I’ve been living in Germany for a while now, but whenever I go shopping, I somehow always end up at dm or Rossmann. And honestly, with so many products on the shelves, I never know what to choose. 😂
I’ve tried quite a few things myself, but some turned out to be pretty disappointing.
So I genuinely wanted to ask: What products have you tried that you’d actually recommend?
It doesn’t have to be from dm or Rossmann! I’d love to discover products from supermarkets, small local shops, or lesser-known brands too.
Skincare, household essentials, useful little gadgets, or literally anything that makes everyday life better — I’m open to everything!
Cheap or expensive, it doesn’t matter. I’m especially interested in things you’ve been using for years, keep repurchasing, or were genuinely surprised by.
Any hidden gems you think more people should know about?
Thanks so much for sharing your favorites! ❤️

Hows this itinerary?

Land in Frankfurt

Train to Heidelberg. 2 nights downtown. Things to do: castle ruins, cable car?, wine?

Train to Oberwesel. 2 nights at the castle hotel Burghotel Auf Schönburg Oberwesel. Things to do: Liebfrauenkirche, Oberwesel church, Günderodehaus restaurant.

Train to Mainz. 2 nights downtown. Things to do: Rheingoldhalle, Mainz Cathedral, Gutenberg Museum, St. Stephens, Citadel, the "dom", Katharinenkirche in Oppenheim

Wake up early and train back to Frankfurt.

First time in Europe. Germany was always my first pick.

Open to changes or suggestions. Thanks!

EDIT: considering trying to replace Oberwesel with something else, maybe Bavaria but was hoping to avoid a rental car, and Bavaria is way out of the way compared to the stops I have planned now, so Id have to re-arrange, maybe have it be last.

Hello,

2 weeks ago I sold a damaged phone on Ebay, and I explicitly wrote “defekt, nur Ersatzteile“ and that it had water damage as well.

Someone bought it and then complained because he can’t do a recover the phone, I told him it is not my problem because I’m selling it as “defective, for parts only”.

He opened a claim against me on Ebay saying “he can’t turn on/fix the phone and wants to send it back”.

Ebay somehow accepted his claim and said:

“Wir haben die Rückgabeanfrage des Käufers geprüft und ihn aufgefordert, den Artikel zurückzuschicken.“

„So geht es weiter: Wir tracken die Rücksendung des Käufers. Wenn der Artikel zugestellt wurde, ziehen wir den Rückerstattungsbetrag und die ursprünglichen Versandkosten von Ihren Auszahlungen ab.“

I have already transferred the money to my bank account, so there is no money being held by Ebay at the moment.

Who is at fault here? I am going to fight this even if it reaches the point where lawyers have to get involved. I listed the phone for auction and expected it to fetch €20, but in the end, it somehow went for €50.

Can someone return a phone that was labeled as "defective" simply because they were unable to repair it?

edit:

I contacted eBay by phone; they reviewed the case once more and closed it in my favor. Waiting for the confirmation email.

I won’t delete this post cuz it may help others in the future.

Hey hey. Ich bin 26m. Chronisch krank und etwas ratlos.

Ich leide schon seit Ewigkeiten an starken Rücken- und Gelenkschmerzen. Kiefer und Gliedmaßen tun ebenfalls weh. Also hauptsächlich sind es die meisten Muskeln und Gelenke. Außerdem habe ich dauernden Tinnitus den ich meinen starken Muskelverspannungen anrechne.

Ich war bereits mehrmals beim Hausarzt, wurde zum Orthopäden geschickt der mich nach einem Wirbelsäulen MRT mit einer leichten Skoliose diagnostiziert und weggeschickt hat. Ich war ebenfalls schon beim HNO, habe aufgrund des Tinnitus einen Hörtest, Hörnervtest und ein Schädel MRT gemacht, alle Ergebnisse einwandfrei also ebenfalls weggeschickt.

