizen, you only pay taxes to the IRS if your US taxes would be higher than your German taxes. So if your US taxes under your income would have been US$1000, and you paid US$900 to the Finanzamt, then you'd owe US$100 to the US government. On basis of this tax treaty German students, studying and working in the US, might be able to claim tax exemption for part or all of their US income. The key is whether you receive an assistantship or a fellowship. According to the US-German tax treaty special taxation of assistantships is limited to four years (maximum presence for these rules to apply) and $5000 per year are tax exempt (Treaty Article 20(4), Compensation during study or training.) Fellowships, however, have no limit in terms of time of presence nor in the amount (Treaty Article 20(3), Scholarship or fellowship grant,) i.e. as long as you receive a fellowship in the sense of this treaty your total "income" is tax exempt. Conclusion: try to get a fellowship. And remember; taxes were not meant to be comprehensible and... keep smiling !-) 1996-10 25. Moving! 25.1. European Resources European Resources is a collection of pointers by David Johnson that cover a variety of issues when moving to or visiting the European continent. Among others, there are: relocation kits, eurailpasses, international travel news, intercultural press, foreign newspapers and magazines, international employment gazette, the european (newspaper). 1996-06 25.2. Taking a Computer along to Germany? Will it work in Germany - different voltage, outlets? Is there a way to use an adapter? I know that works for hairdryers, but computers seem a bit more sensitive. o Do not (NOT) use the simple "converters" used for hairdryers, they sometimes are nothing but a diode that blocks every other half- period of the incoming ac. Great for heating coils, but a disaster for a computer. Either your computer accepts 230 V directly, in which case you only need a new power cable, or you need a decent transformer. It can be a so-called auto-transformer (without galvanic separation of primary and secondary,) which is half the weight and should be half the cost, but the thing must be rated for the power of your computer (especially the display, if you take that also with you). The transformer should be bigger than two fists, and remember: too big does no harm, except to your pocketbook. o Of course you know about the differences in keyboard layout, and umlauts in the German language... o Check the back of your computer about the voltage and frequency accepted. If it does accept 240 V and 50 Hz. No problem, all you need is an adapter for the outlet (BTW, they are easier to buy in Germany). If it does accept 50 Hz but only 110 V, you need a transformer. I've heard that the cheap ones from travel suppliers sometimes screw up. I bought myself a couple, but didn't try them yet. If it only accepts 110V and 60 Hz, you should consider getting a new power supply and exchange it in your computer. It should run well below DM100 to do that. 1996-06 25.3. Taking Foreign Electronic Equipment to Germany? If you wish to use domestic American electronics in Germany you will encounter difficulties such as: o The medium wave (AM) frequencies sometimes have different spacings (e.g. 9 kHz vs. 10 kHz). This will cause problems with digital receivers. o The voltage / frequency in Germany is 220-240 V / 50 Hz and not 110 V / 60 Hz as in the US. Improper voltage / frequency could result in serious damage. (Actually, that's true for most of Europe now, one of the cases where regulation is a benefit ...the states of the European Union have agreed to keep line voltages at 230V/50Hz everywhere;-) 1997-01 o German plugs have a different shape. While people from European Union countries might not have the line voltage problems, they are faced with differently shaped plugs, just the same! o TV uses the PAL norm. American TV uses the NTSC norm. French and British systems are different, yet. These norms are incompatible. Therefore foreign television will generally not work in Germany and vice-versa, although multi-norm (multi-system) TV's are available in Europe. (See `Audio / Video Tapes' for more.) 1996-1 Walk About Travel Gear do a thorough job of explaining which appliances need converters, which need adapters, and of course, they have some available to sell. 1997-01 25.4. Shipping Your Household US<->Europe/Germany Summary of a thread from Winter 1995. 