Living in Germany is a plain-English guide site for expats in Germany that traces its rules and figures to German law and official sources, is written by Marco Maurelli in Berlin, and is funded by referral fees from the health insurance broker MyHealthcareBroker.
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my address, how does health insurance work, how do I find a flat without a SCHUFA history) are scattered across outdated forums and contradictory Reddit threads.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: public (GKV) vs private health insurance, 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.
How the facts are sourced and kept current
Every number on this site should trace back to an official source. For pensions and social contributions I use the German pension insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung, DRV). For health insurance rules and rates I use the Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesgesundheitsministerium) and the law itself, mainly Book V of the Social Code (SGB V). Thresholds and rates that the government announces each year are checked against the official publication in the Bundesanzeiger. For visas and residence I rely on the responsible authorities and the Residence Act.
German rules change every year, so each guide shows a last-updated date. When a threshold, contribution rate or procedure changes, I update the guide and the date. If you spot something that looks outdated, write to the address below and I will check it against the source.
Who reviews the health insurance pages
The health insurance guides on this site are reviewed by the licensed German insurance brokers at MyHealthcareBroker before they go live. Pages that have been through this review say so in the line under the headline. The review checks the insurance facts. The wording, the structure and the opinions are mine.
Our connection to MyHealthcareBroker
Living in Germany is connected to MyHealthcareBroker, a team of independent consultants for expat health insurance in Germany. This is a commercial relationship, and you should know about it. When a reader books a consultation through this site, we may receive a referral fee. The consultation is free for you, and you are never obliged to buy anything.
The guides explain public and private health insurance in the same plain way, including the cases where staying in public insurance is the better choice. Pages that discuss health insurance carry a partner disclosure for the same reason.
Contact
Found an error or something outdated? Write to contact@living-in-germany.org or check the imprint.