Before I start I want you to know that living and working in Germany was never my dream and Germany was the last country I ever thought of moving to. I came to Germany only because of my girlfriend. She got a job offer from a German company which she accepted, so I decided to move with her. Because of that, my point of view may be a little bit difficult to understand and I can be too harsh on Germany. So please, read this article till the end and take a look at my second article where I talk about things I do like about Germany to get the whole picture.
Also today, I’m not going to tell you that the weather is bad and it’s always rainy here in Germany, or about the slow internet. This article is not for tourists, it’s about living life here. Because there is a huge gap between coming as a tourist here and coming for a living. So, I will tell you some problems I found for myself here as a migrant which is hard to live with. Something that’s different to what I’m used to. Everything you’ll find here is based on my real experience of living in Germany.
Everyone is going to see what’s in your pocket
When I moved to Germany the first step was to find an apartment for living. You may already know it’s not so easy to find a place to live here. Sometimes it takes months even for natives, but that’s not the point.
The point is that each owner of the apartments wanted to know everything about us. How much money do we earn? Where are we from? And what documents do we have to live here? Do we have a job or not? How can we prove it? Everyone asked us to show our documents (all we had), papers with income history from our bank accounts for the previous 3 months, we had to show the job contract and other documents.
Maybe for European citizens it’s a common thing, but for us it’s something personal and it doesn’t feel welcome when everyone asks you to show what it’s in your pocket. It felt like we had to stay naked while they’re scanning us to make a decision and rent us an apartment. I was raised in a different cultural area, where your money, your income, your bank account, your job – it’s something personal and you don’t have to share it with others. But here – it’s different and I didn’t like that. Yes I understand, Germans don’t have to trust foreigners from another country and we have to prove what we say is true, but it just doesn’t feel right for me.
The endless circle of rules
The second thing is that there are a lot of rules here, I guess you already heard about that. But the real problem is they’re circled and you can’t just do something, because every step you make should follow the rules which are endless.
For example: To live in Germany you need to be insured, but get a health insurance you must have a residence permit in the city, but the residence you’ll get only if you have renting apartments, but to rent an apartment for a long term you need to show your bank account and your income for last 3 months, but to do that you have to have a residency in Germany… So it’s a circle of rules where you can’t make things done. You need to start somewhere and sometimes even to break this circle and go through it until you finish.
In a moment I found myself at the center of the city nearby the next government service door thinking that I’m homeless now. I couldn’t find a place for a living, I had no registration, and I had no money to go back home or change the country. It wasn’t for a long time, but there was a feeling of homelessness experience.
So I think Germany is a hellish endless circle of rules.
System pushes you to work, not to live
It feels like Germany is a good place to work, not to live. The law designed that way here, so it pushes you to work a lot.
Everyone who lives in Germany should be insured, so you have to pay from the first month you moved in, but to pay you have to have an income. But if you don’t you have any income and savings you have to work with JobCenter (which is a government service) and they will cover your health insurance and give you some money to cover your basic expenses. Even if you don’t want to get any social money you have to do that because you can’t just stay without insurance. From that point you have to work with JobCenter.
Because they write the law that way, one day you may find yourself in a position where the government pushes you to learn German or other skills to find a job, even though it was never your plan. This is exactly what happened to me as an expat. I had to visit an integration courses and work with JobCenter, deal with paperwork. So, coming to Germany be ready that they’ll not let you live your life here, they will push you to work hard to pay taxes and health insurance.
A lot of paperwork
I received so many letters in Germany and got so many documents which I never had in my home country. And receiving letters is not a big deal but to reply to them and asking for other documents you need for a living here – there is the problem.
It sounds crazy, but we (my girlfriend and me) have to use one key for our apartment, because we couldn’t make copies. To make them we need some special order, which we need from the house owner. But you could say: “So what’s the problem? Ask your house owner and they will make it!”. And you’re right, but the owner of our apartments and our house owner are different individuals and we have never seen our house owner and we can’t contact them.
So when we visit any key store asking to make a copy they ask to see a permission, which we don’t have. And the contract we have for renting an apartment doesn’t work for them. And that’s only one case, there are so many here and you can’t make a step without a paper. Most times living in Germany you need a paper to get another paper. Mind blowing.
