I would like to thank my old nosey neighbor for inspiring me to write a post about the strangest things I’ve learned while renting an apartment in Germany. Not a day went by when I didn’t worry about her opening up her apartment door as I walked down the stairs to exit the building. When my luck is absent and the day comes when she opens the door or catches me quickly grabbing my bike from the garage, I stand there with a smile and a blank face as she lectures me in German about all the things I’m not allowed to do while living here on her turf.
So, in order to give other expats a little heads up…
Here are some great pointers on what to expect when renting an apartment in Germany
1. Old ladies can be your worst enemy
I kid you not, old German women are often your worst nightmare. There might be moments where you feel like nothing you ever do is right… and there might also be those moments where you think they’ve got hidden cameras in the building or are staring through their peephole as you walk past their front door (they most often are).
2. Hanging your laundry on the front balcony is forbidden
Go ahead, shake your head. It’s actually not forbidden or illegal in Germany to hang your laundry on your own balcony, but when the old lady says it’s forbidden… it’s forbidden (simply to avoid starting a war). We were renting an apartment with no window in the bathroom, no air ventilation, and no fan… if anything, I should have given my landlord a piece of my mind about renting an apartment out that would be covered in mold in the next couple of years.
3. Parking your car in a spot too small is illegal
So here’s the story, we were thinking of renting the apartment, but we wanted to ensure that the parking spot for rent with the apartment fit our car. I’ll admit, it’s an extremely tight squeeze, but the apartment owner insisted that we take the space (a few more extra Euros in her wallet at the end of the day). If we don’t park squished perfectly to one side of this tiny spot, she threatens to give our parking spot away. I stood there in the doorway of the garage as she lectured me in German…
4. Making noise on a sunday is against the rules
This is going to be a huge kick in the face for other expats reading this post. There is a serious lack of privacy in German city apartments and noise is against the rules (here are the rules). Though it often drives me crazy that all the shops on Sunday are closed (here’s what’s open though), I would love to get some stuff done around the place while I’m waiting for Monday morning. Not a chance.
5. Actually making noise after 6:00pm at all is against the rules
It’s true, it’s also against the rules to make noise before 9:00 or 10:00am and then again around noon. I think I’d rather a siesta.
6. The Garbage often does NOT go out to the curb
This is the coolest thing about some of the apartments in Düsseldorf, the streets look cleaner when you learn from the Germans. Our garbage is found in the cellar of the apartment, but instead of hauling up to the curb or making the garbage men head into the cellar, there’s a little locked door on the floor in front of our apartment where the garbage men open the gate and pull up and out the garbage. Genius.
7. The apartment doesn’t come with a kitchen
If you’re looking to rent an apartment, chances are you’re going to have to put the entire kitchen in yourself. They’re expensive, and if your place is anything like mine, no normal kitchen will fit. The size of our kitchen is small and awkward. While most appliances are 60 cm deep, our kitchen wall goes 45 cm deep. Expensive and personalized is the best way to describe our current space!
Tip: Here are some of the best places to furniture shop around Düsseldorf (or best places to buy furniture second hand)
8. Your rent is considered to be warm or cold
I find this kind of neat, here in Germany they have a ‘cold’ rent and a ‘warm’ rent. The cold rent is what you pay for the apartment and nothing else. The warm rent is what you pay with electricity, water, garbage, parking, etc… the whole package. If you’ve already learned German, you may refer to this as “Kaltmiete” and “Warmmiete”. 😉 If you’d like to touch up on your German terminology, there are a ton of apartment terms you should learn before renting.
9. There’s likely no elevator
I always wondered how the Germans stay so fit whilst their menus are filled with Brötchen and Wurst. Most apartments in the city don’t come equipped with elevators (unless you’re living in a newer build). This means hauling up the fridge, the sofa, the oven, the bed… you get what I mean.
10. Electricity and Water are Ridiculously Expensive
At first I just thought Germans love to spare and save where possible. We already learn quite often how eco-friendly and efficient Germans are, but there’s a better explanation for why they are so strictler about their hydro usage – it’s damn expensive.
Although – I have found booking electricity packages through providers like Ostrom do be the smartest decision.
For those of you reading this post and currently living in Germany as an expat, I’d love to hear what you think! This is one of my favourite expat discussions when I join meet and greets in the city. There are so many different rules and ways of life here than there are back home!
