Can anyone tell me about Germany?

fullofhope

New member
Dh is enlisting as a musician in the army so around december we will all be moving to heidelberg- we are currently in oregon. I'm assuming we'll have to get german carseats, but can anyone tell me anything about heidelberg or the military base there? We have no experience with the military and have only been to visit munich about 10 yrs ago, very briefly.... so don't really know what we are getting ourselves in for! But I think I 've read that several people here have lived in germany and/or were military? Thank you thank you for anything you can tell me!
 
ADS

Lara

New member
Hm, well, that's where I was born!! Ok, I wasn't born on base (my mom's decision, she wanted a regular german hospital) but I was born in Heidelberg.

LOVE it there. If I had the opportunity, I'd move in a heartbeat.

I don't really remember living there (we only lived there for a few years before my dad got out of the army), but we've gone back to visit a few times.

It's a really pretty city. Lots of good shopping and tons of stuff to do.

If you are living on base, then I *think* you can use American carseats. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But I think you will find that you walk a lot of places or take public transportation. Last time I was there, we stayed near the base and rarely drove anywhere. It was much easier to walk or take a street car or bus.

anyways, I think once you get used to living in another country you will love it! Its definatly a nice place to live.
 
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Morganthe

New member
Ooooooh Heidelburg!!
I am so envious!
I love that city!
Weather is very similar to Pacific Northwest, although they are having a severe heat wave this summer. It's on the Neckar river which makes it so beautiful, especially with the steep hills full of flowers, trees, or vineyards.

The Army services, housing, and posts are spread out across the southern edge of the city between Patrick Henry Village, Patton Barracks, and some others. Here's a list with links. I spent some concentrated time in the area in 2002 because I was attending classes there. We also went to events at PHV such as the Christmas Bazaar, the German-American festival, and some of their flea markets. In fact, I have a friend who's pscing there from another location in Germany in a year. :thumbsup:

Easy trip from Kaiserslautern where you might be directly flying into Ramstein. It's a tourist city and can be rather confusing to drive around because it wasn't destroyed and rebuilt after the War like so many others were. Lots of cramped and one way roads. Some gorgeous areas, other's not so picturesque such as the train yards. :shrug-shoulders: But I always remember lots of flowers.

There's a ruined castle above the city
hh6.jpg
where they put on summer productions of The Student Prince and set off fireworks at regular intervals during that time for the "Illumination cruises".

The Christmas Market is fantastic. The walkplatz is a mile long car-free shopping corridor ending in the Cathedral market place
h7.jpg


Locationwise for travelling and events, you are in an excellent location. There's even carseat checks ;) Just for example, here is a list of different 'events for June. My suggestion for travelling with families is to look at the USO tours & use them as an outline destination for your own expedition. You'll save money, go to the best places, and have a much more relaxing time not being on a formal tour especially with younglings.

These are just some suggestions for a daily outing eventually --
If you head east along the Neckar river, you can see and climb to castle ruins all along the route through the valley. It's one of those 'undiscovered' trips that tourists other than Germans don't see. Lovely villages with awesome food on the way.

Since Heidelburg is off the A-5 autobahn it is extremely easy to go north to Frankfurt, then branch to Cologne along the Rhein river.

Southern direction will get you to Switzerland within about 2 1/2 hours if you don't get 'staued' (traffic jam) which is fairly easy because it's a very old autobahn in places with narrow spots. France also sends all its non-local trucks into Germany instead of wrecking their very nice autoroute.

Karlsruhe (Carl's Rest) is a created city from the 18th century with lots of beautiful architecture. Baden Baden -- the place so nice they named it twice-- still has lots of elegant spas and places to luxuriate at. They are both just south of Heidelburg.

Stuttgart is about 2 hours away with a world famous zoo and park. There's alsoHollenzollern Castle to see that's a good daytrip too.
Burg_Hohenzollern_Sommerbild.jpg


Rothenburg is a medieval walled city, but it's more fun to stay there than to try for a daytrip. A Very romantic and affordable place with an awesome breakfast is Haus Gerberhaus they even take VAT forms (tax free) and have smoke-free rooms. But book early, it's extremely popular, free parking, and within walking distance of everything.

Then there's quintessential Bavaria with dear old Neuschwanstein
neuschwanstein_01_771.jpg
I love the mountains, the hikes, the fields, but not the tourists, but it's really easy to visit when they're not around.

