Best areas for kindergartens/schools near Hamburg

Hello,

We are moving to Hamburg (working in Wedel) at the end of the year and are wondering the best places to live to raise a young family. We have a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. We would like to continue their English, but also immerse in German. I've heard the international schools are extremely expensive so this will not be an option. We are also a very outdoorsy, active family so we enjoy natural environments, if possible. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

We also just moved here, I have a 3 years old and a 4 months baby.. we live in Alster - Mittelweg and I love the region here. Is close to everywhere, you have everything around you, big parks and green area and a international kindergarten. The problem with the kindergarten that when you find where you want go you have to register your kids ASAP because can take months for them to take your kid. On the other hand they have both German and English teachers. I was worry about my daughter going there and feeling lost because she does not speak german at all but she is happy!!

Hi Lucci13,

Thank you so much for your reply! I will look into that area. When you say international kindergarten, do you mean bilingual? Do you know the cost? Thanks again!

Yep they have English and German, the cost really depends on your kids age and your family income and the how many hours they will stay in school. I think the max you will pay if you get a voucher is 400 per month.. but this is really high .. most of the kids pay around 200/300

Hi
If you will work in Wedel the district Rissen could be a good idea. It`s not far from Wedel, much parks and forests to walk and there are many kindergartens, though I dont know wether some of them are bilingual.

If you are outdoorsy types you probably won't want to live close in to town and if working in Wedel, you would want to be out that way I would think. Though I have absolutely no experience with that part of town, I would expect that you would be able to have a house if you were to live out there. Inner city living pretty much means apartment living. As for kindergartens, if you want to be able to get into one I recommend you don't live in the Ottensen/Altona area. I have been told that this area has the highest birthrate of anywhere in Europe (not sure if it is true, but here are HEAPS of kids and babies here) and as such it is difficult to find a place. We were super lucky to get a place for our daughter close to home, I know many who have been unable to.

So on to the language bit. My experience with German immersion with my daughter has been very positive, she speaks almost exclusively German at her Kindergarten now after having been there since September of last year. It was great at the beginning, all of the teachers spoke at least a small amount of English and could ease her into it, but she wants to play with the kids and to do that she needs to speak their language, so now she does.
My son, on the other hand has been going to a bilingual Tagesmutter and his use of German is less developed. However, he is a different kind of child to my daughter and I think he really needed t have English available at his Tagesmutter for his own sense of security, the move here was more difficult for him. He understands much (if not all) of what is said to him in German, but does not speak it much. So I suppose my message is this - give your kids what they need. If you want them to learn German and they will cope with full immersion I think that is the way to go. If, like my son, they wouldn't cope, then look for a bilingual place. The only one that I know of is the one at DESY which is in Bahrenfeld. Good luck and PM me for a play date when you get here!.

I lived in Wedel (in the Altstadt) for 2 years in the late 1980s (my girlfriend/wife has lived there several years having studied at FH Wedel). We moved out of the 2-room flat just as our 6mth baby started to crawl - he will be 20 in April...

Wedel had attractions for living in - like being close to the river Elbe for long walks etc. However house prices there were out of our range & hence we ended up on the outskirts of Pinneberg...

We are all the more "outdoorsy types" and prefer not being more towards the city of Hamburg...