Advice on choosing where to live in Germany

Although I have traveled to many parts of Germany, I need advice as to where I should live...moving from Canada.
I am a Canadian with strong ties to Germany, and can obtain a one year work/live visa.

I am not interested in Munich because it is too touristy, nor Berlin or east Germany. I have a decent understanding of German and am graduating with an honours business degree. I'm in my early/mid 20s and looking for a city with culture, atmosphere, nightlife, the best weather i can get, good transit system, urban density, pubs etc...I don't want to get bored too quickly.

I really like the baden-wuertemburg area as it's close to switzerland, where I can go hiking etc...but i've never been as far north as Hamburg so i'm looking for input. Also, Uni towns have a good amount of student hustle and bustle...

What are your thoughts between Hamburg, Koln, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Wurzburg, Nurnberg, etc?

avoid Regensburg it really isn't for you..

another person wanting advise on moving to germany LOL...my advise is stay where you are.

ja, und warum soll ich?!

my parents were born in germany...it's in my blood and it's where i want to live. so maybe someone can be helpful enough to give me some personal advice about daily living in different german cities...

Do you need to work or can you pretty much last the year on your own nickel? That makes a bit of a difference in how I would approach it. If you will need to work, then I'd just shoot out lots of resumes to all sorts of places that sound appealing, north and south, and see what comes back. Then hopefully you will have a few different jobs and places to choose from in the end.

I lived for a while in the Reutlingen/Tuebingen area and had lots of fun there, so that's another area perhaps to consider. Tuebingen has the historical charm and the university, while Reutlingen has been developing into quite a good technical centre and neither are horrendously expensive ... yet. Not too far from Bodensee and Switzerland, and a fairly good train hub.

Just my 2 cents worth...

If you want the flexibility of being able to hop over to France and Switzerland, go for Freiburg. If I had a choice, that's where I'd live in Germany. University town relatively close to the mountains, better climate.

My 2% of a Loonie as well.

"silty1" - are you living in Hamburg right now? from what i've heard there is great night life, shopping etc.
can you give me some more insight to what it feels like to live in Hamburg vs. other cities.
for example, sometimes people say that cities in the south can feel kind of sleepy and begin to reveal their conservatism...

Well, last Thursday Hamburg was definitely quite lively.

Hey fellow Cannuck,
I can vouch for Hamburg! I've been here just over 6 months and am slowly starting to settle in. I don't know where in Canada you're from but most Canadians I know have a very specific sense of space. Wide open space and skies are an essential part of their constitution and psychological makeup. For that reason I would not recommend Koln as a place to live. It felt small and caustrophobic on every level. I have not been to the other cities you mentioned but Hamburg has a good inbetween feeling- not too big, just right. There is unlimited nightlife if you want it, and unlimited peace and quiet too. The live music venues are excellent, all the UK bands play here and the audiences are incredibly enthusiastic yet respectful. You don't have to worry about getting glassed or harassed at the pubs here- Hamburg is a safe city. Feel free to mail me privately if you have any specific questions about living over here.
LG
C

Dear kidgibnick,

I think you would definitely not get bored in Hamburg, especially after this week's events.. :lol:

But if you want all those things on the list, I would vote for Frankfurt. It's geographically in the middle of the country, you can see the rest of Germany, from there. South or North, nothing is too far. Luxembourg or Belgium just a couple of hours away.
Culture: o.k. Atmosphere, weather: good. Nightlife: check "Living" for the best afterwork parties. Transit system: not too expensive, as far as I can remember (2004).
Urban density: only the 3rd or 4th largest in Germany, I think. They have an English theatre (!), and two operas (depends if you fancy such things).
Style: not that touristic, sometimes even a bit grey, some skyscrapers in the banking centre - but that doesn't mean you cannot visit Goethehaus or go for a nice walk along the river, any time of the year. It was all bombed, back "then" so don't expect old buildings. All the historical stuff they have is: re-built.
Pubs, there are quite many. Check out Balalaika, that used to be my favorite place when I was living there (live music) - if it still exists.

Freiburg is nice, too... close to the French border. You may fancy that even more than Frankfurt... after all, you are a Canadian! ;) Ask user Ciars for details about Freiburg. I only visited there once, ab 2 years ago... it is a very nice university town. Not a "big city", that may be a great advantage over Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt or München. Oh yes, you don't even want München! :)

Good luck with making the right choice.

You have just described Berlin (OK weather in winter is dull, but in the summer is is wonderful and the city is like a big garden)!

Not sure why you do not want to consider it, but none of the other cities you list come anywhere near to providing what you list here as Berlin. You should seriously reconsider.