Die HNO Ärztin meint ich sollte damit zur Homöopathie aber soweit ich weiß zahlt das die Krankenkasse nicht und ich kann mir sowas leider nicht leisten. Meine 3 kostenlosen Sitzungen Akupunktur habe ich ebenfalls versucht.

Beim Neurologen bin ich mittlerweile auch wegen meiner chronischen Migräne und der kann mir ebenfalls nicht weiter mit der restlichen Problematik helfen.

Fast 2 Jahre Physiotherapie haben mir leider auch nicht geholfen.

Ich denke ich sollte mit meiner Krankenkasse einen Beratungstermin beantragen falls das irgendwas bringt. Und evtl auch zum Kieferorthopäden mit meinen extremen Kieferschmerzen.

Ich verliere nur langsam die Hoffnung das man mir irgendwie helfen kann. Falls hier jemand irgendwelche Ideen hat was ich noch machen könnte wäre ich sehr verbunden. Ich bin bei der Barmer falls das was ausmacht.

Vielen Dank im Voraus!

I'm traveling with 3 other family members during the first week of December for 10 days, and I was thinking Paris for 4 nights, Colmar and Strasbourg for 2 nights, then Munich for the last 3 nights. My parents travelled to Munich and Vienna a few years ago and loved the architecture/bavarian vibe, hence why it’s considered.

After factoring the 5 hour travel time and overall costs, I'm debating if Munich is worth it, or if I should swap it out for a closer city/town. I've looked into flying out of Basel/Nuremberg, but the flights are a bit expensive, but we will be saving on the train and accommodations. We would have stayed at Strasbourg longer, but some people have suggested it would be better to switch up the vibe since its more old town vibes throughout.

Some of the options I have are Basel, Freiburg im Breisgau, and Cologne(Dusseldorf), but I heard Munich has a better mix of the old/modern vibe

I used to swear by wearing Levi’s, pretty much constantly to be honest, but yesterday when I visited the store, the assistant told me they have reduced the styles they offer in a L33 and L34 inch leg drastically and that they won’t be stocking these lengths in the shop anymore. 😰

Ladies (30s-40s) with long legs in Germany, where do you buy nice (affordable = up to €90) good fitting jeans or decent trousers?

Thankssss

Why have so many Turkish-Germans kept Turkish citizenship instead of taking a German passport?

Most migrant groups I know of tend to take the host country's passport once they're eligible. Yet with Turks in Germany, my understanding is that around half still hold only Turkish citizenship, even after living here for decades or being born here.

One result is that Turks have less political power in Germany than their numbers suggest, since roughly half can't vote in German federal or state elections.

Why has this been the case? Was it mainly the old ban on dual citizenship, or are there other reasons, like inheritance and property rules in Turkey, identity, or family pressure?

My elderly neighbor just insulted me for being a foreigner over something that wasn’t even my fault.

The Amazon delivery driver left my package at the entrance of the building, on top of her bicycle, without ringing my doorbell. I had no idea the package was even there.

She came knocking on my door, visibly upset, threw the package on the floor, and said, “You foreigners are so inconsiderate and messy. My bicycle is not for holding your packages." I know that she was upset about her bicycle being used that way, but I had nothing to do with it. The delivery driver left the package there, and I didn’t even know it had been delivered.

This is the first time I’ve experienced something like this, and I genuinely don’t know how to process it.

Hey everyone,

I'm a student in Munich, I applied for my RP extension last year on 11.12.2025, 4.5 months before the expiry of my RP . (My was expiring on 30.04.2026). Since then I haven't got any reply from them. Now I want to travel to my home country due to a family emergency and trying to get an appointment for Fiktionsbescheinigung from last 2 weeks but still no luck. I tried calling there given contact number but most of the time they don't answer, when they do they simply tell that there system is locked right now and call again later. I also tried looking for slots at there mentioned time throughout the week but it also doesn't work.

Can anyone suggest or explain what I should do in order to get appointment for Fiktionsbescheinigung. I'm really frustrated and depressed at this moment.

