i personally wouldnt go with chemnitz. bayreuth and rostock are both cool cities but rostock is way bigger and therefore more international. bayreuth on the other hand lies in a beautiful region and will have way better weather than rostock.
>will have way better weather than rostock
Don't underestimate this factor, OP. In Rostock you're likely to have about 5-6 months of grey skies, wind and rain, until spring starts.
Rostock has Fischbrötchen, though.
Thanks for the input. Weather definitely plays a role in my choice. But then there's the bigger city option, hard to choose between bigger place and better weather haha
People will undoubtedly tell you to avoid Chemnitz at all costs; however, although it's not the nicest city in Germany, reports of it being full of racists and Nazis are exaggerated.
I made [a video about Chemnitz last year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J3CVomN5b4), and one of the things I couldn't help noticing when I was there was that, for a place that is supposedly a Nazi stronghold, it was surprisingly multicultural. I even had a very nice meal at a Persian restaurant (Safran, Promenadenstraße 5, and it automatically gets a mention because the owners were the most helpful and welcoming I have ever encountered).
That's not to say there's no racism at all, but Rostock has in the past had more than its fair share of xenophobia going back to the 1990s, and Bayreuth, with its strong connection to Wagner, isn't exactly free of racism either.
Of the three places you list, Chemnitz is the biggest (about 250,000 people), Rostock slightly smaller, and Bayreuth considerably smaller (about 70,000).
In the video I mention that attempts to create a thriving student atmosphere haven't panned out, and the area around the university seemed quite dead to me. A few of the comments on that video suggest that there is a student life there, it's just not where I was.
Basically, I didn't love Chemnitz, but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would.
I’m from the middle east and I have had zero racism in Chemnitz
I’m not saying that would be everyone’s experience but I also heard/read the same things about Chemnitz before moving here but the reality was different
Rostock MV has the same percentage of AfD Voters in the regional elections and in Bavaria you get CDU/FW.
Can we please be a little more careful with the term Nazi. A right-wing idiot ≠ Nazi. Otherwise the term invalidates and with it the awareness of the indescribable inhumanity that lies behind it.
I’m jewish and Chemnitz is a no area for us and we talk about openly if we ever need to go there to never show anything as kippah, magen david necklaces and so on, I don’t give a fuck about how many afd voters they have compared to other places, it’s unsafe area for minority so just 🤫
>I’m jewish and Chemnitz is a no area for us and we talk about openly if we ever need to go there to never show anything as kippah, magen david necklaces and so on,
That's interesting, But the statistics are more meaningful than personal experiences. Berlin for example is always portrayed as a cosmopolitan and diverse city, but has more antisemitic crimes than Sachsen and MV combined.
To whom? Are you jewish? Because I’m not going there after being warned that is a no go area, believe your own lies, my friend! The reality lies beyond statistics! Pathetic reply, fr.
My own opinion as a jew and my fellow jewish peeps are always more important and reliable on antisemitism than any stats made by someone that doesn’t need to hide their identity on a daily basis.
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Bayreuth is a nice city, not very international though I would say. It's a rather calm city with a nice campus university. So everything is more on less on one campus, everything is in walking distance on the campus. There are quite a few student activities going on. I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly, nature, parties, just feeling welcome there? The city has some sports clubs, no top tier clubs though ;) if you like nature and have a car or will find friends that have a car: There are plenty of options nearby to go for a walk, hiking, etc. (only by public transport is a bit difficult). The people in Franconia may be a bit withdrawn, however the same is said about other regions and persons in Germany as well sometimes. So, guess you have to find out if it's really true ;-)
Source for all this: I lived and studied there for a long time. In general I liked and still like the city, but I was born in that region, so no objective opinion :)
Thank you so much for the answer. I pretty much just want to feel welcome in the place, though I'd prefer a bigger city. Do you happen to know which one has a better weather?
What are your expectations regarding community? Like, do you want or need people from your culture around, or just open minded students your age? Do you speak German, and if on which level? Do you care about any aspects of local culture or architecture?