Visit the Tax Free and Utility office when you arrive. For a nominal fee of $75 you can enter the program where you do not pay tax on your Electric and Gas bill. Pays for itself in the first year. The fee is good for as long as you live there if you're on the economy... which I highly suggest for a richer experience, a bit more money, and a lot better quality of housing than being stuffed in apartments always worrying about parking spaces ;)

From AAFES, you can purchase gas coupons for travel and convenience using your vehicle registration. The least expensive time is Sept-Oct & Jan-Feb. I'd stock up on a lot of litres since they can be used at Esso & Aral (only on autobahn for latter) + when they expired, they could be used on post/base. But it would save so much money from the fluxuation since they average US prices. People would complain about the slow decrease in August compared to the US, but never thanked AAFES for the graduated increase that never matched the jumps the US does in the Spring. :rolleyes:

Because you're on a SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) you can use any US approved carseat in your vehicles. Just remember if they're German specs, top tethers are not customary.

Sorry to take up so much time. I'm sure this is information overload. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. We were Air Force at Ramstein, but overseas for 7 years. I'm kind of hoping to go back :rolleyes: but it's up to Mama military to decide in the next few months where we'll go after dh returns from his remote assignment that he'll leave for in Feb.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Hubby was in the Army, and we spent 4.5 years in Heidelberg (2000-2005). I'm in a hurry right now, but I'd be happy to answer your questions this evening. :)
 

Yoshi

New member
My mom is from Germany and I've been there many times (but not since I was 20) Heidelberg is gorgeous and Germany is so beautiful. OHHHHHHH I am so envious!!!!! You will LOVE it there. I can't add anything to the PP's comments because they summed it up so well for you- but if I could live there RIGHT NOW, I WOULD!!!!!!!! Good luck and enjoy your time there!
 

fullofhope

New member
Wow, thanks! I am excited, what an experience for our kids as well as us... The pictures are just beautiful, and when I have time I will explore the links. I don't even know where to begin to start learning about everything! I do have a few specific questions, though-

What is the air quality like? My son has asthma, so I'm a bit concerned about smog and lack of smoke-free places. Is it hard to get away from smoking?

What does living "on the economy" mean? Not on base? Or in a house rather than an apt?

Is it legal to homeschool? If I don't homeschool, do I have the option of sending the kids to German schools or do they have to go to the schools on base?

Any suggestions for how to learn a little german before we get there?

And we don't vaccinate our kids- will that be a problem?

Thanks!
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Air quality in Heidelberg is bad. Really, really, bad. The city is in a valley, and their are factories sweeping in the bad air from a couple of factories and the pollen from the fields, which then just settles into the valley. I read that the air in Heidelberg is 10 times worse than the surrounding area! Having said that, I didn't ever see smog there.

There are lots of smokers in Germany. But, there's also lots of outdoor dining, which is nice.

"On the economy" does mean off base.

If you're with the US military, not only can you homeschool, but there's absolutely no regulation of you. Just do your thing. There's a rabid Christian group that has regular meetings. I was using a Christian Curriculum (Sonlight) at the time, and I still didn't get along well with them. There's also an e-mail support group that is a lot less formal about things.

You can send your kids to a German school if you choose. I would NOT! EVER! send my kids to the base school. We lived across the street from the Elementary School on Mark Twain Village, and there was no way in H*** I was letting my kids go there! There was a Montessori school within walking distance of our apartment that I considered looking into, and there's a Waldorf school in a suburb of Heidelberg (about a 20 min drive), in addition to all the "regular" schools. There's a list of schools on the City of Heidelberg website. I think this is the school that was closest to us on MTV.

You don't have to vaccinate to go to Germany. Base doctors may hassle you, but that has nothing to do with it being overseas. That's just how some (most) of them are.

Also, if you need a midwife while you're there, I highly recommend Christina Claus. She's worked with several US military families in the Mannheim/Heidelberg area, and she was my MW when my youngest was born.

Your husband should have access to Rosetta Stone language program through the military. You can also check your local library for German language programs. They will have intro classes on base when you get there, but I don't know if they're very effective (I took German in school).
 

Morganthe

New member
I agree with Ulrike about Heidelburg's poor air quality. I couldn't believe how bad it would be when we were driving A-6 into the region. There's a very steep long descent from the Pfaltz hills down into the Rhein valley. You can see a very long ways into the distance between Mannheim & Heidelburg. During the summer on hot days, there's this icky yellow haze that covers that entire view. It's a layer that we'd go down into. Rather freaky, but made for gorgeous sunsets.

About smoking...I can't handle cigarette smoke at all, so dh and I developed tactics to escape. Summer time is easy. Enjoy eating outside in the garden or the front area and figure out wind direction. Wintertime -- go early. Get there as soon as the place opens or around 5pm if its an all day eatery. The dinner crowd begins around 6-6:30 and goes very late. So it's empty around that time. Lunchtime at 11:30-12 is good too. Or come later for lunch like 2-3pm, but then you can experience the food running out or its getting ready to close for the afternoon.

