Blood donations can be made in Munich at the Amtlicher Blutspendedienst at Stiglmaierplatz (U-Bahn U1, one stop north of the central station).
The whole process takes about an hour and you receive €20 as a cash reward. Bad news for most British readers, however. If you lived in the UK for more than 6 months during the period 1980 to 1996 inclusive, your blood will be refused for fear you may be a CJD carrier.
To donate blood simply turn up at the donations center any time during opening hours. No need to make an appointment. Remember to take your ID card or passport. The whole process takes about one hour, with 10 to 12 minutes for the actual blood withdrawal itself. Afterwards there are tea and cakes on offer.
The restrictions are that you must be healthy, aged 18 to 68, and weigh more than 50Kg. You may donate blood no more frequently than once every two months (men and women) and no more than 6 times a year for men or 4 times a year for women.
Amtlicher Blutspendedienst
Dachauer Strasse 90, Maxvorstadt
U-Bahn U1 to Stiglmaierplatz
Tel. 089 23337507
Website: www.muenchen.de/blutspende
Opening hours:
Monday, Thursday, and Fridays: 8am - 3pm
Tuesday and Wednesdays: 12 noon - 7pm
This really bugs me as a brit. I was a regular blood donor in the UK up until I left to come here in 2000. My blood is fine and healthly and is good enough for any brit or anyone else for that matter to receive in the uk, but not good enough for the purist Germans it seems.....
Posted by: tigress at January 17, 2005 04:11 PMI think it's great you get paid for it. Apparently the Red Cross charges an arm & a leg for blood, so it seems suitable you get compensated for it. In Stuttgart however (Katarina Hospital) you got 26.
Posted by: Eliza at January 17, 2005 05:37 PMI went there to donate blood last year and went through the whole Anmeldung procedure, including the nasty thumb pinprick, then got turned back at the last minute cuz Iīm a Brit. didnīt even matter that Iīve been vegetarian for the last 20 years either!
actually, I do understand this regulation though as itīs to do with the whole Mad Cow Disease. the grumpy doctor told me Iīve a lifetime ban for donating at the moment although it may change one day.
I just donate each time Iīm back home in Blighty.
btw, the first time you donate in Munich you donīt get paid, you get to choose a gift. Iīd already chosen mine - a big food parcel full of yummy stuff. didnīt get it in the end. bah.
This is good to hear...the rules in the US are that if you've lived in the UK for I think 3 months or anywhere else in Europe for 6 months or more, you're not eligible to donate. They cite the same reason (Mad Cow Disease), but that doesn't keep it from being frustrating to not be able to give blood in my home country, just because I lived in Munich for a while.
Posted by: CaveTroll at January 18, 2005 10:20 AMThis is interesting. If a german has an accident in the UK and receives a blood transfusion, would he then not be eligible to donate blood when he comes back to Germany?
And what about the people with rare blood types? Do they still exclude them?
Posted by: Nosferatu at January 18, 2005 12:13 PMyes, it's true.
and in England you cannot donate blood if you have received it either.
a German friend of mine lived a year in the UK so she is also banned from donating blood here.
I think it is a good idea, remember all the innocent people who got infected with HIV some years ago?
a clear and 100% reliable way to test blood for CJD should first be found before they allow 'potential/at risk' carriers to donate again.
It's not like Germany (or the US) were completely free of mad cow disease, even if they didn't lik to admit it.
Posted by: Mad Cow at January 18, 2005 01:52 PMyes that's true but irrelevant to the issue of blocking potential carriers from donating.
they want to REDUCE the risk of infecting others.
How come they're not open on Saturday? (which is as "on the weekend" as you can get in Germany)
It would better to have them closed on Thursday and open for a few hours on Saturday.
Posted by: FearLES at January 20, 2005 05:01 PMI'd like to donate, but am worried about fainting at the lack of blood. Do any experienced donors have any advice? I am healthy, but don't have good circulation, and I get headrushes which make me v dizzy if standing up too fast.
Thanks!