25.4.1. General Remarks on Shipping your Household There are different shipping methods (besides airmail): Regular Shipping The regular shipping companies charge about 80c per pound for shipping from NY to Frankfurt. The more you have to send, the cheaper the rate gets. For shipment of less than 500 lbs, they usually use flat rates. For example, International Sea & Air shipping Co. (+1-212-766-1616) charges 1-100 lbs 101-200 lbs 201-300 lbs 401-500 lbs US$247 273 352 445 501-1000 lbs 1001-2000 lbs 2001 lbs & over 89c/lb 77c/lb 73c/lb If you live far from NY, you have to pay more. If I ship my stuff from North Carolina, the rate is much higher than the above rates. For example, DeHavens (+1-919-220-5441) in NC charges US$1.48/lb for 500-700 lbs, and US$1.35/lb for 701-1000 lbs. Several other local places have the same or higher rates. The good thing about these places is that their rates include door-to-door service. Discount Shipping (Hey, let's gather more information on this!) There are some outrageously cheap shipping options for those who live in NY or other big cities. (See below.) US Post Office The regular shipping service by the US-post is much more expensive Than the above mentioned shipping service, but their book shipping option, known as M-Bag, is the cheapest way (under any ordinary circumstances) to ship books from anywhere in the US to anywhere overseas. They charge only 72c per pound. Each bag has the minimum weight of 15lbs and the maximum weight of 66lbs. You can put books and periodicals in these bags. The regular printed matter is excluded from this service, although its rate is still lower than those for other materials. Time to Germany varies from 2-6 weeks, so plan ahead. But for the price, you can't beat it. It is especially good for shipments of books and notes. Supposedly the bags get emptied in Bremen and the little boxes are sent individually; but s.c.g readers also have received the whole bag instead...Reportedly these bags take quite a beating, so tape the little boxes well! 1995-4 Other experiences: several quotes from readers of s.c.g I had about 800lbs of stuff to ship. I called several haul- ing companies and they would charge me between US$1000-1500. Almost as expensive as by mail. A friend gave me a number to call, where they charge only about US$250 per cubic meter (it's in a container on a ship). I called them and they confirmed the price. I think you should get something simi- lar from the east coast. Don't know about NC, but if you can get your stuff to NYC, there is a guy called K.D. Marreck who does shipments to Germany for an outrageously cheap price (I shipped my 5 large boxes with books, printer, PC etc for US$100). He cooperates with the German mover's company Kuehne&Nagel; I think what he does is he includes your handful of boxes in large containers paid for by companies doing large int'l shipments. First I was sort of suspicious since the ware- house, to which I had to take my boxes, was in one of the worst neighborhoods in NYC and looked rather run-down. But everything arrived complete and intact. Besides, I had got- ten the address from the German consulate in NYC, so I guess this guy is not known as a crook. The address: KD Marreck Intl and Domestic Moving Services, PO Box 43, Manhasset NY 11030, tel +1(516)627-0845, fax 627-6143 I am an air freight forwarder and I am most familiar with what you are saying. It is true that the warehouses (including mine) of freight forwarders are in the worst areas of town (for me Buffalo, NY). It is good advice to check with various shipping agents. If you are not in a hurry, tell the forwarder you wish to "consolidate" your freight with other oceanbound freight going to Germany. This means your freight leaves with other large shipments at a rate much less than usually charged. You can negotiate with forwarders.1996-1 Contact Panalpina in Washington DC. But make a conscientious decision what you want to send. Basically the bulkier an item, the more expensive it is per pound. My advice is to send as much stuff as you can through the mail, with the US postal service your local branch about book rates, and rates for sending things through surface mail. It may take a little longer to get your stuff once you are in Germany, but the savings are worth it. 1995-3 25.4.2. Cars Be aware of possible difficulties with finding parts or even just service stations for rare cars; rare being defined by the German market... Of all US car manufacturers, only Ford is presently in the German market to a sizable share. To get parts for a chevy or pontiac could prove very expensive. Japanese and Korean cars should meet fewer problems in Germany. Of course, practically all European car manufacturers also sell to the German market. 