Support for self-employed people

I have been doing some digging into registering as a Freelance IT consultant and came across this statement:

“Before registering as a freelancer you might find it worthwhile to catch up on the programmes offered by the German government and various institutions to support those seeking a career as a self-employed person. Some programmes require that the application has to be made before you officially register as self-employed.�

Anyone one know where to get such information? Or what these programmes and support are?

The german term that might help you is "Existenzgründung".
Are you looking for advice or money? Do you speak german? (If not, you better find someone who does and is willing to help with the details.)
If you are unemployed and registered with the "Arbeitsagentur", ask them. For example they might pay for coaching like this: BFE-München (On this webpage they also mention other sources to get support.)
You could also contact the local IHK (Industrie-und Handelskammer). They sometimes offer courses in english language. But Im not sure if they are responsible for IT consultancy...
This is a website of the BMWi (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft) to help startups. They also mention sources for cheap loans like the KfW-Bank...

Im sure there have been other discussions on this topic in TT.