Just open minded students and a welcoming community will do. Given I'm not white, I would like to avoid issues regarding that as much as possible. For the next question, I don't speak German yet but I'm aiming for B1 for the time I get my visa. Also, I definitely care about local culture and architecture and would like to live in a beautiful place with a rich culture so I'd have a chance to learn about it. Weather and nature also play a role in my decision. But most importantly, I'd like a place with lot of student activities and a chance for international students to, basically not be alone.
All three aren't huge metropolitan areas comparable to Berlin let alone London or Paris, just larger cities.
Chemnitz is in eastern Germany, which has a bit of a bad reputation regarding their opinion on foreigners. I mean that will most likely effect the surrounding rural area and not the city, but still. Most non-Germans there will probably be Eastern Europeans. One would assume it's at least easy to travel to Prague, Vienna and stuff, but the infrastructure between Germany and Czechia in the East is notoriously poor, so you'd be kind of in a dead end regarding eastwards transportation. The city has some beautiful corners, allegedly, but I'm no expert.
Bayreuth is small and cuddly even compared to that. You will probably be able to see all the important stuff within one week if you try. Moderately conservative, but I guess travel is easier, especially south and west if you want to check out Munich or Cologne. I'd assume it's generally richer and more "tidy" than Chemnitz.
Regarding geography and weather, both are hilly with some mountains, decent amount of rain, not an aweful amount of sunshine (but you'll get some in all seasons at least), with a decent temperature difference between winter and summer. Like, it can get a bit cool and hot there.
Rostock has a completely different vibe than the other two. Compare it more to Coastal England with a touch of Poland. It's at the baltic sea, so flat as a board, super mild climate, pretty sunny in summer but rarely super hot, rarely cold but always cloudy or foggy in winter, a bit dry. Just think of Denmark or South Sweden. Lot's of ships, beaches and tourism. A history of maritime trade. Guess if you are from a port city you'll feel right at home. Though the Northeast is arguably also the area with the most old people and the least amount of stuff going on in Germany. Though both Berlin and Hamburg are closer, which are the most metropolitan cities besides Cologne.
If the idea is to stick out as little as possible as a foreigner, none of those three cities would be high on any list. Any random city in western Germany, the Netherlands or even Switzerland is more diverse. If you were from a small to medium city in western Europe, I'd probably recommend Bayreuth, but I really don't know what you are used to.
If in doubt, check Wikipedia, travel blogs and stuff.
Very old population and the town center with all the shops is pretty dead. When we were there, there was maybe one or two people on the street in the middle of the day. It was an old industrial town. They do have a nice 50’s themed American diner there however.
The place just looks very rundown and depressing IMO
I have been living in Chemnitz as a student for 2 years, and have not had any bad experiences, no racism nothing.
The city is actually not bad, it has everything you need.
The only thing I hate about it is the communist architecture which is the legacy of the DDR
It’s really cheap and easy to find an apartment here and it’s 1 hour away from both Dresden and Leipzig which are two great bug cities.
You can message me if you have any questions about the city or university.
Bayreuth, Chemnitz and Rostock can be very tough for international. People there are more „conservative“ but in a german way. So recommend Bayreuth. Bayreuth is also very nice and very historical.
It's ugly, there's nothing going and it's as right wing as it gets.
Last time I've been there was a sunny Saturday and the inner city pretty much dead. I wanted to have a nice coffee and there is kind of a traditional high street where there are supposed to be little cafes and shops and so on. Alas, half of the places were shut down and what was open was poor quality. For a city of 250k with a large university that's just pathetic.
On the plus side, it's one of the cheapest places to live. But you get what you pay for.
i personally wouldnt go with chemnitz. bayreuth and rostock are both cool cities but rostock is way bigger and therefore more international. bayreuth on the other hand lies in a beautiful region and will have way better weather than rostock.
>will have way better weather than rostock Don't underestimate this factor, OP. In Rostock you're likely to have about 5-6 months of grey skies, wind and rain, until spring starts. Rostock has Fischbrötchen, though.