1996-06 The following are quotes from readers of s.c.g To ship your car over, in very broad terms, there are two ways of going: o shipping your car door-to-door with your furniture o shipping it separately. I chose the latter because it is much less expensive. When they ship your car with your furniture, you need a big container and in my case that would have meant wasting a lot of space. Another thing I did to save money is to drop off my car at the port and pick it up at the port in Germany. Finally, I learned there are potentially two middle men on the sending side - the moving company and the freight forwarder. I decided to eliminate the moving company and go directly to the freight forwarder. The freight forwarder does things like store your car until the next shipment and fill out paper work. The one I used is called Sea Bridge in Baltimore. No matter which way you go you'll need three copies of your title notarized front and back. Note that some readers report they didn't need this. In my case, the freight forwarder is going to make those notarized copies for me. In my case the charge for sending my 1992 VW Jetta GL from Baltimore to Bremerhafen is US$744 plus the insurance. The insurance costs 1.5 % the estimated value of your car. If I'd gone through the moving company, the insurance would have been 2.5% the value. I understand that when I go to pick up my car in Germany I'll need to pay some German port taxes. The agent at Sea Bridge advised me not to get an agent on the German side. He says that I could do the paper work myself in about 2 hours. I shipped a car to Paris. There are three ways to do it. First, you can have the car sent on a car-carrier. This is the most expensive way. Would have cost me about US$2000 to have the car delivered to Le Havre, France. Second choice, have the car shipped as if it were household goods - ie, in a 40 foot container. This way they deliver it to your city, and maybe even to your home. Cost runs about US$1000. Final way, and the way I did it - I had the car shipped in the 40 foot container WITH my household goods. Ran me an extra US$600 and I simply picked the car up at the shipper's warehouse in Paris. Call any major moving company for details. In Washington, try Security Storage, Victory Van, or Colonial Storage. For shipping cars US -> Europe you can try Sunship Interna- tional Harry Zaki (?) 1-800-344-9428 Aug '92: US$900 in 1992 I selected pick-up at home (in the US) and delivery to the harbor in Antwerp; it did cost around US$ 1000. I had it organized by Rainier Movers(?) (somewhere in Washing- ton state); can recommend them. Last year I shipped my Mazda from Portland, Oregon to Bre- men, with the following costs: o Truck to San Francisco US$250 o Ship from SFO to Bremen (via Panama) US$800 o Handling in Bremen DM300 o Customs and Tax (Umzugsgut!) zilch o remodeling for Tuev DM600 Transport: Bossi & CO. Inc., 80 Park Avenue, P.O. Box 69, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, tel +1(201)659-4471, fax 659-4325. Customs: Since I had owned the car for more than 6 months, and my residence was in the US, I was exempted. Otherwise it would have been 15% tax, 10% customs (22% for pickups) based on the value of the car. Insurance: my German insurance insured the car temporarily for remodeling. Remodeling: the car is a Mazda Miata, 1990. It's sold just the same in Germany. I had to change: bright lights to H4, turn signals separate from parking lights, brake lights need individual fuses. 