Who I am
My name is Marco Maurelli. I moved from Rome to Berlin at 18 to study and never really left. What started as a university adventure turned into a life: jobs, apartments, bureaucracy, friendships, and eventually a city that feels like home.
Living in Germany as a foreigner means navigating a system that wasn't built with you in mind. The official sources are in German, the paperwork assumes a German background, and the answers to the most basic questions (how do I register my address, how does health insurance work, how do I find a flat without a SCHUFA history) are scattered across outdated forums and contradictory Reddit threads.
I built this site to fix that. Plain-English guides, kept up to date, written by someone who has actually been through it.
What this site covers
- Health insurance: GKV vs PKV, costs, eligibility, switching, providers.
- Bureaucracy: Anmeldung, SCHUFA, tax ID, bank accounts.
- Taxes: income tax, Steuerklassen, filing a return, freelancer taxes.
- Housing: finding an apartment in Germany's competitive rental market.
- Work: jobs, work permits, the EU Blue Card.
- City guides: Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt.
- Daily life: bicycles, cars, liability insurance.
Contact
Found an error or something outdated? Write to contact@living-in-germany.org or check the imprint.