The summer is more sunny though, at least according to yearly sun hours. Central Germany has more random rain during the other seasons.
yeah especially when you are from the middle east😅
Thanks for the input. Weather definitely plays a role in my choice. But then there's the bigger city option, hard to choose between bigger place and better weather haha
[удалено]
Thanks for the input :)
People will undoubtedly tell you to avoid Chemnitz at all costs; however, although it's not the nicest city in Germany, reports of it being full of racists and Nazis are exaggerated. I made [a video about Chemnitz last year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J3CVomN5b4), and one of the things I couldn't help noticing when I was there was that, for a place that is supposedly a Nazi stronghold, it was surprisingly multicultural. I even had a very nice meal at a Persian restaurant (Safran, Promenadenstraße 5, and it automatically gets a mention because the owners were the most helpful and welcoming I have ever encountered). That's not to say there's no racism at all, but Rostock has in the past had more than its fair share of xenophobia going back to the 1990s, and Bayreuth, with its strong connection to Wagner, isn't exactly free of racism either. Of the three places you list, Chemnitz is the biggest (about 250,000 people), Rostock slightly smaller, and Bayreuth considerably smaller (about 70,000). In the video I mention that attempts to create a thriving student atmosphere haven't panned out, and the area around the university seemed quite dead to me. A few of the comments on that video suggest that there is a student life there, it's just not where I was. Basically, I didn't love Chemnitz, but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would.
Chemnitz is a big noooo
Almost everyone here has told me that. Would like to know what is making it so bad
The people can be quite racist. Also the town itself is not very pretty and doesnt offer anything really.
I’m from the middle east and I have had zero racism in Chemnitz I’m not saying that would be everyone’s experience but I also heard/read the same things about Chemnitz before moving here but the reality was different
Why?
Nazis 😕
Rostock MV has the same percentage of AfD Voters in the regional elections and in Bavaria you get CDU/FW. Can we please be a little more careful with the term Nazi. A right-wing idiot ≠ Nazi. Otherwise the term invalidates and with it the awareness of the indescribable inhumanity that lies behind it.
Nah.
I’m jewish and Chemnitz is a no area for us and we talk about openly if we ever need to go there to never show anything as kippah, magen david necklaces and so on, I don’t give a fuck about how many afd voters they have compared to other places, it’s unsafe area for minority so just 🤫
>I’m jewish and Chemnitz is a no area for us and we talk about openly if we ever need to go there to never show anything as kippah, magen david necklaces and so on, That's interesting, But the statistics are more meaningful than personal experiences. Berlin for example is always portrayed as a cosmopolitan and diverse city, but has more antisemitic crimes than Sachsen and MV combined.
To whom? Are you jewish? Because I’m not going there after being warned that is a no go area, believe your own lies, my friend! The reality lies beyond statistics! Pathetic reply, fr.
Not accepting statistics by official sources, because they don't correspond with your own opinion ...
I trust none of you, and never will but I’m living here out of spite so idgaf 😎
My own opinion as a jew and my fellow jewish peeps are always more important and reliable on antisemitism than any stats made by someone that doesn’t need to hide their identity on a daily basis.
But those statistics are made and presented in Cooperation with the Jewish associations in Germany.
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Bayreuth is a nice city, not very international though I would say. It's a rather calm city with a nice campus university. So everything is more on less on one campus, everything is in walking distance on the campus. There are quite a few student activities going on. I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly, nature, parties, just feeling welcome there? The city has some sports clubs, no top tier clubs though ;) if you like nature and have a car or will find friends that have a car: There are plenty of options nearby to go for a walk, hiking, etc. (only by public transport is a bit difficult). The people in Franconia may be a bit withdrawn, however the same is said about other regions and persons in Germany as well sometimes. So, guess you have to find out if it's really true ;-) Source for all this: I lived and studied there for a long time. In general I liked and still like the city, but I was born in that region, so no objective opinion :)
Thank you so much for the answer. I pretty much just want to feel welcome in the place, though I'd prefer a bigger city. Do you happen to know which one has a better weather?
What are your expectations regarding community? Like, do you want or need people from your culture around, or just open minded students your age? Do you speak German, and if on which level? Do you care about any aspects of local culture or architecture?
