Live in Germany

Financial

Germany, as a member of the European Union, uses the euro (EUR) as its official currency. The euro is denoted by the € symbol and has a floating exchange rate. You can check the current exchange rate at The Deutsche Bundesbank or the European Central Bank. In Germany, paper currency denominations are: 5.00, 10.00, 20.00, 50.00, 100.00 200.00 and 500.00. Coin units are: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00.

The country’s banking system is strong, anchored by some of the largest banks in Europe. The World Economic Forum (2011) ranked Germany’s banking financial service seventeenth out of 60 countries in that study. All German banks offer comprehensive financial services similar to American banks. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are the two most popular banks. Other choices include Postbank, Volksbank and Sparkasse.

Education

If you will live in Germany with children, the German education system is known for being well organized and providing excellent schools for its students. The country has a literacy rate of 100 percent and is ranked fifteenth on the Legatum Institute Educaton Sub-Index (2013) out of 142 countries measured. The World Economic Forum (2011) ranked Germany seventeenth for the quality of its education system out of 142 countries in the report.

The Legatum Institute also found that nearly every eligible child in Germany is attending a primary or secondary school, thanks to the government’s strong emphasis on education. Class sizes are small with one teacher per 13 students. Both genders are given the same opportunities in schools. A reported 78 percent of Germans believe that children are given the chance to learn and grow in school and 77 percent are satisfied with the overall education system.

The school system in Germany is very different from America. Each of the 16 states and city-states operates and manages their own school system, with little involvement from the country’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Despite this more autonomous system, schools are generally the same with only a few differences among the states.

State schools are free for every student and the language of instruction is German, but English is commonly taught as a secondary language. School uniforms are not required for most state schools. Education is compulsory from age 6 and students are required to complete at least nine years of school (10 in some states), which consists of primary and secondary levels.

Parents are given the option of placing their child in Kindergarten at the age of three. Although it is not mandatory, many parents send their children to Kindergartens, daycare meant to help children socialize with others and prepare them for primary schools. Since Kindergarten is not compulsory, parents are required to pay for tuition, which is usually based on the family’s income.

Primary school, or Grundschule, is the beginning of compulsory education and lasts for four years, except for Berlin and Brandenburg, where primary school lasts for six years. Many schools offer foreign students remedial classes to help develop their German fluency and, in some cases, bilingual classes are available. Students and parents pick one of three forms of secondary education to attend in the last year of primary school. The first is the Hauptschule, which takes an additional five years to complete. This form trains students for unskilled or semiskilled jobs, and is generally considered to be the lowest form of secondary education. The second form is the Realsschule, which takes six years to complete and follows a basic curriculum meant to prepare students for a midlevel job in business. The last and most competitive form is the Gymnasium, which takes from six to nine years to complete, depending on state requirements. This is the highest form of secondary education and the most academically challenging. In the last year, students take an Abitur examination, which allows them to continue on to university, if passed.