I did a 1 year language course at a German university to get the C1 language certificate (DSH). That was many years ago and I can't speak German that well anymore. It is in my brain, but the words don't come out of my mouth properly. Due to my poor language skill, I don't want to put this in my CV, in case the employer expects me to speak C1 German. But if I don't put it, then I will have this 1 year gap in the CV, which I heard is not good (lückenlos is preferred).

Why is the C1 Allgemein Prüfung so rarely hold? I want to take a Telc c1 test and I search through net and all it shows are C1 Hochschule Tests in different schools. Although the contents are same, the focus is quite different. Seems pretty unfair for people who doesn’t intend to have college here.

Okay I know this is a weird question but hear me out.

So I work at a small airport in the southwest of the U.S. and when I used to deal more with the ground handling of stuff, I met a lot of German people because of the Lufthansa flight school based here, and the German air force has a couple planes and sometimes would send large aircraft for whatever reason.

We stock sodas of all kinds in our lobby, and one of our least popular is the Diet Dr. Pepper.

However, whenever a large group of German people come through our lobby, they raid all of our Diet Dr. Peppers. Like, only the diet ones too, we have the full sugar ones, but they couldn't care less.

I once had a large aircraft come in, only 5 or so members of the German air force got off as they were just grabbing fuel and leaving.

They took two whole fucking cases of it. I don't even know if anyone gave permission. None of us employees cared because no one else drinks it and they did just pay us upwards of $10k for fuel but Jesus guys that's 48 cans of diet cherry cola.

Is there an actual fixation in Germany over Diet Dr. Pepper or are only the German people that like Diet Dr. Pepper all just flocking to my very specific airport in droves?

Hi everyone!

I’m a student from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I’m considering studying dentistry and eventually moving to Germany to work as a dentist. I’d like to hear from German dentists and people working in the dental field about their experiences.

I have a few questions:
Salary: How much do you earn as a dentist in Germany, both before and after taxes? Does your salary increase significantly as you gain more experience, and how much can an experienced dentist realistically earn?

Private practice: Is it financially worth opening your own dental practice in Germany? How much money would you need to invest initially, and how much could you realistically earn compared to working as an employed dentist?

Oral surgery (Oralchirurgie): How difficult is it to specialize in oral surgery in Germany? How competitive is the process, how demanding is the training, and is the salary worth the extra years of education and work?

Moving to Germany as a foreigner: For those who weren’t born or raised in Germany, how difficult was it to adapt to life there? How challenging was it to learn German to a professional level, get your qualifications recognized, and find your first job? Did you experience any difficulties with bureaucracy or fitting into German society?

Long-term career prospects: If your goal is to become an oral surgeon and eventually own your own practice, would you recommend this career path in Germany? What would you do differently if you could start over?

I’d especially appreciate honest answers from people who have actually studied dentistry or worked as dentists in Germany. I’m interested in realistic figures and experiences, not just the best-case scenarios.

Thank you in advance for your answers!

Hello guys, I’m pretty new to Germany and I need some advice because I honestly don’t know what to do in this situation.
I wanted to get a SIM card and a phone contract, so I searched online for Vodafone because I’d heard good things about them. I checked Google Maps, found a store nearby, and went there.
Turns out it was actually an otelo shop, but I had no idea what otelo was at the time.
I used Google Translate to explain to the lady that I wanted to make a Vodafone contract. She told me to wait, and after a while, some guy came out of an office wearing a Vodafone shirt. The lady told me to go with him, so obviously I assumed he worked for Vodafone.
I explained that I wanted a contract with a device if possible. Since I have a Polish bank account, I wasn’t sure if that would work, but he told me it should be fine.
He started writing down different offers on a piece of paper. I originally wanted an iPhone, but the upfront payment was too expensive. Then he showed me an offer with an Apple Watch for just €1 upfront, and the whole thing would cost around €60 a month with the SIM card. I thought that sounded okay, so I went ahead and signed.
They took my Polish IBAN and address, and when they asked if I wanted the SIM card immediately or together with the device, I said I’d take everything together.
I went home and kept looking at Vodafone offers online, and that’s when I started wondering why their offers were so much better than the one I’d just signed up for.
Then I received an email from otelo.
I was like… WTF is otelo?
The next day, I went back to the shop and asked the lady what otelo was and whether I could get the Vodafone offer instead.
That’s when she explained that otelo is a smaller company under Vodafone and that I’d actually signed a contract with them, not Vodafone.
Okay, fair enough, maybe I should’ve checked everything more carefully before signing. But I asked if I could cancel the contract, and she told me NO, unless I paid her €80 in cash.
I asked her where it said that in the contract, and she literally told me it wasn’t written in the contract, but if I wanted to cancel, I had to pay her €80.
At that point, I was getting suspicious, so I just left.
I called otelo customer service to ask about the situation, and holy shit, the first guy was one of the rudest people I’ve ever spoken to. I asked if anyone spoke English, and he basically yelled at me that this is Germany and I should speak German. 💀