They want to help you, but they can’t
Let’s talk about the Germany’s government services which are created to help people. I am a migrant here and when I came here I told everyone that I never worked as an employee and I never had a full-time job and I don’t see myself working that way here. I was self-employed in my home country, I enjoyed my freedom to work whenever and whatever I want. So I asked every single guy I met here to help me to become self-employed. But you know what? They only pushed me around to find a job and work as an employee. And I even can’t be angry with them because for 10 months I found only one guy who worked as self-employed here. Only one guy for 10 months in Germany! Others work as employees, and that isn’t strange. They couldn’t help me with self-employment, because they don’t know what that is.
Seriously! I spoke with and asked a lot of people. I worked with the JobCenter, I had a meeting in Welcome Center, spoke with Caritas help center, I visited Migration Management service a few times, I made three appointments with the Government Tax Service, I spoke with teachers and students while visiting an integration course. I sent 10 letters to 10 different companies asking for a meeting but nobody responded. I even tried to find people to speak with on the streets directly talking to them, but that didn’t work. I also have friends in different cities, they live in Germany and they also don’t know anyone who works as self-employed here. I know my case is specific and most individuals don’t dream of becoming self-employed in Germany. Mostly, people dream of coming to Germany and finding a job better than they had in their home country. And for employees it’s really a paradise, but for people like me who want to become self-employed it’s a little bit harder.
And I found that every person here in Germany honestly wants to help you, but they can’t. System is designed for another purpose, but not for my own.
Health Insurance & TV feels like a Modern Slavery
I thought Europe is a place of freedom, but the more I get to know about western countries the more I’m finding it to be the opposite.
In Germany you have to pay for a TV-set even if you don’t have a TV at home and don’t want to use it.
In Germany you have to pay for your health insurance even if you are in great health and don’t want to use it.
It feels like it’s a fee you have to pay for a living here. Paying for this stuff pushes you to work harder to get more money, because you have to pay your bills. But, to earn more money you have to pay more for your health insurance because it depends on it and it’s around 15% from your income.
And it just doesn’t feel like freedom to me. When you don’t have a choice and have to pay – it’s not a freedom – it’s a slavery. They only gave us a choice what company to pay.
I understand that Germany compared to other western countries is better balanced and it’s easier to cover your health insurance and pay all your bills working here, but if you never lived in eastern countries maybe you don’t know the kind of freedom that can be, where there are no payments for something you don’t want to use. For example, in some countries you can pay insurance only if you want to and you can choose what services you want it to cover. The medical services work faster and cost less, sometimes they’re totally free for citizens.
My point of view on that is – it’s not a freedom when you have to pay for something you don’t use or don’t want to.
Rat-race to get your money back
Next thing I hate about Germany is that the government uses your willingness to pay less and do savings against you. You will find a lot of rules here how to save your money and get them back:
- Buying water in plastic bottles you have the ability to get 0.25 cents euro back returning it to the food store.
- When you have a job you can get some money back from taxes you already paid by filling up a declaration.
- Using a food store mobile app you can save your money and get some discounts.
- If you will get married you will be able to pay less in taxes and health insurance.
- You can pay less in taxes while you have some costs related to your job, but you need to store your receipts.
- and so on…
At some point I found myself doing a lot of things I’m not used to, only because I am a person who wants to get my money back. Rules are designed that way so you always have to do something to get your money back and if you don’t – you will lose it. If you don’t send a yearly declaration you may lose a thousand euro per year. If you don’t send the plastic bottles back to the store you lose from 10-20 euro every month. If you don’t store receipts on bills related to your job you lose this money.
I hate that they use your nature of wanting to save money against you, pushing you to do a lot of things you’re not used to.
One day I decided that I’m too tired to get my money back and one day I moved my plastic bottle to the trash. I walked by the streets in the center of the city and moved the bottle into the trash, and you know what? After me was a German guy following, who asked me to give him this bottle, so he can change it for 0.25 cents.
I understand that plastic is bad for our planet and we should recycle it, but man… In my home country only homeless people store bottles and change them to get some money. But here in Germany even people with money do that.
All I’m trying to say is that these habits make me feel tired. And I feel tough when I have to think not only how-to-make-income, but also how-to-get-my-money-back.
