Oxfam charity shops in Germany

I just discovered the German Oxfam website and noticed that they had a list of shops. As I wasn't even aware that Oxfam shops existed in Germany I was surprised to see that the list is quite long. I was even more surprised to see that they opened a book shop on Munich's Furstenfelder Straße (the Rindermarkt side of Marienplatz) last week.

For those of you who might not have heard of Oxfam, they are an independent charity that originally did the majority of their work in the third world, but now have over 3,000 projects in 100 countries, all working for a fairer world. The charity was founded in Oxford, UK, in 1942 and was originally called Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, hence the name. Interestingly enough, one of their first projects was the delivery of food to post-war Germany.

Whilst Oxfam obviously provides immediate help in times of crisis, their main focus is on long-term projects aiming to give people the skills necessary to enable them to change their situation. It works pretty much on the principle of “Give a man a fish, and it’ll feed him for one day; teach him to fish, and he will be able to feed himself for a lifetime.�

Oxfam is (certainly in Britain) one of the best known charities, mainly because there is scarcely a british high street which doesn’t have an Oxfam shop on it. Originally Oxfam shops were purely for second hand goods, such as clothes and books, but nowadays they also sell a large variety of fair traded goods (such as chocolate, tea and coffee), and hand crafted items from countries in which they work. There are general shops in various german cities (for a full list, see the German webite), and specific book shops in other cities, including one in Munich.

They gladly accept a wide range of items that you might no longer want / have use for. They obviously state that it must be in decent condition to sell, and there is a list of items that they don’t accept, mainly for obvious reasons (Ivory jewellery, weapons and fur for ethical reasons, used make up because… well, ewww, and large items of furniture etc presumably because they simply don’t have the space). A full list of items that you can donate can be seen here . So, if anybody in Frankfurt or Berlin should happen to be clearing out their cupboards for Christmas, or if anybody in Munich as books they no longer want, I would suggest taking them along. Peace and goodwill to all men and all that!

The Frankfurt shop is really good - great for getting Tracht for some reason. Years ago I bought my much loved Salzburger hunting jacket there for 10DM. Well worth a look.
Cheers kathie for posting, I'd heard on M94,4 that it was opening in Munich and then forgot about it - duh!

Wow, there´s one here as well, I´d no idea. I must check it out. Takes me back to my goth-alternative days in the 80s, I used to go there all the time.

There's a big Oxfam shop in Bonn. It's a bit of effort donating stuff, first I had to talk my way into their car park (I had some heavy boxes) then they went through a list of stuff they can't accept, such as electrical goods and kids clothing, but they seemed to be happy with most of what I offered and yes, I did buy stuff there too.

There is a great Oxfam shop on Kudamm near Joachim-Frederich Strasse. They have really good wine glasses/tea sets/vases available and then funky finds like 1950's Pan Am playing cards and felt fedora's.

Darmstadt have had 2 for quite a while. One for your normal clothing/household stuff/etc. and another one for books (including an English book section) and music. Pretty good quality stuff to be found in them compared to English charity shops.

passed by the Munich store at lunchtime, there's a little section of English books and an even smaller section of French books!
the lady told me they aren't selling too well so they've reduced them, thought I'd pass the info on.
they'll also take any old books off you (if you can't sell them on TT!)

can someone tell me how to find this place in Munich?? is it in the city??
Also apart from donating can you also buy some of the things???

Thanks

Using my, quite frankly amazing, googling skills I found this: Oxfam München

the Oxfam shop´s at the back of Kaufhof near Marienplatz.

lots of books for sale, and you can donate any unwanted books.

I belive Oxfam recently opened a shop in Stuttgart too.

The one in Hannover is normally full with old ladies. It's not a bad shop - but there isn't much "auswahl".

It's on the otherside of the road from Markthalle... on that bend by Sportschek.

Where do you shop if you want young ladies, , sorry just had to do that

haha

Do they take donations of second-hand English books?

The one in MUnich, I mean

Yes, they do. In Hannover they have an English book section.

We went to the opening of the shop in Wandsbek in Hamburg... must have been around 2003.