About Toytown Germany

Toytown Germany is an English-language community website for Germany. It is an information resource, a meeting point, and a communication platform for English-speakers throughout the country.

Toytown Germany, known as "TT" for short, collects information about local bars and restaurants, events and meetups, job offers, housing, cinemas, taxes, and pretty much anything to do with moving to Germany and living here. The heart of the site is the chat forum where English speakers can share news, ask questions, post answers, make advertisements, organise sports and social events, discuss current affairs, and engage in general banter about anything and everything.

Who uses the site

TT is read primarily by British, American, Canadian, Irish, Australian, Indian and South African citizens living in Germany. Anyone who can speak English to a native standard, regardless of nationality, is welcome to read and take part. As of June 2009 there are over 11,500 members active on the chat forum. See the list of currently active members. Many other people read the site without registering a membership. Although the grand total monthly readership is impossible to measure exactly, Google Analytics puts the figure at over 450,000. The total population of native English-speakers living in Germany is 230,000. See the map of member locations.

How to use the site

The basics:

How to find information - and what kind of information is available, a sitemap of sorts
How to meet people - meeting other English-speakers in Germany
How to post a message - taking part in the discussions
Moving to Germany - essential information for newcomers to the country
FAQ - Frequently asked questions - about life in Germany, about its cities, and about this website

More advanced usage:

Tips for effective classified adverts - how to sell furniture, rent a flat, etc.
Become a paying advertiser at Advertising on Toytown Germany
Limits on free advertising: Advertise on Toytown Germany
How to organise an event - tips on organising your own meetup
Generic help pages for using the forum software

Good behaviour guidelines

Forum usage guidelines - read these and follow them, or be mercilessly moderated
No personal attacks - never insult another TT member, ever
Freedom of speech - we're liberal here, but you don't have the right to say whatever you please

Who owns the site, and history of its creation

TT was dreamt up and created by Editor Bob in August 2002, together with help from co-administrator Malcolm Spudbury. Originally TT was a Munich-specific website. Due to popular demand the site expanded in April 2006 to cover the whole of Germany. From 2002 to 2008 TT was owned and run by Bob as a one-man business. Additional moderators kindly donated their time on a volunteer basis. In January 2009 the site partnered with The Local. The site is now operated out of their headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Funding comes via the advertising banners. Further details:

Moderation team - who edits the site
Origin of the name "Toytown" - it's a curious name, but what does it mean?
Funding and advertising - how the site is financed
Webserver technical details - what computer hardware we use
Impressum / imprint - contact details for the site administration

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