Cologne isnt a beatiful city but it is big, interesting, lively and international. The person describing it as small is wrong. I'm from Manchester and it is a similar size to that, if not even bigger. Being international is a very important consideration in Germany because provincial German towns can be very narrow minded towards outsiders, even if they speak good German, with the east being particularly terrible in that respect. Cologne is also great for travelling to Holland and France and Europe in general because of its location on the railway routes. Frankfurt is OK but it's also pretty dead in terms of nightlife and quite conservative because it is so businessy and rich, though it is international. I recently went to Hamburg and found it stuffy and boring and the people seemed very up themselves, although I didn't see much of it apart from the city centre. It reminded me of Munich a bit because it seemed very very German. My favorite cities in Germany are Cologne and Berlin and I agree with the previous person that you should consider Berlin also.

[quote name='matthewsmith' date='May 3 2008, 11:06 pm' post='1271645']
Cologne isnt a beatiful city but it is big, interesting, lively and international. The person describing it as small is wrong. I'm from Manchester and it is a similar size to that, if not even bigger.

Well, you're from Manchester so Cologne would certainly seem like a big city to you. (I lived in good old Manc for many years so I know how small it really is)
Great music though!

Really? I lived in Manchester for 3 years, and I thought Manchester is way bigger than Cologne. It must be on par with Hamburg for size.

Manchester - 2005 Mid-Year Population Estimate 442,000
City of Manchester area (hectares) 11,565 or 115.65 km²

Koeln - Dec 2006 population 1,024,346
City of Koeln area 405,15 km²

Hamburg - population 1.75 million
Hamburg total area 755 km²

Sources:
Manchester Fact Sheet - City Council 2007
Die Stadt Köln in Zahlen
Hamburg - ein Kurzportrait

Kid Gib as in the band from Kitchener Waterloo? I don't know your music to be honest, I just know of that name because I went to university around that area.

Anyway, I am Canadian myself and I've met a few German exchange students from Hamburg and supposedly it's a pretty cool city for people in their 20s to live in.

Yeah okay, and the city of London is something like 70 000 people, not much really. Greater Manchester is far bigger than Köln, surely.

Fair enough. Density is perhaps more interesting. All from Wikipedia:

Just for fun, I looked it up a bit more officially

2001 official London census stats:

City of London population 7,185
Inner London 2,766,114
Outer London 4,405,977
Greater London 7,172,091

2001 official Manchester census stats:

City of Manchester 392,819
Greater Manchester 2,482,328

source: UK Gov't Office For National Statistics (pages linked above)

RB Koeln (greater area) 2005 population - 4,378,600
Source: Statistische Jahrbuch 2007 für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

I ended up in Düsseldorf by chance due to an interesting job offer, and it is a pleasant surprise. I had lived previously in Madrid (very lively) and Cologne (still a special place in my heart). Düsseldorf is small, around half a million, but NRW is densely populated and there are some ten cities within a reasonable driving/train distance. Brussels and Amsterdam are a couple of hours away.
For exclusive shopping you have the Königsalle, but there are also some neighborhoods with interesting small shops and cafés (Flingern, Oberkassel). In Oberbilk there is a great big park, Volksgarten, and you can ride you bicycle through that and be at Ünterbacher See in 15 minutes. The airport has flights to just about everywhere in Europe and some US destinations, and traffic is tolerable. There are world class art exhibitions, thanks to the presence of the art students. A good variety of foreign restaurants due to high number of Japanese, Koreans, Indians, etc.

All in all, a good balance of my many requirements.

With your business studies and being the financial capital it is , Frankfurt should be a good location for you job wise and also it is in easy reach of Koln and the baden-wuertemburg area (and Swizzyland). Personally I think you are in for a cultural shock - donuts cost $1.60 Loonies each here.

I'm probably twice as old as you and married with a kid, so obviously other priorities. Besides, Hamburg is the only German city I've lived in, so comparing with other cities I've only visited will give a skewed point of view. If you're wary of conservatism and it's alternative and edgy you're after, pick Berlin. It's the cheapest place to live, and if you want to head to Hamburg, it's only 90 minutes away.

Cologne is a very lively and interesting city and really international. You don't have to live in the centre of it all. There are loads of nice green areas around the city (I live in one) and the transport links are so good you can be in the centre in a matter of minutes.

If you want mountains, Hamburg won't please you. It's rather flat terrain up here. But the city is fantastic. Most Germans I meet who are from other parts of Germany say it's the prettiest city in Germany, and I agree. It's a challenge to get bored here, regardless of your priorities and even without mountains.

