Termination of an apartment rental contract - Germany

I really need help writing a termination of rental contract letter, and am a bit wary of knocking one up myself as my contract states "Die Kündigung muss schriftlich erfolgen. Im übrigen sind die gesetzlichen Vorschriften zu beachten.".

Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

Something like this I think is enough:

Sehr geehrter Herr xyz

hiermit kündige ich den Mietvertrag vom (date it started) fristgemäß zum (date you are leaving).

Bitte senden Sie mir in den nächsten Tagen eine Kündigungsbestätigung.

Vielen Dank im Voraus

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

I think that just means you should follow terms of contract i.e. hand in three months notice to end of a calender month...

Sehr geehrter ...
Hiermit kundige mein Mietverhaältnis Frist Gemäss zu ( date of rental contact termination).
Ich bitte um eine Schrifftlriche bestätigung.
You have 3 months termination to give.Also send the letter registered post.Found this to be the best way.You also want photo copies of the Kaution as you are entiteled to all the interest it has accumulated minus any damages.Any damages are covered by your private liability insurance if you have this so get receipts for damages.

The termination must be in writing and must be according to legal codes.

I guess that last bit refers to the legally defined cancellation period, which is 3 months.

More information about cancellation of rental contracts here (only in German).

And here's the template for the letter that I used to cancel mine:

Cheers PM, MD and MS - much obliged.

Can someone explain to me how the rules typically work over here?
I have a rental agreement that expires in may. I just thought that meant my term here in this apartment was finished unless I renewed.. now I'm being told + reading that's only true if you give three months notice? I'm confused and would appreciate some explanation.

then you have a befristete miet verhältnis and you should get on with it now if you want to move.

cosine: Is there a clause in the contract stating that it is automatically extended unless you confirm that you will be moving out in May? If so and you did not act then you are indeed stuck for however long the extension is valid. If there is no such clause start going over the place and sprucing it up, do any small repairs, keep the receipts and hope that you get your complete deposit back.