The only thing you have to be concerned about is the proprietor and family smoking, but if you tell them your reasons, 99% of the time they're extremely considerate about the issue. I found out from experience the German horror of drafts is not a myth. So cracking the window open located next to you in an overheated restaurant is not a popular option :p

When I was pregnant and when dd was an infant, EVERY smoker was amazingly kind. They'd see me enter or sit down and cigarettes would just vanish along with the ashtrays! If they smoked, they'd go outside or into another room.

I still have fond memories of visiting the cheese sellers in the markets. As soon as they discovered my pregnancy, they would be pointing out cheeses 'safe' to eat (pasturized). They were so solicitous, it was a lovely experience. :love:

There are smoke-free areas in restaurants that have been developing in the last couple of years. DH and I hung out in one such cafe in Nuremburg one chilly December day to warm up. Ireland & France (I believe) have banned smoking in public places, so I have a feeling the EU countries are slowly getting into the habit.

Just don't be nervous to speak up before someone lights up to say that your child has Asthma. Very rarely did I ever see someone being mean to children. Unfortunately those times tended to be other American families :(

When are you scheduled to leave? I'm so happy for you and your children to experience this. You all will have fun, learn a lot, and have a great time. It will definitely be different -- store closing hours for one. ;)
 

Morganthe

New member
Your husband should have access to Rosetta Stone language program through the military. You can also check your local library for German language programs. They will have intro classes on base when you get there, but I don't know if they're very effective (I took German in school).

Awww, that must have been great to know the language :) I took German in school, but other than words, I never 'got' it. The grammar just messed with my mind. French was my successful 2nd language. But most of the time, Germans in Kaiserslautern & Heidelburg would immediately switch to English because they couldn't tolerate my poor German. :eek: But in the rest of the country, I was told it was very decent :shrug-shoulders:

Survival German is what we used faithfully. Words for:
Excuse me, hello, thank you, goodbye,
Where is _____? (Toilets, train station, specific address, gas station)
I would like _____? (drink, food, help, a bed for the night etc..)
My German is poor, do you understand French or Italian? (Worked very well in certain circumstances :p)

We picked up descriptive words, such as beautiful, impressive, tasty, and excellent that also helped too.
-------------------

Another point we discovered: On average, (please forgive misspellings)
Verstehen-sie Englisch? was better accepted than
Sprechen-sie Englisch?

The first question is basically -- do you understand English? Second is: Do you speak English? On average, more Germans are willing to answer positively if they understand a little, than if they speak a little because they don't consider themselves fluent or are not confident enough to return the right answer in perfect English.

Survival German + Survival English = a likely successful communication encounter :thumbsup:

Once, I had an excellent conversation with a proprietor in Regensburg who was using English words occasionally in her German while I was occasionally using German words in my English. I think we both had a fun experience. :love:

Just don't get scared to go anywhere just because you don't know German or the country's language well. As long as you have a map, a Handy (cellphone), and an ATM card, everything will be fine :)
 
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Starlight

Senior Community Member
There's a rabid Christian group that has regular meetings.

:ROTFLMAO: This was just too funny.

We haven't yet had the pleasure of being stationed in Germany, though it's high on our list.

Here's a policy letter on homeschooling: http://www.dodea.edu/foia/iod/pdf/02OD002.pdf

I'm mentioning this letter specifically because it states: "A DoD dependent who is educated in a home school setting but eligible to enroll in a DoDEA school, shall be permitted to use or receive auxiliary services of that school without being required either to enroll in or to register for a minimum number of courses offered by the school. A DoD dependent who is home schooled may be required to satisfy other eligibility requirements as well as to comply with standards of conduct applicable to students actually enrolled in the DoDEA school who use or receive the same auxiliary services. Auxiliary services includes use of academic resources, access to the library of the school, after-hours use of school facilities, and participation in music, sports, and other extracurricular and interscholastic activities."

:D

And don't let them talk you into vaccinating. They can't. If questioned, always cite religious beliefs, regardless of why you have chosen to not vaccinate.

Oh, and spare yourself the pain of researching German laws on homeschooling. Just don't do it, it's not worth it. The SOFA agreement should cover you as a military family wanting to homeschool. But don't expect to find too many Germans homeschooling.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
The SOFA does cover education, so military are totally covered. It doesn't matter what German Law is while you're stationed there.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Just to clarify, there are some German laws you have to comply with (e.g., you must use a car seat or booster until your child is 11 years or 4'11" tall). Schooling isn't one of them! You have three options: base school, off-base school, homeschooling.
 

fullofhope

New member
Thanks for the info and tips- dh has been to germany several times for saxophone competitions, one being during 9/11, and he said he found germans to be very kind. The yellow haze has me a bit concerned... is there any wind? We lived in phoenix for a year, and there was no rain and virtually no wind for 143 days, and a great brown haze, and my son was very sick. oops baby is awake, thanks again for helping me!
 

