💡 9 Sources of Free Advice
Living in Berlin, you can not only get free furniture or free bank accounts but also free advice. Be it about renting, job seeking, healthcare, social welfare, German language – here comes a list of various sources.
Welcome Center Berlin
The city of Berlin offers a free personal counseling service called Willkommenszentrum for questions like:
- What legal requirements do I need to fulfill?
- How do I find work or training?
- What should I consider when looking for an apartment?
- How do I find a school for my child?
- How does day-to-day life in Berlin work?
It is located at Potsdamer Straße 65, not far from Potsdamer Platz. You do not need an appointment—just come by during their opening hours.
The advisors speak many languages:
- German
- English
- French
- Italian
- Croatian
- Polish
- Russian
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
For additional languages, interpreters are available:
- Arabic
- Farsi
- Dari
- Pashto
- Urdu
- Punjabi
- Hindi
- Amharic
- Tigrinya
- Kurmanji
Read more on their website: Go to Welcome Center Berlin
Healthcare Counseling at Berliner Stadtmission
For those in need without proper health insurance, the Berlin City Mission (Berliner Stadtmission) offers advice, available in many languages:
- German
- English
- Russian
- Turkish
- Bulgarian
- Italian
- Romanian
- Swedish
- French
The service is free. You should make an appointment or visit during their service hours.
Go to Counseling for People Without Health Insurance
If you’re not in immediate trouble but are looking for good expat health insurance, check out Popsure.
Read more about Popsure’s expat health insurance
Facebook Group Free Advice Berlin
This is the sibling of Free Your Stuff Berlin, dedicated to information and advice. With over 13,000 members, you can quickly get answers to any issue at any time of the day.
Free Renter’s Counseling
This service has been very helpful in the past. If you have problems with your landlord or are unsure how to handle a rent increase, seek free advice here. Keep in mind that they speak German, so bring a German speaker if necessary.
- Counseling at Kiezladen Zusammenhalt: Tuesdays between 18:00 and 19:00. No appointment needed; just come by (early).
- Mieterservice at Asum: Make an appointment by phone in advance.
There is also a good paid option provided by Berliner Mietergemeinschaft. It’s a renters' association offering a membership for currently 69 EUR per year, granting access to over 20 advisory offices throughout Berlin, open at various times and days throughout the week. It includes legal cost insurance for renting-related issues, in case you need to take your landlord to court (or vice versa).
Social and Legal Advice
Especially if you are an EU citizen, have lived here for some time, and worked in a regular job, you might be eligible for social welfare if you are currently unemployed, such as Arbeitslosengeld 2. You can also get free advice for other legal problems at several locations. Most of this advice will be in German, so bring a German speaker if needed.
Find legal advice at these places:
- Bürgeramt Neukölln: General legal advice for family law, labor law, medical law, consumer law, and social law.
- Bürgeramt Köpenick: Legal advice, free for people with low income.
- For students: Asta TU Berlin: Advice on health insurance, studying with a child, housing benefit (Wohngeld), child support, student loans.
… and more in these overviews:
Free City Service Hotline
The city of Berlin operates a phone support hotline where you can ask about all administrative matters. They also speak English.
Repair Cafés
“Toss it? No way!” is the motto of the more than 10 Repair Cafés in Berlin. These are places where you can bring your broken laptop, bike, or even clothes and fix them together with experts. The idea is not just to leave the broken item and have it fixed, but to learn how to fix things yourself.
At the café, along with the volunteer experts, you’ll find tools and materials to assist with any repairs you need. There is only one condition: you must be able to carry the items to the café. So, no fridges or cars.
Apparently, 50 to 80% of the items brought in get repaired, so it’s definitely worth a try. The cafés are also always looking for volunteers, so if you want to expand your social circle with some Germans, this is a good opportunity.
Homepage repaircafe.org
Map of Repair Cafés in Berlin
Forums: Toytown Germany and Reddit
Toytown Germany is an English-speaking portal related to Germany, with subgroups for Berlin. In the forum, you can ask various questions or get advice by searching through old posts.
Similarly, Reddit, the well-known user-driven news portal, has a Berlin “subreddit” where you can share news and ask for advice.
German Language on Stack Exchange
Programmers among you are likely familiar with Stack Overflow, a convenient Q&A (Questions & Answers) system. They have branched out into several other platforms on different topics, including German Language Stack Exchange.
Ask your questions about correct word usage, pronunciation, or curious topics like why German sounds so harsh. Questions and answers can be tagged and upvoted, so you can quickly find what you need.
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