1995-3 British vehicles need to change headlights ... and still have the steering wheel on the other side. But can't do the TUeV without having the headlights converted to continental type. Before also strict emissions testing ...1996-1 25.4.3. Specific Shipping Companies Abaco International Shippers in Chicago, Il offer special shipping rates to students moving over seas. Can also be contacted by e-mail or tel +1(800)621-4504 A www site that might be able to help with most moving questions is www.vanpac.com . Their site has lot's of resources on the subject. 1997-01 25.5. Things to take to Germany? 25.5.1. Some Presents might be Lucrative Paraphernalia ;-) o Jeans: A pair of l...'. is about US$30 in the U.S., while you pay around DM 150 in Germany... o T-Shirts, sweat-shirts, baseball-caps, mementos from such places as the Monterey Sea-Aquarium or the Museum of Modern Arts or the Air&Space or Smithsonian museum (or whatever is in your neighborhood) o Computer: software and paperback books about software and hardware. publications by your favorite computer users group (BMUG, BCS, whatever) o Books: paperbacks (non-fictional mostly), cartoons, cooking, travel guides, historical, biographies, etc... o Music: CD's are much cheaper in the US, especially if you do one of those mail-order buy 8, pay for 1/2 (and what do you mean I forgot to tell you about shipping&handling?), and some cannot be easily found overseas. Support your local starving-musicians and buy some of their stuff (CD's, T-shirts) at the next gig you in your favorite music hang-out... o Posters: from museums, art boutiques, Natl. Geo, Smithsonian, o Magazines: Sunday NYT, last years Natl. Geo., Air&Space, Smithsonian, Architectural Digest, Texas (or whatever is published monthly with your state's name on it - with lots of pictures and local lore...) o Rags: CACM, IEEE, Foreign Affairs,... specialty rags (Private Pilot, Sailing, Woodworking, Beer and Wine Making,...) o Deli: Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce, KY Jelly, Tortillas, Tortilla Chips, Lemon&Lime Chips, Guacamole, Mole, Bagels o and if you are a photographer, why not make a couple of 8x10 prints of some of your best (sign them and put them in a frame) ?!? 25.5.2. Little Things Easily Forgotten If you need a Foreign-German dictionary, bring one. You can find German-Foreign dictionaries, but they are not as good since they are oriented more towards people who know German. The difference is subtle, the ones from your original country would probably be a lot more useful. Remember that the stores in Germany may only open their doors between 7 AM and 8 PM on regular workdays -- and not all of them do. They have to close around 4 PM on Saturdays, and all day Sundays. There are a few exceptions, esp. in the bigger cities (Kioske and they like); but those might prove hard to find if you are new in town. If you'll need something right away, remember to bring it. 1997-01 Addendum: Good places to buy something at off-hours are gas-stations. Most of them sell various groceries (not just candy-bars) and things like toothpaste or shaving cream. A lot of the newer ones even live up to a real 24h deli. In the past you could only rely on freeway gas stations to be open 24h, but these days, a lot are open 7 days 24h and only the really small ones close for more than 4-6 hours at night. 1999-01 You can purchase better Foreign-language tourist books in your home country than in German bookstores. (Maybe with the notable exception of English guides to metropolitan areas.) You might want to consider purchasing a calling card in your home country for calling home. Chances are calls to your card are still cheaper than telekom-originated calls; Bring important telephone numbers, of course. You don't want to pay for overseas directory assistance. If you want to rent an auto, do it in advance, before you arrive in Europe. It is hard to believe how expensive auto rentals are in Europe (3-4 times higher than in the US, e.g.!) You'll have to figure out how to pay your credit card. They probably won't let you slide for 3 months. Some ATM cards might work in Germany. This is probably the easiest and cheapest way to change currency. But don't 100% depend on it. Bring some German currency. It's not always easy to change dollars, and there are often high fees. Some banks charge for travelers checks others don't. Best to be able to survive till you find one of the latter ones ;-) Make sure that you have a place to stay for the first few nights. During major events (industrial fair in Hannover; Octoberfest in Munich...) all the hotels fill up for miles around. 