Lara

New member
Well, if it gives you an idea... I live in Phoenix and when we went to Heidelberg I noticed almost NO difference in the air quality (and we have gone in the summer each time). Gosh, I can't remember if it was real windy or not (its been a few years). Have to let someone else answer that for you.

And yeah, most people there do speak at least a little english! So you have that to your advantage. I was always traveling with my parents who both speak fluent German so it was never an issue for me...I just made them talk:p. But I also got the skill of being able to pick up languages really quickly from my mom (who speaks like a million languages lol), so that helped me be able to understand and speak a little bit after only the first week or so.
 

sunnytrishCPS

Senior Community Member
I don't know much about living in Germany, especially w/the military (I was stationed in Korea a long time ago ;) ). I've travelled to Munich on business a few times, and it is a beautiful area!

I wanted to pass on this website that I've ordered carseats from, for us, when we go to Ireland to visit all of my husband's family.

www.autoteile-shop.de

I've ordered from there twice, both times items were shipped to Ireland--fast turn around, good customer service, packages arrived in excellent condition!
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
There's wind. And TONS of rain. Not RAIN-rain. Drizzle rain. I've been told that the weather in Heidelberg is very similar to that of the Pacific North West. It's cloudy a lot. We once went a full 2 weeks without ever seeing the sun.

Also, no mosquitoes in Heidelberg. I have no idea why. They have them elsewhere in Germany, but Heidelberg was nice and mosquito free. The winter weather was fairly mild--one or two real "snows" of 2" or more, and that's about it.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Just wanted to piggy back and say this is a cool thread for me. My long deceased paternal grandfather was from Heidelberg originally, and some day I hope to visit there. Thanks for the mini-travelogue. :)
 

Morganthe

New member
There's wind. And TONS of rain. Not RAIN-rain. Drizzle rain. I've been told that the weather in Heidelberg is very similar to that of the Pacific North West. It's cloudy a lot. We once went a full 2 weeks without ever seeing the sun.
Yep, land of liquid sunshine just like the PNW. That misty cover is excellent for keeping skin young.

Awww, only two weeks??? It's so much sunnier around that area than in the western part by the French Borderlands & Pfalz. There was one winter in Bitburg the sun went unseen for 3 entire months :whistle: Hahn had some of the worst weather the Air Force ever dealt with for flying. It was a nice assignment, but the base was closed in the first wave due to the constant heavy cloud cover. 2 weeks in Kaiserslautern sunless was fairly normal, especially during Jan-March. But there's 12th Night, & Fasching celebrations to get through the 'dark times'.

What helps is that the days begin getting 8 minutes each day of more light from about 20 Feb. Really helps the psyche. By about May, there's daylight from around 6am- 9pm... with an hour of twilight before dawn and after dusk.

I didn't mean to scare you with the 'yellow haze'. We usually saw it whenever there had been a dry period of around 2 weeks or more and the wind was completely still. The couple of times I was driving there 7 days in a row for school in 2002 seemed much dryer than usual, so the sight stayed in my memory very clearly. I have problems with breathing whenever its too humid or dry or polluted, and I only think there was one time I had difficulty in numerous trips to the Heidelburg area. That was just after we had arrived from NM and I still had issues with bronchitis.

A funny caution -- If you use a public garage to park your vehicle in anywhere in Europe, make certain of the opening hours. Some appear to be public garages, but are actually owned by the attached store and follow the same hours.

Our first trip to Heidelburg used one of those garages. It was listed on the Map too. It closed at 2pm on Saturday. We returned after sightseeing at 4pm with our dogs to find everything locked up and nothing to be done until Monday. We walked to the train station took the train back to Landstuhl (90 minute trip) ... Then on Monday, I took the train back to Heidelburg. The parking costs for the weekend was about 75dm. (about $50). So with train & everything, it was around $100 to learn about garage closing hours.

I laugh about it now, but it wasn't too funny at the time. Definitely stuck in our memory though. I still prefer garages to parking on the street. Safer, especially with kids in tow to manage. If you have anything other than a car/wagon, double check your height clearances before entering. Our 4wd Dakota wouldn't have fit under some of the concrete beams, especially in the basement style garages.
 

fullofhope

New member
What is the german fear of drafts? Are there any cultural things I need to be aware of?

Good to know about the garages... both the times and the clearance!

Thanks again!
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I've never noticed Germans disliking drafts. In fact, most German Hausfraus seem to air out bedrooms every morning by opening windows, year round!

Also, you pay to get out of a German parking garage before you get into your car. There will be a machine in the stairwell or lobby to the garage. Put your ticket in, put in your money, and your ticket will come back out. You then stick that into the machine with the arm blocking the driveway when you drive out of the garage.
 

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