The Odyssey of finding a Flat in Berlin

A post by HZB summerstudent Franco Vicario: Berlin is a huge city, about eight times the area of Paris (or four times the area of Buenos Aires), and it has a low population density compared to other European capitals. This makes one think that there are many reasonably priced places to live, but the reality is quite different.

In the search for a place to live

My search for accommodation in Berlin started four months before the beginning of the summer student program. My idea was to find a place close to work. I started looking on the most famous platforms like airbnb.com or booking.com, but I quickly realized that the prices there were extremely high as Berlin is very popular for tourists.

To find accommodation for two months, I had to search on local websites. This became difficult, mainly because of the language barrier and the poor understanding of the rental rates (“Kaltmiete”, “Warmmiete”, “Anmeldung”, etc.). There were offers at reasonable prices, but with a minimum stay of 6 months, or even requiring German language proficiency.

Another big difficulty proved to be the distance between my home country and Berlin. I came across many fake flats, and other offers of which I could not verify whether it was a scam because I was more than 10000 km away from Berlin.

Finally found it!

After many attempts, applications and rejections, I found a small comment on a blog about life in Germany mentioning a pension in a forest 20 km south of Berlin. I had done a lot of research on the public transport system in Berlin and, although there are sometimes delays and cancellations, I knew that I could commute from the pension with just one train and one bus.

The commute to work is about 1:30 hours, but it is never a hassle, as further away from Berlin, the trains are emptier, allowing me to study and catch up with work. On the other hand, I can walk through the forest to the station every day, which helps me relax and clear my mind.

Final thoughts

Finding accommodation was a tough task, and, in order to find a place to live, I had to accept that I won’t be able to live close to the workplace in order to get something at an affordable price. But if you don’t give up, be patient and with a bit of luck, you can find a place that, even though it might not be what you initially had in mind, can surprise you in other ways.

On the author: Franco Vicario is a physics student in the Master program at the National University of Rosario in Argentina. His current research interests are quantum computing and plasma physics. During the summer students’ program at HZB, he is working on high power laser physics and simulations.