Libraries & Archive Basics

The biggest annoyance involved with research in Germany is the way that libraries work. Many have their own cataloging system—neither Dewey nor LOC, nor any comparable thing—so you have to familiarize yourself with each one’s system. In most cases, you will not have access to the stacks, but will order your books either electronically or with an order slip. In some cases you’ll have to wait to or three days before your books are ready, so plan with this in mind. Beware of overdue fines! They are a lot more painful, at least more than I’m used to from my own university.

In Berlin your main resource will be the Staatsbibliothek, which allows you to order books online once you have a borrower’s card. This can be a great time saver, though the Stabi is extremely busy and turnaround on orders it not always the best.

Don’t be afraid to use the Stabi’s periodicals collection, which is far, far away at Westhafen. Now that the Ringbahn, the S-bahn line around the city, is running, you can get to this out-of-the way reading room much more quickly than before from a lot of points in the city. It’s a small reading room with a lot of microform readers, and my experience with the staff was surprisingly positive.

If you are working in the visual arts, you should also try the Kunstbibliothek, which is directly across the street from the Potsdamer Strasse branch of the Stabi. Apart from the fact that it has much (though not all) of the secondary material I need for my research, I enjoy working at the Kunstbibliothek because it’s smaller and nicer than the Stabi, more like a reading room. Unfortunately it’s non-circulating, and your books are only stored for 4 or 5 days.

Be adventurous: check the relevant university institute libraries if you have trouble finding a book you want. All the universities have their catalogs online, and they offer access to a central database for periodicals which lists periodical holdings nationwide.

Apartment Hunting

You can still find deals, especially on empty apartments, all around the city, but your best bet for low-cost still seems to be Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Don’t underestimate Northern Neukölln—it’s near the best parts of Kreuzberg and can be especially inexpensive.

It’s best to be open about where you want to live, as long as you have easy access to public transport.

It can’t hurt to look for a place to live in Berlin before arrive here. All of the Berlin newspapers have online versions, including classifieds:

• Die Berliner Morgenpost, with supposedly the largest real estate listings in Berlin
• Der Tagesspiegel and Zitty

We had great luck with the all-classifieds newspaper Zweite Hand. I placed an ad online which then ran for several weeks on the web and for one or two print editions. In the end we got three responses, one of which was just right.

The least appealing option is to organize a room through a Mitwohnzentrale. While it’s convenient because they match you up with appropriate offers, it is always very expensive. Their fee will be at least 30% of a month’s rent; on leases longer than 10 months it’s 110%! So beware.

Once you think you’ve found a suitable place, make sure you’re calculating your costs right. If the ad says “warm” or “inkl.,” you have a final price—otherwise you’ll have to calculate utilities and various other fees on top of the rent.

Some useful keywords:

• "mobiliert" means furnished. Be aware that many German apartments come without things like light fixtures, cabinets, etc.
• "1MM Kaution" means 1 month deposit, which might be negotiable.
• "Warm" or ("WM") means the price includes utilities, "kalt" means the price is without utilities.
• "OH" means "Ofenheizung" or "oven heating" which you shoud avoid since it means dragging blocks of coal up from the cellar into your apartment all winter, and maintaining a fire in a huge old ceramic oven in your apartment. It does make places cheaper though.
• "9/02 bis 10/02" means "from September to October"
• "absofort" means "available immediately"
• "WG" means "wohngemeinshaft" which is like a shared co-op. Usually populated by young students.
• "WaMa" means "Washing machine" which would be a clothes washer. A "spulmaschin" is a dishwasher.

You might be asked to be an "untermieter" which means a legal sub-leaser. If it's a short stay, try to avoid this, since it can be complex to set up.

(Please note: this site, the Berlin Guide, is not intended to help you find an apartment. Posting comments here asking for help finding apartments are a waste of your time. A better forum to post requests for apartments is Expatica