Your neighbours in Germany

The relationship between neighbours in Germany varies, by location and sometimes fbetween buildings, from close and friendly to complete anonymity. There are few general rules that apply everywhere. Once you move in, you should observe and adapt to what you find. It is, of course, o.k. to ask the landlord about this before signing a rental contract!

Germans are, generally, shy towards strangers. If you want to get to know them, you need to make the first step(s). It certainy does no harm to place a note introducing yourself into your neighbours mailboxes after arrival. Ringing at their doors might already be seen as intrusive by some (unless you have actual questions, like where to dispose of your garbage or whether there are cleaning duties for shared areas - which are common in Germany) and an invitation for coffee or tea will not be accepted by less open-minded ones. The easiest way to "crack the ice" to your neighbours is common interests or kids of similar age.

It is customary to inform neighbours (again, with notes in their mailboxes) beforehand of things that might bother them, like move-ins and -outs, parties, noisy repairs or other events. You can accompany those by a small gift as apology for the inconvenience - a box of chocolate or a bottle of wine are suitable here.

Garbage, cleanliness and noise cause most conflicts between neighbours, so please follow the rules, copy the others' behaviour and take complaints very seriously!

I live in a very small village in Bavaria. And I might be the only one non-white person in the village. Since it is a small village, people say Hi (Servus or Gruß Gott) to others on the street, so I try to greet others too. We have a board game group with some of our neighbours and play board games on a regular basis. My husband used to play soccer in the local soccer club right after we moved to our village, so I think it might have helped us to make some more friends. We also participate some voluntary work in the village.

Hi there. I'm visiting my son who works from home in Cologne. Working at home, unfortunately does not allow him time to mix or socialise with friends( which he really doesn't have) or colleagues.  He does not participate in sport. He does read and may love a good debate at times. Enjoys learning stuff. How can he go about making friends ?  Oh and he works for an IT company. Also loves gaming. 🥴 Regards

Karen

@Karenbosch1953 There are associations ("Verein") for all kinds of activities in Germany, and those are excellent places to find like-minded people and make friends. Your son should go out of his shell and join some of these!