Life in Amberg - northern Bavaria - Germany

After a year plus in Franconia, we are moving (grudgingly) to Amberg in March. I would like to know if anyone lives there and what they think about the town. Also, possibly help telling us good places to live, eat, shop and the such.

Never lived there, but visited a couple of times. It's a nice little town. More, I cannot say, except that good beer does stretch that far into the Oberpfalz from Franconia!

Three TT members admit to living in Amberg. Maybe they'll post here with their opinions.

The Oberpfalz is quite rural, but Amberg itself isn't bad. If I had to guess, you and/or your partner work for Siemens ("a little island of red in a sea of black"). Aside from the US Army, it seems to be the only reason outsiders find themselves out here. By "outsider," I mean someone who did not grow up in the Oberpfalz.

I like it, though. One advantage: 200k Euro buys a decent house in one of the suburbs, and I think it is impossible to pay more than 1500 Euro rent for a house around here. Yes, Amberg has suburbs. I lived in a village 15 km south of it my first 18 months over here, so that probably improves my opinion of "the city".

I like Bruckmueller Brau, and there's Fizzzz on the outskirts of the Altstadt, which along with being the "trendy" bar, has suprisingly decent food. If you're a homesick American, there's a Chinese restaurant on the south side of town across from the Shell station that serves American-style Chinese food and has English menus and a load of Americans.

If you cultivate a love of hiking, you'll be good. If you have small children that you'd like to teach to ski, there are a few ski hills around here during normal winters - this winter was a total no-go. There's a very active gliding club, if you're into that sort of thing (my boyfriend is).

If Amberg gets dull, Nuremberg is less than an hour's train ride away, and the trains leave once an hour.

Amberg is in the middle of three US Army posts: Grafenwoehr, Vilseck and Hohenfels. Things had been just fine until a large group of relatively young troops came to Graf this past year and allowed some of their number to publicly disgrace themselves. However, Ambergers are used to Americans, as long as they behave themselves.

I live in a really old building in the Altstadt that was very nicely restored. I love everything but the parking situation. If my apartment came with a garage or even a designated parking space, it would be perfect. I like being able to walk to the grocery store and bank.

Shopping: For everyday, Real is the way to go. My boyfriend (northern German) prefers Kaufland, which strikes me as a cheaper Wal-Mart. There is a Plus in the Altstadt, where I run if I need a liter of milk or something. Real's produce is the best of the bunch, but it's nothing startling. There are two Turkish green-grocers that sometimes have better stuff, and a Saturday morning market.

For clothing, there's the usual C&A, H&M, K&L and a smallish Wohrl, along with a few boutiques selling S. Oliver, Esprit and Tom Tailor. My mom particularly liked one called Buddeli (sp?).

For any serious shopping, you'll either end up at Vilseck (if you're affiliated with the American military) or Nuremberg. Regensburg is a nice change, but actually takes longer to get to than Nuremberg does, by car or train.

Where to live: I can't think of any particularly bad parts of town, aside from the street with the brothels just north of the Altstadt. Even there, it seems to be safe, if not particularly where you'd like to raise your kids. There are apartments right by the Siemenswerk, but I find that part of town kind of gloomy. I adore the Altstadt, but unless you get a place with a garage (look at Malteserplatz), it could get on your nerves, especially if you're dealing with kids. Kummersbruck has a decent indoor pool, if that influences your decision. We go down to it, even though there's Kurfurstenbad (indoor waterpark) right outside the Altstadt. The lap pool is nicer in K'bruck.

Thanks for the info, we are here and all of your info was spot on. Ill PM for a drink invite.

You've already checked it all out?

Just kidding!
Hope you'll enjoy living in Amberg!

Hello everybody,

Just wanted to see if there were any updates to the Amberg thread since the last post 6 months ago... I'm not shy about asking questions as well, so I'll ask away...

I love my English Premier League football (soccer). Any places known that show the games and/or have Sky satelite? I googled for English/Irish bars/pubs and only found one in Nurnberg. That's a little far just to watch the game. Anywhere in or near Amberg?

How good is the government about snow removal and how bad does it get? Not sure how my vehicle will handle. I'll be driving 30 minutes each way to work.

Also, add Villa near the big traffic circle across from the old-town as a good place to eat...

The big pool complex (near the Esso) opens at 0900 for lap swim. Does anyone know where else there might be another pool that opens earlier?

anyway, anybody who hooks me up with solid EPL info gets their first drink on me!

Thanks!

Textmandie,

I read this: Kummersbruck has a decent indoor pool, if that influences your decision. We go down to it, even though there's Kurfurstenbad (indoor waterpark) right outside the Altstadt. The lap pool is nicer in K'bruck.

I assume the Kurfurstenbad is the big complex across the street of the Old-town (and opens at 0900) but you mentioned a Kummersbruck.. do you have more information on location and/or hours of operation?

thanks!

Re. driving in winter, make sure you get winter tires put on once the summer's over.

Yep, Kurfurstenbad is the big complex, Kummersbruck is the community just south of Amberg along the Vils River. I haven't been this season (Bad Mandie!), but here's the schedule from the website, http://www.kuemmersbruck.de/start.htm (which is a Flash mess):

Montag 13.00-21.00 Uhr
Dienstag 13.00-16.00 Uhr *
Mittwoch 13.00-21.00 Uhr
Donnerstag 13.00-21.00 Uhr
Freitag
Warmbadetag 13.00-21.00 Uhr
Samstag
Warmbadetag 08.00-12.00 Uhr "Sommerzeit" **
08.00-16.00 Uhr "Winterzeit" **
Sonntag 08.00-12.00 Uhr

On "Warmbadetage" they raise the water temperature a bit. Personally, I didn't like the warmer temp for swimming a whole bunch of laps, but it's tolerable. Before 19:30 most days, one end of the pool is raised up to a depth of a bit over 1m, primarily for children.

Finding the pool is a bit tricky: keep your eyes peeled for the little white "Hallenbad" arrows along the east side of the main street through town. Take the turn between Zur Blaue Trauben (grapes) restaurant and the peach-colored Raiffeisen bank branch. The pool is lit up at night and has a good-sized parking lot in front of it.

I'm hopeful anyone watching this thread maybe able to help me find someone who can help me find a flat to live. We are moving to Amberg from Wurzburg within the next 4 to 6 weeks. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to even send a realty newsletter or advertising to me. I'll gladly pay any fees. As yet we don't have a car to drive up there on a whim, but do plan to come up a few weekends during July to hopefully find a place. It would be great if we can have some idea of what to look at before we get there.

Any help would be most appreciated, please pm me if you can send a property listing magazine or newspaper.

Marian