1995-10 25.6. Postdoc Experiences at a German University All those wunderbar surprises that may or may not hit you, when you spend some time as a postdoc at a German university... appartment: I am paying DM440 (+DM150 Nebenkosten) = DM590 for 35 m^2 in somebody's house. They have converted the top floor of their building into 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom and 1 room which serves as kitchen and sitting room. My understanding is that I am getting a reasonably good deal. I imagine that comparable space in an apartment building probably costs more. Btw, don't forget to ask about the Nebenkosten. The price quoted to me was just the DM450 and then I found out later they were going to add DM150 (supposedly to cover heating and water.) Oh, we always do this in germany, she said. I also pay electricity extra but it's not much ( DM30 per month). tax: There are so many deductions that change every other month that I have no idea what I'm supposed to be paying. however, everybody else seems to be having similar amounts taken out of their pay. I estimate that all deductions *INCLUDING HEALTH AND OTHER INSURANCES* amount to about 1/3 of my paycheck. Initially it was about 1/2 until my tax status stabilized. I got the difference back the following month. insurance: This depends on your income. if it's low enough you are obliged to have the government version; this is deducted from the paycheck. If your income is high enough you have the choice of taking private insurance of which the government will pay 1/2. your contribution is also taken out of your paycheck. I have private insurance at DM690 per month (ouch!) but it does cover visits to the dentist. As regards insurance (personnel not health), one is very strongly advised to get Haftpflichtversicherung (3rd party or liability insurance). It's the one personal insurance one is most strongly advised to get. Although house contents insurance etc is also a good idea. Cause any damage to anyone/anything and you will be liable. No question of going to court to settle a dispute, it is simply settled by insurance claims. If you have children you are liable for any and all damage they do (your child runs into the street and causes an oncoming vehicle to swerve into a telegraph pole or another vehicle. YOU are liable for all damage (to both vehicles, the telegraph pole, etc) ... DM 2 Mio was the minimum (1993), 5 Mio was recommeded. added 1/96 eating out: Is horribly expensive. Cheap is DM15. Decent is DM20->30+. No refills for coffee. customary in the US. groceries and clothing: Generally these are also more expensive than in the USA but right now I guess the dollar is weak and this makes it worse. Food shopping is not that much more expensive but clothes are usually quite a bit more expensive. Typical prices in a j.c.penney type store: shirts DM30-80, trousers DM80-150 shoes DM100-200. bureaucracy: It seems that everything you want requires 10 forms plus copies of birth certificates, passports, marriage licenses (driver's license probably won't work) and whatever else you can think of. note: I live in Aachen which is a medium sized town. I'm not sure how much different the cost of rent and food will be in a large city. Hope this is of some use. Hi, I forgot to mention something. It has to do with taxes/social security contributions in germany. Unfortunately, when I went to see the people in the administration, I spent about 1/2 hr and it was still not clear to me what the deal was but the gist of it is: There is some kind of pension scheme into which everybody (Angestellte) pays (Beamte get this automatically I think (?)). however, if you are here for 1 year only, you are exempt from these payments. It turns out that my contract here at RWTH Aachen will now be extended beyond the original 1 year. As a result, I now become obliged to make these payments and what is more, I have to make payments for the previous year as well. The bottom line of all this is that I have to pay (approximately) DM1000 straight down. This came without warning. I thought I would let you know in case anybody else asks about taxes etc; I'm sorry I don't have any more details. 