Apartment entrance door In Germany, the flat entrance door closes automatically, meaning that when the door shuts, from the outside, you can only open it with the key. Germans seem to love it because it feels safe and for insurance reasons but I find it very very inconvenient and stupid: those doors can be open very easily if it is just closed and not locked, especially from experienced thieves or anyone who has access to the Internet with the right material. Whenever I venture outside my fla...

It might seem so trivial, again, and in a way it is, but German flats are not made for human life when I compare to those in France, North America or East Asia. I know, I know, I repeat myself... I talked about the moveable kitchen, the unhygienic toilets, the washine machine that awaits to be stolen (or used by neighbours) and now, going back to the fact that when you rent an apartment in Germany when coming from abroad, you must expect the moving budget to be much much higher than any other c...

Another episode about the German flats and how badly they are designed for human life. And today, it is the washing machine, yes, and in particular, the absence of space for having one in one's own flat. Another surprise when I moved back to Germany. I was probably extremly lucky to have a washing machine inside each of my apartment in Berlin and Düsseldorf, because when I was hunting for a flat last year, many could not accomodate this modern appliance. Most of the buildings, new or old, ag...

Let's continue with the wonders of German's flats and after the moveable kitchen, the toilets. Yes, the toilets. As a French, I am very used to have the toilets in a separate room, dedicated to this business. Except in a small studio, toilets are always on their own, even in those very old Parisian building with a weird layout. How on earth can anyone consider hygienic and convenient to have the toilets next to the sink or the shower cabin? I think it is even more ridiculous for a household o...

Like I wrote in my introduction, I never lived in Germany as a "local", but as student in a cheap WG or as an expatriate in a fully furnished and equiped flat for which I would not have to pay the rent. Before I moved in Germany, I knew this particularity about the kitchen, but I heard that recently, most of new rentals would include the kitchen (search for apartments with EBK = Einbauküche), so I was hopeful that I might not need to buy my freaking kitchen. Alas, last year, I had to resign my...

I am a French national, raised and educated in France. English was my first foreign language at school, and German the second. In the late 2000's, I spent a year studying in Berlin, as part of the Erasmus Exchange Programme. I was very excited to go and live in the German capital city, as at that time, it was very "alternative" and affordable. It turned out that Berlin exceeded my expectations, in many good ways. I was blessed with exceptionally open and nice classmates, my rent in my WG was b...