Family life in Munich vs. Berlin

Well peepers, if you have to travel in S-Bahn, be prepare to see Biss-traders(who are ok), beggars (who might be sometimes aggressive) and all sort of asocial people EVERY day. My bf and I had once a trouble with panks or whoever these dirty looked people were at the S-bahn Storkower Strasse. Our then 7-month-old was with this us, but it didn't stop them to be rude to us, spitting, shouting, saying they hate babies, hate foreigners, hate everybody actually etc. Very unpleasant experience. On the other hand police in civil cloths was within 5 minutes of accident holding these guys. I didn't even realised where they came from. We even got then later an invitation to the police department to give evidence.

But then again, it happened once in one and a half years and after all this might have happened anywhere in the world. Volkov bojatsa - v les ne hodit', you know.

oh no another hippie parent...

Italian/lebanese and not a hippy. I have found that with MY children, when they stay up later with us, they are more fulfilled and go to bed MUCH easier. They are tired and have learned just a little more. It doesn´t make them grouchy in the mornings.
Remove TV from your lives and a whole new BETTER world opens up!!!

I have lived for quite a while in Berlin, and now live in Munich. I'd recommend you to go to Munich because that will be better for your kids and keeps them less likely to get into trouble, but OTOH growing up in a large city could be a worthwhile experience for them.

I am not sure whether it was mentioned before. You could contact your embassy in Berlin to ask to get in contact with families who moved from Holland to Berlin or Munich and ask them about their experiences.

yeah right...because sending your kids to overly expensive international schools is going to give them a real sense of the world (not saying they are bad schools, but certainly not "the real world"). And MIS, BIS and the European School do not exist according to you. Where do all the big company expats, living in Munich, send their kids to school then?

Just one example of you not making much sense in my eyes. I have lived in both Berlin and Munich and like both cities. And yeah, it's of course impossible to find a decent place where you can go and eat after 7pm in Munich (apart from all those awful Italian places you mentioned, which are of course 100 times better in Berlin). All your arguements complete rubbish if you're asking me. If you are looking for chaos why don't you move to somewhere with a really high crime rate etc.

@Sekt88

I lived in Berlin for almost 12 years and moved to Munich a year ago. I have following to say about your post:

You are right about Berlin nightlife having a lot more to offer. But you must remember that Munich is only a small city in comparison. Berlin is a very big place. So it's a bit unfair to compare the two that directly. I am not sure whether Munich is the kind of place that would attract people looking primarily for nightlife.


On average the Italian restaurants in Munich aren't as good in Berlin, you are right. But there are some good ones. You must just look for them. They are quite pricy though in comparison to Berlin.

I agree with you fully. I am missing this a lot too. I really do feel like I am living in a Toytown. But then again I will mention to you some things Munich does have to offer which you will not find in Berlin:
- the English Garden (much nicer than the Tiergarden, for instance)
- The Alps (Berlin is surrounded by the East and 56% of West Germans have not even bothered to visit the East once in their lifetime.. what could be their reason?)
- Munich is very central. You are a lot closer to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and Spain. Berlin is close to Poland, Denmark and Sweden. How depressing.


The city does have a fair amount of rich snobby arrogant and rude people. I wouldn't call them ignorant though, not more so than your average Berliner. But go visit the countryside. The people are different. They are on average friendly, down-to-earth, open and have a very strong love for nature. You will not find the psuedo-Italian-gold-white-and-pink-Munich-chic in the countryside. Or men with Beethoven-hairdos, slicked back and wearing pink, silk scarves. You should go out a bit more. And if you have kids, taking them for trips to the countryside is a lot of fun and highly recommendable.

Hmm, yes, and Berlin has a higher unemployment rate these days than Mecklenburg Vorpommern. You can't have the same prices in Munich and Berlin. People (accept for myself, but I am a certified idiot so it doesn't matter) earn a lot more in Munich than in Berlin. Munich is far too expensive, I agree, but you actually do get quality here as well.


I very much disagree with you on this. Berlin is in the deepest shit it's been in for a very long time. DieBahn had to be forced by the government not to move to Hamburg, it would have been a catastrophe for the city. If it weren't for Schering and Sony, I don't know which companies would provide jobs! I hope you find work in Berlin, but I think that you will be waiting a long time in Munich before you do. Open up yourself and you will discover that even this city does have a lot to offer as well. And you will then at least enjoy yourself until you can finally move back to Berlin.


If I were to have a kid, I would definitely prefer my child to grow up in Munich although I prefer Berlin by a long shot. But you cannot assume that your children would appreciate the same qualities you are looking for in a big city. Your children might just actually prefer nature, clean parks, not stepping into dogshit that often on the way to school, going for walks with you in the mountains, visiting farms, going for short trips to Italy now and then..

Have a Weisswurst(barf) and a Helles. And chear up!
Edit: P.S.: Wanted to point out to you that foreigners make up 23% of the Munich population. So almost 1 out of 4 times that rich snobby, ignorant and rude person would be a foreigner and not a native Bavarian.

MajorB defending Munich against Berlin? I must be dreaming!

@Tom_a

I wouldn't exactly call that defending. Just stating the facts having seen both sides.
//now if only the Bavarians would start speaking proper German I'd like this place a bit more

Actually, "foreigner" means non-German, not non-Bavarian. Considering that probably another quarter (at least) of the Munich population is German but not Bavarian, and in addition, many "Bavarians" do not speak their own dialect anymore, the percentage of people that address you in dialect within Munich city limits is at the very most 1/3.

@Tom_a

I still have great trouble understanding Bavarian and to me it seems as if the majority of all shop attendants are Bavarian. I have by now given up asking for anything in the shops. I do know what Bavarian sounds like (shudder)!

I believe the VHS offers language classes in Bavarian. Ever thought about taking one?

Arrgh!! Such foul language will not cross my lips!
Saupreuß und das ist gut so.