1995-9 26. Urban Legends 26.1. I am a jelly doughnut In his famous speech in Berlin, J. F. Kennedy, the president of the United States, announced Ich bin ein Berliner. This is frequently (and willfully?!) misconstrued as translating to the English phrase I am a jelly doughnut. While the German word Berliner indeed also refers to a German bakery deli, and a naive learner of the German language might be lead to believe Kennedy only embarrassed himself, it was actually never conceived in this meaning by the German audience. For a scholarly discussion, see the following journal article: Eichhoff, Juergen; Monatshefte, 85 no 1, (1993) p. 71. Ich bin ein Berliner: A History and a Linguistic Clarification. Summary: President John F. Kennedy's well-known exclamation has been often declared to be incorrect German, causing the President to be totally misunderstood by his audience. It is shown here that and why the statement, translated for Kennedy by a native speaker of German, is the correct and the only correct way of expressing in German what the President wanted to say. 1995-10 26.2. German Did Not Become the US's Official Language by 1 Vote. There never was any such vote. Dennis Baron, in Declining Grammar, p.218: In 1795, a proposal in Congress to print all federal laws in German as well as English lost by only one vote. Known as the house who reportedly stepped down to cast the deciding negative, this event has been transmuted by pro-English folk tradition into a myth that German came close to replacing English as our national language. 1995-10 For a more complete account also read one of his posts to USENET. 1996-03 26.3. Once I heard that Mein Kampf is forbidden in Germany There is no index of forbidden books. Legally speaking, this is a question of copyright laws. The state of Bavaria (claims to) own the copyright to Hitler's Mein Kampf. They do not grant the right to publish, copy, or distribute the book in any form, on paper, electronically, or on tape, in an effort to hinder the spread of the book and message. If you get any copy of the book printed after 1945, it was illegally produced and marketed. 27. Humor 27.1. It's True... Yep, the utterly small number of German humorists survive on bread crumps, telling their story to an ever-frowning audience of busily passing ignorants; their history fills a single-volume history (of one page), and the library of Emden had to close down because someone stole the book. Possibly one trait of German humor can be mentioned...irony. 1996-03 27.2. Some Humorists o Wilhelm Busch o Karl Valentin o Herbert Rosendorfer o Otto Waalkes o Heinz Erhardt o Dieter Hildebrandt o Gerhard Polt o Dieter Huesch o Loriot o Tom Gerhards o Juergen von der Lippe o Ha Pe Kerkeling 1997-01 28. Questions and Answers 28.1. Where do I Keep Up with German Soccer Results? If you ask Thomas Hofmeister he will send you the most recent soccer results via email: hofmeist@zorro.informatik.uni-dortmund.de. His postings are also archived on a WWW-Server. 1994-2 28.2. Ich lebe/arbeite fuer begrenzte Zeit im Ausland. Wie kann ich... (Because this is only important for Germans, I write this in German. There are just too many special legal terms involved to do it in English ...) 28.2.1. ...Angehoerige in Deutschland benachrichtigen lassen? Im falle eines Falles...oder wenn einem sonst etwas zustoesst, kann eine Registrierung bei der deutschen Botschaft im Ausland hilfreich sein. Dort kann man Kontaktadressen hinterlassen, auf freiwilliger Basis, natuerlich. Keine "Meldepflicht"... 1996-12 28.2.2. ...mehr erfahren ueber das Land meiner beruflichen Taetigkeit? Ausfuehrliches Informationsmaterial kann als Merkblatt fuer Auslandstaetige beim Bundesverwaltungsamt, Postfach 680169, 50728 Koeln angefordert werden. 1996-11 28.2.3. ...meinen auslaendischen akademischen Titel uebertragen? Es gibt jetzt eine Broschuere, Anerkennung auslaendischer Studienleistungen und auslaendischer Hochschulabschluesse, welche kostenlos vom Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Wissenschaft, 53170 Bonn, angefordert werden kann. Dort drin sind dann auch Adressen von verschiedenen Behoerden zu finden. Generelles zum Thema: o Zustaendig ist das Bundesland, in dem man seinen Wohnsitz hat. o Die Regelungen der verschiedenen Bundeslaender sind nicht einheitlich. o Das Fuehren auslaendischer Titel und Grade ist ohne vorherige Genehmigung durch das zustaendige Bundesland strafbar ! o In Bayern sieht es so aus: o Auslaendische Titel duerfen nur in der Originalform gefuehrt werden o Eine Konvertierung auslaendischer Titel (also z.B. M.S -> Dipl.