Accommodation
Finding accommodation in Göttingen can take some time. Be prepared to pay 2-3 month’s rent as a deposit if you want to move into a flat.
Scientific Meeting Center
You may also rent a guest room or a flat for a maximum of four months at the start of your time at the Institute at our Scientific Meeting Center
Please ask your contact person at MPI-DS or the departments’ secretary to provide you with the necessary paperwork for renting accommodation here.
Searching for accommodation on the Internet
To search for flats or houses, you might want to use these links:
https://www.immobilienscout24.de
Please note that housing advertised here is usually rented by estate agents. These pages are usually in German.
Shared apartments
For those who are coming to Göttingen alone, living in a shared apartment (Wohngemeinschaft, usually abbreviated as ‘WG’) is often a good option since it helps to reduce the rent and makes it easier to meet people. You should be aware that WG rooms are often unfurnished. A useful website is:
Some websites and ads are in German only, but most people you contact will understand English. There are no upfront fees for renting a room in a WG. However, you should expect to pay a cautionary deposit, usually the equivalent of 2-3 month’s rent.
See also blackboards at the university for advertisings.
Temporary accommodation
If you intend to stay in Germany for only a short time, you might consider temporary accommodation in the form of a sublet. Sublets can generally be found under the terms “Untermiete” or “Zwischenmiete”. This means that the flat or rooms are sublet and you sign a contract with the tenant, not the landlord.
Student residences
If you are enrolled at the Georg-August-University of Göttingen, you can apply for accommodation in student residences. These reach from single rooms to flats or shared apartments. You can find all information on the Webpages of the Studentenwerk. Please note that MPI-DS is not responsible for this offer nor connected with the administration of the student residences.
Useful terminology
a) Warm or cold? (“Warm oder kalt?”)
Rents for unfurnished accommodation are often based on a basic rent (“Kaltmiete” or “kalt”), on top of which you have subsidiary charges added, i.e. the cost of electricity, water, heating and garbage collection. These additional costs are referred to as “Nebenkosten” or “NK”. By contrast, the rent for furnished flats usually includes these subsidiary charges and is referred to as “Warmmiete” or simply “warm”. Therefore, when reading descriptions of accommodation, note that the term “warm” usually includes these additional costs and ”kalt” does not.
b) Furnished, partly furnished or unfurnished? (“Möbliert, teilmöbliert, unmöbliert”).
In Germany you can rent furnished, partly furnished or empty flats. Empty flats can be really empty: sometimes they do not have curtains, lights or even kitchen fittings – often there are only wires hanging out of the ceiling and/or pipes coming out of the wall. Partly furnished rooms have at least some furniture and kitchen fittings. Apartments are rarely offered with furniture, whereas single rooms or rooms in dormitories (student residences) are generally furnished.
Note: The European wall power is 220-230 volts. To use electrical devices with any other voltage requirement, you will need a voltage converter or a travel adaptor