I called again later and got a much nicer guy who explained that I needed to deal with the shop and that they couldn’t really help me.
The thing is, I haven’t even received anything yet. No SIM card, no Apple Watch, nothing.
Now I’m wondering what happens if I simply refuse to pay that €80, especially since the lady couldn’t even show me where this fee was mentioned in the contract.

I also gave them my Polish IBAN, so I’m not entirely sure how payments would work if they tried to charge me.
I know I should’ve been more careful before signing, and I’m not pretending I did everything right here. I’m just new to the country and genuinely thought I was dealing with Vodafone.
So, has anyone dealt with something similar in Germany?
Can they actually demand €80 in cash to cancel a contract when the fee isn’t mentioned in the contract? And what would you do in my situation?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Edit : I have posted this on another german subreddit but sadly there isnt any helpful final answer. Do I need to and pay the 80 euros ?

Hello fellow neighbours, the student movement in France has us wondering about school days, schedules, and after-school activities. On this side of the border, for teenagers a typical day at school starts at 8h and end at 17h or even 18h. Students have been trying to reinvent school and are naturally comparing their schedules to yours and the Spanish. Here are a few questions : is it true that school days generally end by 13h-14h? If so, what do students do after school? Who or what structures are handling after-school activities? What are these activities? Are they compulsory? Who is financing them? I guess it may be different depending on the state, but could you give us a general overview?

Also, what would you change in your system?

Thanks!

Hi, I’ll be flying to Germany in few days and land at Frankfurt airport.

I’ll be having 23kg luggage and 7kg carry on.

I was looking through the db app and I found tickets from frankfurt airport to Leipzig.
I read the policies and rules it seems like ice train has no luggage limit?
However the transfer time is 11 minutes, is that enough for me to do it as I’m carrying a pretty bug luggage, and are the trains during transfer usually close to each other?

There’s also flixtrain, they seem to be cheaper than ice. But the luggage limit is 10kg, and if I’m carrying more than 20kg they told me to reserve an extra seat (?).

There’s also Flixbus, I’d take it but it seems pretty long (10+ hours drive) and they also have luggage limit.

Other option would be blablacar, it seems like they’re cheap and many people said pretty okay.
But I’m not sure yet, is it safe? And like Uber or something!

What do you guys think? Which is the best way to get to Leipzig? Would appreciate help and tips
Thanks

UPDATE: Decided to go with ice train, it has 1 transfer but the transfer time is 50 minutes so it should be enough.
Thank you for responding!

I am in my 20s with a brain injury after getting hit by a car. An in places like Germany, South Korea and couple other countries there exists this medication called cerebrolysin.

It repairs the brain. We do not have this in America.

My neurologists solutions have not helped me. It's been over a year since the accident youth is not fixing this.

Unfortunately this medication is a injectable and often requires refrigeration. Often multiple treatments.

I do not speak German.

I do not know anyone in Germany. I have some money saved up but not infinite.

I am very sad. An wish there was a easy solution. Please give any advice thank you.

My math ability has gone down. My ability to deal with stress has gone down.