Government always trying to get a half
So let’s get to the taxes and one more time speak about health insurance and social security. To be honest I don’t think that taxes are so heavy here in Germany compared to other western countries. If your income is low the government will not bother you with heavy taxes, they will come to get a half only if you earn a lot. But even if your pockets are empty the health insurance will come after you. So they work together as a pair. Till you get to the rich point health insurance will eat your income, but after you make more money the government will get a half in taxes.
And something I hate about health insurance is that it depends on your income. Tell me please “How is the insurance company related to my income? How does it helps me to make more money? Why should I pay them more if I make more?” I think if I make more money that is because I deserve it – not them. But they want me to pay them a percentage from my income. I think it’s not fair.
About self-employment I’m looking for. When I got a consultation from the government tax services they told me: “You need to register yourself first to become self-employed and you have to fill out the documents and then we will tell you how much in taxes you have to pay”. I told them I want to know the rules before I start doing business, to do the math and calculations before the registration, to figure what kind of services will be better to work on. But their answer was: “We’re not allowed to give this information, because someone may use it to avoid paying taxes.” I was impressed by that. Feels like you couldn’t manage the money you earned by yourself, you always need a government for that. And they have to look into your pocket again. How do you live and you spend money for. Again I feel naked.
Different meaning for poorness
It’s an illusion that people are rich here in Germany. When I just came here my thoughts were that Germany is a country of rich people. A lot of great cars and well built streets, high salaries for employees. But the truth is quite different. I have to earn triple the money to live on the same level I lived in my home country. Life is more expensive here, taxes are more heavy, insurance you have to pay for, the infrastructure is quite expensive for use. So, when I came here I became poorer than I was in my home country.
I wasn’t a rich guy before Germany, but having 15,000 euro yearly income I had the ability to spend money for a living. Restaurants, cinemas and taxis were few times a week. I had the ability to buy brand new clothes and equipment I needed. And that’s all costs were possible after taxes, because taxes were 5% from my income. But here In Germany we have so much more to pay for.
Also when I came to Germany I thought if the minimum salary is around 2000 euro, then maybe a lot of jobs out there with a salary at 10,000 euro/month. But I found that 5,000 euro here is already a great salary and it’s hard to find more, and after taxes and health insurance it’s around 3200 euro. And if you earn more than 5000 euro/month in Germany they will call you a rich guy, but the truth is that you’re still poor. Yeah, you may have a car, rent a better house, travel twice a year, but you’re still poor and without freedom to do whatever you want with your life. You still have bills to pay, so at the end of the month you’ll be glad to save 10-20% from your income. And you still have to work hard for 10 years to buy an apartment, even though you think you already became rich in Germany.
All said, this is just the way of life I found here in Germany for 80% of the population.
Boring life, no friends, thousands of miles from your home
Sometimes I think the most realistic way to die in Germany is because of boredom. Maybe that’s because I live in the south of Germany in a small city and there is nothing to do. Here are some things I do everyday: I watch movies, I work on my laptop at home, I go for a walk nearby my home, I go to the store and that’s it. Restaurants are not quite great and not cheap! Movies in the cinemas are mostly in German which I don’t know. There is no sea to go and look at. People on the streets are not so expressive to speak and have fun with.
But the very reason why it’s hard to live here may be because everything I used to live in is a thousand miles away. I can’t see my relatives whenever I want. To spend some time with my friends I have to plan that meeting for a few months before it and buy tickets to another country to visit them. All my colleagues and partners I like to work and speak with are also in different countries.
Here is nothing mine, nothing brings me good memories about these places. It’s a new life where I feel loneliness. It’s a new life where I have to get used to new rules, new government, new people, new language, new food, new places, new culture.
At some moment I found myself searching for something relative here, something I like, something I know, something I want. But I can’t find it here, because Germany was never my home.
Conclusion
So, that’s all, 10 things I hate about living in Germany! Sorry if it was sad for you to hear, but I tried to be honest. I know that most migrants will not say that way about Germany. Most people like to live here and my case is more of an exception. Also I think some native Germans also may hate some things I mentioned to you about Germany and that’s okay! You’re not required to love everything about the country of your living.
You may also ask: “So Alex, why are you living in Germany? If you don’t like it – move to another country!” and that’s true! But the truth is that mostly all the countries in the European Union are the same when it comes to the law and rules. Yeah, there are some differences, but escaping problems here in Germany I will find them in another place. So I feel like I have to go through it here in Germany . And maybe someday I will leave that country.
But also I found something I do like about Germany, so please read my next article about that.
