Studying in Germany – Experiences

Single apartment, shared apartment or living with one's parents. Above all at the beginning of their university studies, new students ask themselves the big question: where should I live – affordably above all? Student residences offer a solution: in them, one's private sphere and independence combined with parties and social life.

If you drive to the north of Landau, a university city in the Palatinate, you will quickly notice a very long building with countless cars and bicycles parked in front of it. Above all, the latter are a good indicator of a particular population group: students. About five percent of Landau’s student population lives in this building, the city’s only student residence that is not privately managed, but is instead run by the Student Association (Studentenwerk).

Tim recalls his three-year stay in the Godramersteiner Strasse with pleasure: “The rooms are nice and the residence is very well-maintained in other respects as well.” To make sure things stay that way, each building has a janitor who is available every day. “But not after 17:30,” announces the house’s bulletin board: “No problems will be addressed after the end of the work day. In the event you are locked out, please contact a key service.” Very different from Hotel Mama.

Parties during the week

“To me, the nicest thing about the residence was that, although we lived in separate apartments, we could still visit each other any time,” says Tim. His move out of the residence was not voluntary: after six semesters residents must vacate their apartments to make room for the next - mostly newly-arrived – students.

The residence is designed like a “C,” with a green inner courtyard in the center that offers a lot of space for socializing in summer. “People often barbecue together there, or there are other activities going on as well,” says Anna, who has been living in the residence for four semesters now. “There’s always a lot going on during the week, and it gets pretty loud,” she notes and Tim agrees: one should take in stride the fact that a lot of students go home on the weekends and that parties are held during the week.

The residence really does look deserted over the weekend. A vicious circle: many residents go home because there are very few students in Landau over the weekend with whom they could get together. Thus both the problem and the solution lie in the hands of the students themselves.

One's own master

“One of the positives about life in the residence was that one could have peace and quiet whenever one felt like it,” says Tim, who is also familiar with life in shared-apartment arrangements and notes the differences: “One could decide everything by oneself and didn’t have to take one’s housemates into account, if one invited guests, for example.” All in all, life in a student residence is a perfect mix of communal life and one’s own apartment.

“Of course it was a pity to have to move out of the residence,” says Tim. But he sees an opportunity here, as well: “This way, I was forced to try out something new.” He is now living in a shared apartment in the south of Landau. Apart from the complete independence of residence life, he mainly misses the residence’s location: “The location is perfect: near the university campus and shopping facilities too, fantastic for students.”

The residence as party mile

The proximity to the university campus makes itself felt above all in the run-up to the mass university party that is held twice each semester in the university buildings. The way to the party on foot is less that ten minutes – this tempts many students to get into a party mood beforehand in the residence. “People meet in the residence about one or two hours before the start of the party,” Anna reveals. “So it gets very loud, but that’s OK because there’s an incredible amount of noise on each floor here before large parties. You have the feeling that the entire university is on the move in the residence’s halls.”

Fellow students as friends and neighbors

As a rule, inhabitants of the residence unavoidably run into each other sooner or later, whether in the laundry room in the basement, the bicycle cellar, the halls or by the many mailboxes that greet one at the entrance. Anna explains that: “Friendships seldom develop just on account of the residence, but people help each other out: one can always ring the doorbell if one has run out of food or needs one’s neighbor to keep an eye on one’s apartment.”

Once residents have gotten to know each other though, being in such close quarters can give friendships a real boost: “At the beginning of my studies, I got to know two people in my degree program who also were living in the residence. So we saw a lot of each other from the very beginning, and a solid friendship was built up this way,” says Anna, and goes a step further: “I think I’ve made friends for life thanks to the residence.”