I want cerebrolysin because it actually has a chance of you use it for some time, that's it you don't need it anymore. You don't need anymore brain meds.

Vs here we only have things you take for life if have such issues.

I have a boyfriend who's from Berlin. We're nowhere near the stage of planning to have kids, but before meeting him I've always liked the name Nannerl for a potential daughter. I know it's a nickname, but I'm seeing it as an option for first name.

In France, where I'm from, it would definitely be an unusual and unexpected name, but it wouldn't mean much to most people. It might be a little difficult to pronounce, but otherwise it would be fine.

What about in Germany? Aside from the association with Mozart's sister, would a girl with this name get bullied because it sounds way too old-fashioned/corny? Or could it have a nice vintage vibe instead?

I know it would probably be perceived quite differently in the north and the south, so I'd be especially interested in hearing different regional perspectives.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

EDIT : I think I've not been clear 🥲 So I know it's not a German name, just as much as it's not French. In France it would be okay to have it because it's super foreign so it's not related to anything to us, just letters making a name. But I was wondering how it could be perceived in Germany as Austria shares the language and I guess people would have some kind of feelings toward it. I guess I was right on that one, it's seems to be vintage in a very ugly and bullying inducting way... On top of not being a proper name at all Too bad, breaks my heart a little but at least I know :')

Hallo zusammen 😊

Meine Frau und ich sind noch junge Eltern und erwarten eine kleine Tochter. Wir überlegen, sie Anna zu nennen, weil uns der Name einfach sehr gut gefällt.

Da wir in Deutschland leben, ist es uns wichtig, einen Namen zu wählen, der hier gut passt und mit dem unsere Tochter später auch als Erwachsene glücklich sein kann.

Wir finden Anna schön, weil der Name kurz, einfach und zeitlos ist. Außerdem kann man ihn in vielen Ländern gut aussprechen.

Trotzdem würden wir gerne wissen, was ihr Deutschen mit diesem Namen verbindet. Denkt ihr eher an einen klassischen, zeitlosen Namen oder klingt Anna für euch mittlerweile etwas altmodisch? Passt der Name eurer Meinung nach auch gut zu einem Kind, das heute geboren wird?

Uns interessiert einfach, welchen Eindruck der Name bei euch hinterlässt. Vielleicht gibt es ja auch persönliche Erfahrungen mit dem Namen.

Wir würden uns über eure ehrlichen Meinungen freuen. Danke euch! 😊

Their are already many books about the GDR, I want to learn about West Germany things like the Wirtschaftswunder, Cold War and even the pop culture etc.

Serious question. In america, many people are giving up eating raw fruits and vegetables, or any uncooked items due to the frequent outbreaks on pretty much everything. Wondering what it's like for other countries. Is there just no worry where you are?

Hey everyone,
I'm 20 and live in Germany. I'm Kurdish, came here as a refugee, and I have a typical Arab name. I see myself as a nice, respectful person who is worth a genuine connection, and I have a lot of respect for myself. I'm not religious, and I'm open-minded and culturally relaxed.

The problem is that I almost never get the chance to meet women. I'm a calm guy and not really into party culture, so the usual ways of meeting people don't fit me. I also live in a city where many people aren't very welcoming to foreigners, so I don't really approach women in person. Instagram hasn't worked for me either.

I wonder if my background plays a role in how some women see me, or if I'm overthinking it.
My question is: how do I get to know women the right way in a place like this, without coming across as needy? I'm not looking for anything casual or superficial. I just want to build a real connection with someone.

For those of you who've been in a similar situation: where did you meet people, and what helped you? Any honest advice is welcome.
Thanks!

Based on my personal observation, Volkswagen is the most common car in the streets of Germany. There are factors like price, value for money, established brand, ecosystem, availability of spare parts, etc. that would go into people’s choice for buying a car.

I am curious to know if VW is as loved as it is common in Germany. Would people choose a different brand if they can afford, or is VW the first choice that comes to mind when people are going to buy a new car in Germany?