Relocating abroad (Germany) - anyone done it?

Diesel said:
The Autobahns I experienced while driving around Germany had surfaces worse than most British motorways. They weren't smooth at all and were a patch work of dodgy repairs.
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In general the Autobahn is in excellent condition. Especially since there is no general speed limit. You can’t safely drive 200-260kmh on a dodgy road. And safety is one of the major concerns in Germany.
Maybe you were driving around East Germany after the reunification when the roads were still in 1945 conditions.

I think the OP should go and check out the area - see if you can picture yourself living and working there.
 
TangoSixteen said:
So how about engaging in the question.. what do we do better than Germany?
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Well let me answer that as someone who actually lived there for 5 years.

- Supermarkets suck in Germany for fresh food
- There is far less red tape in the UK, this is a huge headache in Germany with regards to anything from the banks to getting a car registered, in the UK you send in some paper - in Germany you end up having to take a day off.
- The UK has much better opening hours for shops, it's improved in recent years but good luck doing anything on a Sunday
- I get taxed much less in the UK on my wages, my last job in Germany I was being taxed something ridiculous like 48% of my wage
- Owning a property in Germany is an absolute nightmare (again due to a lot of red tape) and I'd never want to go through that experience again
- I prefer restaurants in the UK
- The UK is better for things like motorsport and football - a Bayern Munich crowd would make Chelsea fans seem noisy

The UK and Germany both have their things I love and hate, it's certainly not as one sided as you suggest. Why would I have moved back to the UK and leave a perfectly good job otherwise? I may return to Munich one day as I love both Munich and London.

I can only suggest you live in a hellhole in the UK (it would explain a lot about your aggressiveness) or you are completely clueless. I'll go for both.
 
Bes said:
Ok maybe we have some 'stupid laws' but go to Germany and try and start a company or file your tax return, it's a real nightmare... 100x worse than here
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I mean to comment on this in my other post but I just remembered now ;)
It's absolutely true, the UK has very little bureaucracy but lots of continental Europe has bureaucracy and red tape coming out of their ears.

I can't comment on Germany as I don't have any direct experience but in the Czech Republic (and I think Germany is similar in this respect) you can't just open a business like in the UK, you need to apply for a trade licence and in many cases you need a qualification or X years experience working in a similar job of the field of your business you want to start to get the licence. This pretty much stops me using my photography or building/fixing computers to earn a little money on the side. There are forms you have to fill out and hoops to jump through for lots of things that you don't need to worry about in the UK, in fact for small businesses the UK in my experience leads the world in ease of start up (even the US), you don't know how much freedom we have in the UK until you've experienced elsewhere even countries in western Europe.
 
I have been hear for almost 4 years now and would highly recommend it, even just for the experience of living somewhere different. I've been all over the place for weekends etc and have yet to have a bad experience. Food is excellent, beer fantastic and the people have always been welcoming and chatty.

I'll not get into some of the stuff talked about above, but I wouldn't say it is cheaper living costs and actually think that is some what of a myth. If you are getting good allowances on top of your salary and then you will have nothing to worry about however. Just as an example, 360 games are generally 59 - 69 Euros when they come out. My Samsung 46" TV was 2800 Euros compared to £1800 in the UK. Obviously that maybe a slightly extreme example.

Are you going to be paying German taxes etc? They can be pretty high as i believe they incorporate a Church Tax. Are they helping you with somewhere to live?

Also the comment about football I wouldn't agree with. I've only been to a couple of Bayern Munich games and they weren't too bad, not great admittedly. However I've been to several Borussia Dortmund games and there is nothing like it in the UK. I also go every week to see SC Paderborn and have watched Fortuna Dusseldorf, Hannover 96, Borussia Moechengladbach and they have all had much better atmosphere and experiences than I get when I'm at a game in the UK.
 
simo182 said:
Are you going to be paying German taxes etc? They can be pretty high as i believe they incorporate a Church Tax. Are they helping you with somewhere to live?

Also the comment about football I wouldn't agree with. I've only been to a couple of Bayern Munich games and they weren't too bad, not great admittedly. However I've been to several Borussia Dortmund games and there is nothing like it in the UK. I also go every week to see SC Paderborn and have watched Fortuna Dusseldorf, Hannover 96, Borussia Moechengladbach and they have all had much better atmosphere and experiences than I get when I'm at a game in the UK.
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Church tax is voluntary, but you have to opt out (more red tape and they make you feel like a criminal).

With regards to the football it was so bad at Bayern that they were playing clapping chants over the loud speakers to try and get the crowd to copy it! Originally I thought it might just be the one club that was bad, along with that awful old Olympiastadium bowl that Bayern used to play in so I started to go to Unterhaching instead who had been promoted to the Bundesliga. The atmosphere was awful there as well, despite being an overachieving small team in a small ground.

Maybe I'm just too used to Championship crowds, or Bavarians aren't very loud supporters. That would surpise me as generally the Bavarians are louder than normal Germans. ;)
 
Wicksta said:
Maybe I'm just too used to Championship crowds, or Bavarians aren't very loud supporters. That would surpise me as generally the Bavarians are louder than normal Germans. ;)
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I suppose I am comparing them to Dunfermline crowds (current Scottish 1st Divison team) :p

I just love how home and away fans sing back to each other, each doing a line from a song etc, the interaction the stadium announcer gets when reading the team sheet or when they score, the flag wavings, the fact everyone seems to have some sort of colours displayed, some idiot acting as a cheerleader to get the crowd singing. It is just a far cry from what I'm used to and I have to admit you are the first person I have spoken to who has had a negative view of it :) Although I can see why if they were playing clapping noises over the loud speakers! That is woeful!
 
simo182 said:
It is just a far cry from what I'm used to and I have to admit you are the first person I have spoken to who has had a negative view of it :) Although I can see why if they were playing clapping noises over the loud speakers! That is woeful!
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To be fair, the old Olympic stadium was an awful place for football - miles away from the pitch in a huge bowl so I can see how the rot started. I never got to make it to the Allianz Arena when they moved as it opened just around the time I moved home so maybe things are better now. I used to go with a Celtic fan and we both couldn't believe how quiet the fans were!

Then again, you look at FC St Pauli and they have some of the best fans in the world.
 
Robbie G said:
How so? You earn Euros, you spend Euros. Unless you mean if you buy a house in Euros then move back to the UK?
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Well I'd still have significant ties back to the UK, not least my mortgage. I'm pretty sure I'd have to rent my property out but if I get a void then I'd have to pay the mortgage with Euros, which is vulnerable to the exchange rate.

Cheers for the advice everyone, I've sent my application off this morning so I'll see how it goes from here I guess.
 
Do it, I lived in California for a year, Switzerland for the last 4 years, next year I will be in Paris for a year before hopefully going to Canada.

You wont catch me ever going back to the UK again.
 
Wasn't there an article on the BBC website this week stating something like East Germans still earn on average 53% less than West Germans despite all the trillions the West pumped into the East after the reunification?

I know I saw it and only skimmed it. Should have paid more attention.
 
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