maxie

AFAIK the only way a company does not have to pay you Mindestlohn is if is is a Pflichtpraktikum (you need it to get our degree and the university confirms this for your employer) or if the internship is less than 3 months. This means cummulative. If you do a voluntary internship now and in 2022 with the same company, the cannot be longer than 3 months combined.  If you already have your degree, the same applies except then there is no Pflichtpraktikum.  I have never heard of a mandatory internship lasting 12 months.  Any halfway savy/reputable/somewhat larger company should know those rules and abide by them as not complying will get them in trouble very quickly. If they have any kind of HR department, they should know that this is an absolute no go.  What is the position classified as? Internship (Praktikum) or something else? 

Do you have any friends/colleagues etc. that you can ask for a recommendation?  I am not sure if a local one necessarily has much of an advantage as any Makler needs to constantly do their research in terms of prices and the market anyway.  There are some large companies that have a decent reputation. Engels & Völkers, for example. I never had any dealings with them directly because none of the houses they had on offer were what we were looking for, but they had a lot of more upscale properties listed and the advertisings were all pretty good (nice photographs, texts pretty normal language, almost no typos etc.) Maybe worth a look. You could also have a chat with them and see what their ideas are for selling your property and what price they would be aiming at, before you sign a contract.    We had a brilliant Makler that I have recommended before, unfortunately not really local for you (ca. 300 km).  

I have a lievito madre that runs on wheat flour. I usually use 1050 but 405 will do as well - and a rye sourdough. I think the rye flour is 1150(?). My supermarket only has one kind.  I have only just started baking bread and got the dough from a friend,  but you can easily start your own.  I use the rye dough for any kind of bread - wheat, rye, spelt. There are some great German websites with recipes if you are interested.  

When we bought the house, almost 14,000 €  I believe it was 3% plus MwSt from us, 2 % from the seller. Without value added tax about 20 k for him and his team. 

  Happy to, if that is ok here.  It was Johannes Katzenberger at Immocenter Bolich in Kaiserslautern  Immobilien Kaiserslautern Haus Kaufen & Verkaufen - ImmoCenter Bolich GmbH (immocenter-bolich.de)  

We didn't have any bad experiences with any Makler when buying a house and we met quite a few. I know that is an exception, but they do exist. One seemed a bit bored, but still answered a ton of questions without batting an eye, let alone rolling them. About five were very friendly and helpful, pointed out stuff that we would have to update etc. One was brilliant. Since he made such a good impression when we bought our house, my parents sold an apartment through him a year and a half later.  He - checked the market and then suggested a reasonable price, the goal being that a number of people are interested and, if anything, offer more, not try to talk it down  - took photographs that showed the place at its best - not sugarcoating, just emphasising the highlights and not making stuff look bad which is easy to do  - drafted and put together a brochure of photos and text  - created an online 360° viewing  - organized and mostly ran an open house  - helped evaluate the candidates also with an eye on how they might fit into the house community (9 apartments, mostly owner occupied, lots of them friends of my parents so they wanted to try to find someone who would fit in)  - Suggested a notary and organized the contract draft and the appointment including one time with interpreter - lots of little bits of advice and knowledge   We shook hands with the new owners less than 48 hours after the first viewing. Sellers and buyers walked away happy. I don't think either one had any problem paying the Makler bill. It was a ton of money, but he really earned it.    I know this guy is a rare representative of the species, but they do exist. Both objects were desirable properties, maybe that played into it as well. But these days it looks like almost all properties are desirable. 

If the room she rents out is furnished, the Mietpreisbremse does not apply. It can apply for furnished accommodation, but not if you are renting out a single room  Mietpreisbremse umgehen – Schlupflöcher bei möblierten Wohnungen (immoverkauf24.de) Daneben müssen sich auch Immobilieneigentümer nicht an die Mietpreisobergrenze halten, die ein möbliertes Zimmer vermieten, das sich innerhalb ihrer eigenen Wohnung befindet. Das legt das BGB im § 549 Abs. 1 und 2 fest   Also from the link: Furnished means at least half of the necessary furnishings are provided. There is a list on the page above what that could be.  

Furnished rentals are not all that popular or common in Germany. At least not the size you are looking for and generally not outside large cities. 

