/hamburg-it-crowd

Info and tips for IT geeks about the free and hanseatic city of Hamburg, Germany

hamburg-it-crowd

Find general information about Hamburg on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg.

Moving to Hamburg

A good strategy is to rent a temporary apartment for three months, and use this time to find a suitable neighborhood and apartment for you. Moreover most of the landlords prefer to rent an apartment to someone who has at least three payslips issued by a German company. So, maybe you will stay for six months in a temporary apartment.

Useful links

Oficial database of translators and interpreters
FreeNow Ride
English Pronunciation for Brazilian Portuguese Speakers GMX: E-Mail Adresse

Steps

1. Rent a temporary apartment

Important: you should choose a flat which gives you a Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (landlord's confirmation of residence).

Rent an apartment before arriving into Hamburg on one of these websites (even these would require a deposit beforehand):

Wunderflats

If you want to rent an apartment on Wunderflats, you will need to apply for a bunch of them at the same time in order to get an effective booking. No one knows the reasons because some landlords declinate your booking, but the platform makes possible to you to book more than one flat each time, and only when the booking reservation is confirmed by the landlord you can confirm at your side.

City Whonen

It is the best option if you want a high quality flat and service. When you compare to Wunderflats, the price is almost the same. The process to rent an apartment there is quite simple: book your apartment, wait for the landlord confirmation, an agent will contact you y e-mail asking for your documents, you send them, receive the contract, sign, your landlord signs, and that is it.

Wohnanlagen

The another option would be hire a Gästewohnunguen (temporary flat) and apply to a Wohnanlagen (long period rent) at:

2. Buy a pre-paid SIM card

As soon as you arrive in Hamburg, buy a pre-paid SIM card from a telecommunications company. If you are planning to get internet and tv in the future in your next home, probably the best choice would be some big telecommunication company which could sell you a complete subscription including mobile phones, tv, and internet.

Good options are:

Could be needed to prove your identity to buy a SIM card. For that you will need to download this app:

Pro-tip:

After the Anmeldung you can go to a Media Markt store and find suitable internet mobile plans on some of companies' kiosk. For example, in October 2021, you could get two SIM-Cards with 5Gb of internet for each paying only EUR 26/month for both on a two years contract. You would receive receive a EUR 300 voucher to buy whatever you want inside Media Markt store.

3. Register yourself into the city

You should register your new address (Anmeldung) within two weeks after moving into your new home in Hamburg (this goes for any city in Germany). Everytime you move, even inside the same city, you need to register your new address.

Here is the website where you can get more information about the process:

https://www.hamburg.com/welcome/entry-residence/general-regulations/11725242/registration/

After the registration you will receive automatically at your address the Identificationsnummer.

4. Register yourself at ELSTER website (Finanz)

With your Identificationsnummer and you email, you will have to register yourself into ELSTER website in order to change your Tax Class from the default to the proper one. For example, a couple where one works and the other don't is, by default, a IV/IV Tax Class, but the right one, should be III/V in order to avoid to pay more tax than needed.

  • Go to https://www.elster.de/eportal/start and click on "Benutzerkonto erstellen" button/link.
  • Follow the steps on screen and you will receive a letter with a code to download your personal digital certificate.
  • Any time you want to log in, you will need to upload that certificate and type your desired password.
  • After properly registered you will login into ELSTER and choose Alle Formulare and type "Steuerklassenwechsel" into filter field. Choose "Antrag auf Steuerklassenwechsel" and follow the steps on screen.

Living in Hamburg

Estimated monthly costs for two

  • Internet + TV for Home, fiber, 500Mbps: EUR 64,98 Vodafone
  • Mobile phone plans: iPhone 11 8GB with a 24 month contract: EUR 36,99 * 2 person = EUR 73,98 Blau
  • Rent (living outside zone A and B): up to EUR 900
  • Supermarket: up to EUR 400
  • Total: around EUR 1440,00

Pro-tip:

There is one Germany before going to Kaufland, and another Germany after going there. Kaufland is a supermaket with really cheap prices and good products. You can buy anything you want there and the supermarket bill for a couple will be lower than EUR 300/month for sure.

For more estimated costs, check Numbeo.

Not so nice/quiet neighborhoods to live

List of not so recommended/quiet neighborhoods:

  • Billstedt
  • Borgfelde
  • Elbe
  • Hamm
  • Mümmelmannsberg
  • Reeperbahn
  • Sankt Georg
  • St Pauli
  • Sternschanze

On Google Maps:

Renting an apartment

Renting a bike

https://stadtrad.hamburg.de/en#

Driving school

Getting a driver license in Germany is not an easy thing to do. So, nothing can suit better than a school which speaks your mother language ;)

IT Companies

Restaurants