Hey TT peeps,

My husband and I are moving to Heilbronn. He is German and I am originally from Israel and for the past 12 years have lived in NY.
It's a bit of a scary move because I've heard there's a bit of a difference between Heilbronn and the Big Apple

I am excited to have found this site and hope to contribute to it as much as getting great info from it. Also, looking forward to meet you English speaking folks when we get there (my husband at the end of May and I will arrive at the end of June).

In the mean time if anyone can help me with some local info about the following it'll be much appreciated:
- Finding apartments
- Finding a good OBGYN (I'm pregnant and due in Sept)
- Where I can learn German

Thanks much of any info.

Welcome to Schwabland.

You won't even notice any difference between Heilbronn and the Big Apple if you have a good imagination.

I sometimes take the kids on the train to Heilbronn for an ice cream (there is a famous ice cream dealer by the main station). Otherwise, there is little remaining of the old city, as it was heavily bombed. You may want to plan to travel to Stuttgart and Heidelberg every once in a while. Our Ludwigsburg is just down the road.

One question: Is your husband from here? Has he too been in the States 12 years? Many of us married to Germans have seen a drastic change in behavior in our partners when we return to where they were raised and where they may still have family. A German overseas may not a German back home . Cultural and family forces are strong here, and in this region people are quite conservative and habour old values. In the States you are both foreigners so it is a neutral place. Not so here.
Just a word of caution.

Haha. Pes, your post has just triggered a conversation about family traditions in Heilbronn between my husband and I. You bring up a very valid point, and I completely agree with you. Provided that I've left my home country 12 years ago, away from my culture and everything I grew up with made those type of situations all too familiar.

My husband actually hasn't been living in the States for as long as I did. He moved here in 2006 after we met at a conference in Germany (It's a lovely story btw). He also is not originally from Heibronn and his parents live about 2 hours away (Oggelshausen), so not too close

I appreciate your word of caution and I'm crossing my fingers it'll all be alright. My main concern is the whole new world I'll need to get used to without speaking the language (in the beginning). And the worst part is the German voice-over of English speaking movies and shows on TV and theaters
Furthermore, New York is one of the liveliest metropolitans in the world, so moving to a place where everything shots down on Sundays for instance is going to be quite a challenge.

With a new baby coming soon, there'll definitely be a lot of new things to get used to, but I'm excited towards all these new challenges. Makes me feel alive

hi limi, i´m british and have been living in heilbronn with my german husband for the last 2 years. we´ve got 2 children - my eldest is nearly 3 and the other 11 months. my yongest was born in heilbronn so might be able to give you a few tips!

Can't your husband help you? You've probably helped him improve his English, no? Now it's his turn.

Hey nelie, I would love to get some tips from you, Thanks for offering! I'll be in touch with you closer to the date. At this point any info will help.


haha, he does help me a bit, and I've also purchased the Rosetta Stone CDs which are great, but it was kind of difficult to get into this here in the US. I think it may be better if he concentrate on bringing the bread home when we're there
But I will practice my <broken> German with him constantly.

I am just back from NY (2 weeks trip) and I lived in Germany for 2 years. Since 2004 I am living in Brazil. What I have to say about Germany and US: They are really 2 different worlds. The people mainly. As both countries are 1st World, economically wise they are similar. Weather seems to be quite equal as well. But the people is something that we need to get used of. I do not have any problem with the Germans, because I still think that good and bad people we will find anywhere. If you need some tips, please be free to contact me. I will live back in Germany this year anyway...

Hi Limi I just wanted to welcome you to the HN(Heilbronn) area. I have been living here from the US since 1999. I have also met up with Nellie and her two kids. She is very sweet.

As a PP stated, I think that the US and Germany are two completely different worlds.

I am pretty sure that some of the Volkshochschule zeach German. You may want to try a course to learn the basic grammer. The rest is simply learned through emmersion. What I did the first year was watch TV shows that I knew really well. So I already knew what was going to happen but now I could get used to the language.