Apparently there are three lables to look for which guarantee that the association putting up the collection box is reputable.  I came accross the same info on several pages, but the link below had the table which was easy to read and copy.  Another suggestion is to take a look at the box itself. There should be an address and phone number at least. If it has only a phone number, it sometimes is a fake one.  Some of the not so reputable ones apparently just sell the clothes and pocket the profit.    Altkleidercontainer: Diese drei Sammelstellen sind seriös (t-online.de) Diese drei Sammelstellen sind seriös Als seriös und sicher stuft die Verbraucherzentrale Sammlungen mit einem der folgenden drei Siegel ein: Siegel/Label Name Leitlinien Label von FairWertung FairWertung ist ein Dachverband von rund 130 gemeinnützigen Organisationen. Diese haben sich dazu verpflichtet, sozial- und umweltverträgliche Standards einzuhalten. Dazu zählt beispielsweise, dass die Organisation gemeinnützig ist und mit ihrer Arbeit keine eigenwirtschaftlichen Ziele verfolgt, dass Erträge aus dem Verkauf unmittelbar und mittelbar sozialen, diakonischen oder karitativen Zwecken zugeführt werden und dass wahrheitsgemäße Angaben über Zweck und Verwendung der Kleidersammlung gemacht werden. Siegel des Deutschen Zentralinstituts für soziale Fragen (DZI) Das DZI-Spenden-Siegel belegt, dass eine Organisation mit den ihr anvertrauten Geldern sorgfältig und verantwortungsvoll umgeht. Organisationen, die dieses Siegel tragen, haben sich dazu verpflichtet, transparent zu arbeiten, sparsam zu wirtschaften und sachlich und wahrhaftig zu informieren. Es gibt entsprechende Kontroll- und Aufsichtsstrukturen. bvse-Qualitätssiegel Alttextilsammlung vom Bundes­verband Sekundär­rohstoffe und Entsorgung Die Mitgliedsunternehmen haben sich dazu verpflichtet, für Transparenz bei der Sammlung, nachvollziehbare Verwertungswege und den Schutz der Umwelt zu sorgen. Die abgegebenen Kleidungsstücke werden so weit wie möglich als Second-Hand-Kleidung wiederverwendet. Kleidung, die nicht mehr tragbar ist, wird den Angaben zufolge hochwertig verwertet. Unternehmen, die das Siegel tragen, werden regelmäßig von einem externen und unabhängigen Sachverständigen überprüft.

Which language do you use? That might also make a difference. I (German) say "I love you" much more easily than "Ich liebe dich".    I think the variance in Germany is to large that it is very difficult to make any kind of generalization. What kind of relationship do you have? What kind of personalities are you - outgoing/extroverted, more introverted? Etc. I think that plays a much larger role than cultural differences as these might also come into play within Germany. Then there is the difference in families...    I agree with some of the posters above: If you feel like you want to say it, say it. 6 weeks would be too early. 6 months is absolutely fine, especially if you have been spending a lot of time together and have been sharing each other's lives. 

If you go for a plot with a house on it, make sure to check the "window" on which you can actually build on that property and also the requirements for building which might have changed since the last house was built so they didn't apply for this one but for your new one.  Sometimes, one plot can be several parcels of land: building and garden/field etc.    When we were looking for a house, 500 m² for a new home was actually considered a "large" plot. Some were only 350    Since a larger garden was one of the top priorities, we ended up buying an "older house". (50 yrs) It had a lot of work done by a previous owner (roof, windows) so we could move in right away and are tackling the other issues as we go along. We were lucky that we bought when we did (3 1/2 yrs ago) because the market has just gone nuts since. Even though it felt expensive at the time - we had been looking for almost two years and even in that time prices had increased significantly.    Good luck! I know some people would rather rent adn it is true, that if you own property, the work never stops, but I love it and wouldn't change a thing! 

It depends on what animals you have in your roof.  Is the roof accessible? How about putting a live trap up there to see what you actually have.  Rats or mice, I would suggestion using traps or making it the landlords problem.    If you have a family of fat or garden dormice, regular traps are not an option as they are protected and cannot be hunted, cought, injured or killed. There are stiff fines.  Also, they are incredibly cute and there is usually only one or two.  Dormice I would catch in live traps and relocate (I believe it way >10 km or they can find their way back) somewhere in a field.    Poison is not a good idea, IMO. There is the smell, as someone mentioned. Also, cats, owls foxes etc. might catch a poisoned rodent and die as well. 

Another theory: If you are the only two foreigners in the team or department (and people like you better), he might feel inferior and is trying to make up for it?  Or he watched too many old movies and sees any American as his enemy.    Or - and this is my favorite - he's just an a**hole. There's gotta be one in every team. It's pretty much a law of nature.    I think it's good you got your supervisor involved and they're not just shrugging you off. S/he could also bring in the next level up, to make it more official. Russian culture tends to be more autoritative, so that might help, too.    Best of luck! No one should have to put up with behavior like that.  

There must be some kind of supervisor that you both report to (as AlexTr has said). This person, rather than HR, should be your first stop.  If your direct manager doesnt' to anything, the next in line would be the work council, if you have one. Or your boss' boss. Only after that fails would I involve HR.    But feel free to fire back yourself, politely but firmly. In an e-mail, you can put your supervisor in copy. 

Maybe the mom was on holiday