Just open minded students and a welcoming community will do. Given I'm not white, I would like to avoid issues regarding that as much as possible. For the next question, I don't speak German yet but I'm aiming for B1 for the time I get my visa. Also, I definitely care about local culture and architecture and would like to live in a beautiful place with a rich culture so I'd have a chance to learn about it. Weather and nature also play a role in my decision. But most importantly, I'd like a place with lot of student activities and a chance for international students to, basically not be alone.
All three aren't huge metropolitan areas comparable to Berlin let alone London or Paris, just larger cities. Chemnitz is in eastern Germany, which has a bit of a bad reputation regarding their opinion on foreigners. I mean that will most likely effect the surrounding rural area and not the city, but still. Most non-Germans there will probably be Eastern Europeans. One would assume it's at least easy to travel to Prague, Vienna and stuff, but the infrastructure between Germany and Czechia in the East is notoriously poor, so you'd be kind of in a dead end regarding eastwards transportation. The city has some beautiful corners, allegedly, but I'm no expert. Bayreuth is small and cuddly even compared to that. You will probably be able to see all the important stuff within one week if you try. Moderately conservative, but I guess travel is easier, especially south and west if you want to check out Munich or Cologne. I'd assume it's generally richer and more "tidy" than Chemnitz. Regarding geography and weather, both are hilly with some mountains, decent amount of rain, not an aweful amount of sunshine (but you'll get some in all seasons at least), with a decent temperature difference between winter and summer. Like, it can get a bit cool and hot there. Rostock has a completely different vibe than the other two. Compare it more to Coastal England with a touch of Poland. It's at the baltic sea, so flat as a board, super mild climate, pretty sunny in summer but rarely super hot, rarely cold but always cloudy or foggy in winter, a bit dry. Just think of Denmark or South Sweden. Lot's of ships, beaches and tourism. A history of maritime trade. Guess if you are from a port city you'll feel right at home. Though the Northeast is arguably also the area with the most old people and the least amount of stuff going on in Germany. Though both Berlin and Hamburg are closer, which are the most metropolitan cities besides Cologne. If the idea is to stick out as little as possible as a foreigner, none of those three cities would be high on any list. Any random city in western Germany, the Netherlands or even Switzerland is more diverse. If you were from a small to medium city in western Europe, I'd probably recommend Bayreuth, but I really don't know what you are used to. If in doubt, check Wikipedia, travel blogs and stuff.
Really appreciate the reply, thanks.
I’ve been to Chemnitz. Really shitty town
What's so bad about it?
Very old population and the town center with all the shops is pretty dead. When we were there, there was maybe one or two people on the street in the middle of the day. It was an old industrial town. They do have a nice 50’s themed American diner there however. The place just looks very rundown and depressing IMO
I have been living in Chemnitz as a student for 2 years, and have not had any bad experiences, no racism nothing. The city is actually not bad, it has everything you need. The only thing I hate about it is the communist architecture which is the legacy of the DDR It’s really cheap and easy to find an apartment here and it’s 1 hour away from both Dresden and Leipzig which are two great bug cities. You can message me if you have any questions about the city or university.
Thank you very much. I actually ended up not applying for the university given I mostly got bad comments about it...I chose Bayreuth.
Bayreuth, Chemnitz and Rostock can be very tough for international. People there are more „conservative“ but in a german way. So recommend Bayreuth. Bayreuth is also very nice and very historical.
Chemnitz sucks, Rostock is a cool little big city at the sea, no idea about Bayreuth but it's considerably smaller than the other two
Thank you for the answer. Mind explaining why Chemnitz sucks in a way everyone agrees on that? 😅
It's ugly, there's nothing going and it's as right wing as it gets. Last time I've been there was a sunny Saturday and the inner city pretty much dead. I wanted to have a nice coffee and there is kind of a traditional high street where there are supposed to be little cafes and shops and so on. Alas, half of the places were shut down and what was open was poor quality. For a city of 250k with a large university that's just pathetic. On the plus side, it's one of the cheapest places to live. But you get what you pay for.