Although I've only done business in Frankfurt...I think if you're looking to "enjoy" Germany, that's not the place to go first.

I appreciate everyone's comments!

Yes, i'm from the band Kid Gib (http://www.myspace.com/kidgibrock)
I'm from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario...a city of about 400,000 residents, less than an hour from the metropolis that is Toronto.
Unlike many Canadians, i'm not in dire need of wide open spaces...I like the bustle of urban city life.

So far, i've been getting some unanimous feedback about Hamburg. My ex-gf also lived in Hamburg and she loved it. How far is it to the beaches on the borth sea...or vacation spots like Sylt?

Although Frankfurt may have job opportunities that would suit my business pursuit, i'm not sure if it has the feel i'm after...that a city like Koln might have...as it seems to be a more important city, perhaps i'm wrong...
Also, I spent some time in Düsseldorf...and although it felt smallish, I loved the waterfront promenade in the summer time...and the old town was packed shoulder to shoulder with people drinking and in cafe/restaurants. That's what i'm looking for...a city with areas full of bars/pubs and people enjoying being outdoors having a drink.

Someone mentioned the problem with not being a national...I don't think that will be a problem...in essence, I am German...my family is all from Germany, I just happened to grow up in Canada. I made friends with tons of locals while "couchsurfing" and they all agreed that if I was to stay, i'd fit in just fine.

Honestly, I think i'm torn between living in a big city like Hamburg, Koln, or Stuttgart...OR...living in a busy University town like Freiburg, which gave me a great "vibe" as it's very laid back...but i'm worried that it might not have enough nightlife to offer etc?

Can anyone give me advice on Stuttgart and Freiburg...and also continue to give advice also for every other city...thank you!

You still haven't explained why you ruled out Berlin, even though as someone else said, it fits pretty much all your given criteria perfectly.

The North Sea (Cuxhaven: 1:50), the Baltic Sea (Timmdorfstrand: 1:20) and Sylt (3:00) are all mainstays of seaside fun for Hamburgers. (by train)

When the weather is bad it takes about the same to drive, when the weather is good you can add at least an hour on to those times.

You can also visit the Harz mountains if you are jonesin' for some nature, about 3 hours by train.

Mind you ... Hamburg, Köln, Stuttgart are very busy university towns too

Stuttgart is a nice place but I would not categorize it as a "big city".

Freiburg is very lovely, but personally I found it a bit too small and sleepy. I'm in Dresden now and really enjoying it, the Neustadt quarter in particular is pretty artsy with a ton of bars/clubs to choose from, and I find that people are a bit more open than other places I've been in Germany.

But from what I hear, Berlin and Hamburg are really the places to be.

I never lived in any cities in Germany but have visited Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, etc... My favorite 2 cities were Düsseldorf and Hamburg.

Perhaps I should reconsider Berlin, but part of the reason I discounted it is for a similar reason I discounted Munich...based on "vibe." For example, I found Munich too spread out and too touristy...and the old town doesn't have any nightlife that isn't overrun by tourists, so the locals have to go to less central locations like the "kuntz platz" beim Ost Bahnhof. Berlin has a vibe that doesn't exactly feel like the rest of Germany...perhaps it's the eastern influence, but it just isn't my cup of tea as much...but maybe I just need to explore more.

does anyone know anything about Ulm? I know it's much smaller, but I haven't been there...and it's quite close to Stuttgart/Munich and Switzerland...
Just looking to learn more about some of the smaller cities as well...like Bremen, Hannover, Nurnberg, etc.

also, please share thoughts about your own hometown, regardless if it's one of the major cities i listed.

You do realise that most people on this board are from outside Germany?

Eric's Germany Journal ... Ulm

Ulm is, unfortunately, very ugly, having been absolutely flattened by bombers in ww 2. IMHO it is also quite boring and provincial. No offence or anything, but it wouldn't exactly my number one choice of town if I was moving to Germany!

How about Konstanz? Right on the lake, beautiful weather, on the border with Switzerland so you can go over for coffee or dinner, has a university, lots of pubs and restaurants... A neat town that didn't get destroyed in WWII because half of it is Swiss. Also great for folks who like water sports and seafood.

Wiesbaden is quiet nice, if you don't mind travelling to Franfurt for the nightlife.

Work is probably going to be the overriding decider in this. Like it or not that probably means Frankfurt, Munich Hamburg in that order. Baden Wurtenburg and most of Bavaria consists of very small towns which can be very claustrophobic after a short while. I would also consider Vienna and Zurich both german speaking and Vienna at least is a pretty cool place.

Züritüütsch ...