-Ing. Ph.D. -> Dr. etc.) ist in Bayern lt. Auskunft des Kultusministeriums nicht moeglich. o Mit der Fuehrungsgenehmigung ist keine Anerkennung verbunden. Weitere wichtige Fakten, die ihr wissen solltet: Fuer alle Bundeslaender: o Um einen auslaendischen akademischen Grad in seiner Originalform fuehren zu duerfen, bedarf es einer Erlaubnis zum Fuehren ... o Diese Erlaubnis erteilt das Kultusministerium des Bundeslandes, in welchem der erste Wohnsitz liegt. Fuer Personen, die nicht in Deutschland wohnen, erteilt das Land NRW die Erlaubnis. o Die Erlaubnis kostet etwa 100-150 DM Bearbeitungsgebuehr. Die Bearbeitung dauert etwa einen Monat. o Die Erlaubnis besagt nichts ueber eine Gleichwertigkeit. Sie stellt lediglich fest, dass der Titel rechtmaessig erworben wurde und gibt an, in welcher Form er verwendet werden darf. Zum Beispiel wird aus einem Master of Science, der an der State University of New York at Albany erworben wurde, ein Master of Science at State University of New York at Albany. Gleichzeitig werden auch zulaessige Abkuerzungen mitgeteilt (Bsp: M.S. (SUNYA)). Fuer alle Bundeslaender ausser Bayern: Es gibt noch den zweiten Weg (ausser in Bayern): Ihr koennt einen im Ausland erworbenen Titel als einem deutschen gleichwertig anerkennen lassen. Die Bearbeitung ist dann im allgemeinen etwas aufwendiger (laenger, teurer). Das Ergebnis ist, dass ihr euch dann statt Ph.D Dr. phil nennen duerft (oder auch Dr. rer. nat.). Die Details sind von Bundesland zu Bundesland sehr verschieden. Diese Anerkennung kann auch abgelehnt werden. In einem Beispiel (Baden-Wuerttemberg) wurde ein amerikanischer Master (in Computer Science) in einen Magister umgewandelt. Dies wurde mit der Studienzeit begruendet, welche kuerzer war als die Regelstudienzeit fuer einen Diplom-Informatiker. Wer nicht in Deutschland gemeldet ist, muss sich an das Kultusministerium von Nordrhein-Westfalen wenden. Es wird dann ein Nachweis verlangt, dass man wirklich im Ausland lebt. Da es in vielen Laendern (speziell USA) keine Meldepflicht gibt, muss normalerweise der umgeschriebene Pass vorgelegt werden (Kopie reicht). Andere Nachweise sind zum Beispiel ein Auszug aus der DMV-Kartei (im wesentlichen besagt dieser, dass man einen amerikanischen Fuehrerschein hat, welcher auf eine amerikanische Adresse ausgestellt wurde). Die Adresse in NRW: Ministerium fuer Wissenschaft und Forschung, des Landes NRW, Postfach 101103, (Voelkinger Str. 49), 40002 Duesseldorf tel +49(211)896-4335, fax +49(211)896-4555 Verlangt wird in NRW (wie sonst auch): Beglaubigte Kopie des Abiturzeugnisses und der Verleihungsurkunde fuer den amerikanischen Grad, Kopie eines Wohnsitznachweises, ausgefuelltes Antragsformular. Nach der Bearbeitung wird eine Gebuehr verlangt (war 150 DM). Ein Ph.D. wird in Dr. rer. nat. (USA) umgewandelt. Die Bearbeitung dauert etwa 3-4 Monate. Eine Korrektur: Auslaendische Akademische Grade, welche in englisch, franzoesisch, spanisch sowie einigen anderen Sprachen verliehen wurden, werden seit neuestem, bundesweit, nur noch in ihrer Originalform mit Zusatz anerkannt. Diese Information habe ich einem Merkblattes des Kultusministriums in NRW entnommen. Aus einem Ph.D wird also kein Dr. (USA) mehr sondern ein Ph.D (USA). Eine Erlaubnis zum Fuehren des Titels in seiner Originalform wird immer dann gegeben, wenn die Universitaet welche den Titel verliehen hat im jeweiligen Land zum verleihen des Titels berechtigt ist. Die Gebuehren sind nach wie vor etwas ueber 100 DM. 1996-03 Eine Ergaenzung: Der vorliegende Gesetzesauszug ist der Paragraph 141 des Gesetzes ueber die Universitaeten des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalens (Universitaetsgesetz - UG) vom 20.11.79 zuletzt geaendert durch Gesetz vom 6.7.93. Demnach koennen saemtliche Hochschulgrade, staatliche Titel, und Bezeichnungen, die an einer staatlichen oder staatlich anerkannten Hochschule in einem anderen Mitgliedstaat der EU erworben worden sind, gefuehrt werden. Da diese Regelung sich unmittelbar aus der Richtlinie des Rates (der EU) vom 21.12.88 ergibt (89/58/EWG), duerften sich entsprechende Regelungen in allen anderen Bundeslaendern und Staaten der EU wiederfinden. 1996-03 28.2.4. ...mein Wahlrecht wahrnehmen? Der freundliche Bundeswahlleiter Johann Hahlen, Praesident des Statistischen Bundesamtes, hat in einer Pressemitteilung fuer die Bundestagswahl 1998 die Bedingungen zusammengefasst, unter denen im Ausland lebende Deutsche an Bundestagswahlen teilnehmen koennen. Das folgende ist eine Zusammenfassung dieser Pressemitteilung.1999-04 Jeder Deutsche im Sinne des Artikel 116 des Grundgesetzes, der aelter als 18 Jahre ist, mit staendigem Aufenthalt im Ausland ist wahlberechtigt, wenn er sich nicht laenger als 25 Jahre (seit April 1998, war frueher 10 Jahre) im Ausland aufhaelt. Ausland fuer Wahlrechtszwecke sind alle Laender, die ausserhalb des Europarats liegen; der Europarat umschliesst die Laender der Europaeischen Union und die meisten anderen europaeischen Laender wie Albanien, Andorra, Bulgarien, ehemalige jugoslawische Republik Mazedonien, Estland, Island, Kroatien, Lettland, Liechtenstein, Litauen, Malta, Moldau, Norwegen, Polen, Rumnien, Russische Foederation, San Marino, Schweiz, Slowakische Republik, Slowenien, Tschechische Republik, Tuerkei, Ukraine, Ungarn und Zypern. Waehlen darf nur, wer in ein Waehlerverzeichnis eingetragen ist. Da man bei staendigem Aufenthalt im Ausland nicht automatisch in ein Waehlerverzeichnis (ueber das Einwohnermeldeamt) eingetragen wird, muss man einen foermlichen Antrag auf Eintragung in ein Waehlerverzeichnis stellen und gleichzeitig eine Versicherung an Eides Statt abgeben, dass man Deutscher im Sinne des Grundgesetzes ist, einem das Wahlrecht nicht aberkannt wurde usw. Fuer jeden Antragsteller ist ein besonderes Formblatt in Erst- und Zweitausfertigung auszufuellen. Sammelantraege sind nicht moeglich. Der Antrag sollte fruehstmoeglich gestellt werden; er muss spaetestens bis zum 21. Tage vor der Wahl bei der zustaendigen Gemeindebehoerde eingegangen sein. Die Antragsfrist kann nicht verlaengert werden. In das Waehlerverzeichnis eingetragene Wahlberechtigte erhalten ueber die Eintragung keine Benachrichtigung. Ihnen werden ohne weitere Aufforderung der Wahlschein und die Briefwahlunterlagen ca. 1 Monat vor dem Wahltag uebersandt. Antragsformulare koennen von den folgenden Stellen erhalten werden: o von allen Botschaften und Konsulate der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im Ausland o vom Bundeswahlleiter, Statistisches Bundesamt, 65180 Wiesbaden o den Kreiswahlleitern in Deutschland Zustaendige Gemeindebehoerde, an die der Antrag zu richten ist, ist: o die Gemeindebehoerde der letzten gemeldeten Hauptwohnung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, o der Oberstadtdirektor der Stadt Bonn - Stadthaus, Berliner Platz 2, D-53103 Bonn, wenn der Wahlberechtigte noch nie fuer eine Wohnung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland gemeldet war. 1999-04 28.3. Mail Ordering Other Stuff? Software, CD-ROM's etc. o NBG USA INC. 482 Holly Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102, tel +1(800)624-8729, fax +1(612)290-9449 www http://www.winternet.com/~nbgusa http://www.agoralang.com:2410/nbgusa.html/ (not yet there 1996-12) email nbgusa@winternet.com 1996-12 Their catalog contains a lot of German software! Dictionaries, lexica, and other materials on CD-ROM, from the Duden Universal Woerterbuch & Duden/Oxford Grosswoerterbuch Englisch (US$180) to Langenscheidt's Taschenwoerterbuch English (US$60) to a generic "compact woerterbuch" (US$30). A tour of the Munich Zoo for US$20. An educational CD (in German) for US$25. A CD of German shareware for US$10. Some Mac and some Spanish/French/English stuff is included, too. 1996-12 German Stores o Quelle They used to have an American branch office, but that's closed now, it seems. Only way to reach them is by WWW. o Otto Also reachable on the net. 28.4. How can I Find Out about that Famous ... For German public figures check out the Munzinger-Archiv; a collection of leaflets containing biographical data of numerous people. 1996-02 -- ** David Lutterkort Dept. of Computer Science Purdue University ** ** email: lutter@purdue.edu url: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/ ** You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him walk on it. G. Larson You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think. D. Parker