Living

Please expect the following expenses:finance-185165_640

  • Rent (per month): Halls of residence (depending on the size and age of the hall) from €150.00 to  €260.00 / Single appartment (depending on size, location and size of the appartment) from €210.00 to €360.00
  • Health insurance estimated €62.00  per month (no costs will arise if you are exempt from health insurance)
  • Travel expenses
  • Food estimated €275.00 (per month)
  • Study material (scripts and books) roughly €100.00 per semester
  • Semester fee € 42.00 (once per semseter)
  • Telephone (landline) basic charge €16.00 per month
  • TV and radio licence (“GEZ“) €17.98  per month

Please note: It is assumed that foreign students can afford their studies themselves, of course with the help of their parents. Therefore, although in contrast to many other European countries, there is no possibility of getting financial aid from the German state. But the scholarship office of University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Frau Förster, Frau Borrmann, Tel. 09131/85-24075) and the catholic (khg) and protestant (esg) students’ community can give assistance for students especially from developing countries.

Transportation

metro-nbgPublic Mass Transportation
The public transportation system in Nürnberg is excellent. You can get anywhere from anywhere, and – most of the time – you can do it quickly – with the Semesterticket.

The VGN-Semesterticket consists of a solidarity fee that is mandatory for all students, which entitles them to travel within the entire VGN network at certain times of day with a „Basiskarte“, and an optional season ticket, the „Zusatzkarte“ (193,- €), which entitles students to travel within the entire VGN network area at any time of day and can be purchased online (german language only), from ticket machines or in busses from DB Frankenbus.

Available only for Students of

  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Technischen Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm
  • Evangelische Hochschule Nürnberg

See: http://www.vgn.de for details.

VGN sales outlets in Nuremberg:

  • Nuremberg main train station, Travel Service Office (Reisezentrum) DB AG
    Monday – Friday from 06:00 to 21:00
    Saturday – Sunday and holidays from 08:00 to 21:00
  • VAG-Customer Service Office, Subway Königstorpassage
    Monday – Friday from 07:00 to 20:00, Saturday from 09:00 to 14:00
  • Nuremberg Plärrer, VAG-Customer Services Office subway station “Plärrer“
    Monday – Friday from 07:30 to 17:30

For occasional traveling in Nuremberg we recommend a multi-journey ticket (10-ticket) with ten long distance journeys on it. According to requirements you can stamp 2 to 10 fare zones. A journey in the center of Nuremberg costs 2 fare zones on the 10 strip-ticket. A oneway journey from Erlangen to Nuremberg cost 4 fare zones on the 10 strip-ticket. There is also a 5 strip-ticket for short distance travels. The stamped strip equals one journey. These tickets can be bought at ticket machines and at VGN sales outlets.

Cycling
Nuremberg is a cyclist-friendly city. There is a great network of cycling paths. It is therefore recommendable to rent or buy a bicycle. A great source for buying any new or used items is the newspaper “Alles”, available at all newspaper shops or online under alles.de. Other websites – by the way not only for bikes – are e.g. quoka.de, ebay.de and eBay Kleinanzeigen.
A further affordable source for bicycles in Nuremberg is the NOA-bicycle repair shop (Peter-Henlein-Str. 51, D-90459 Nuremberg, Tel: 0049-(0)911/8100-97886).
Also there are single events held during the year (mostly in spring), such as the Mobilitätsflohmarkt or auction sales organized by student dorms (Avenarius, Max Kade, …).

Agency for car pooling

A further possibility for travelling in Germany is the agencies for arranged car lifts. Here one looks for people traveling the same route and joins them as a passenger whilst sharing the cost of petrol. Such agencies can be found online or visit their office in your city. They charge a certain fee. The advantage is that both driver and passenger must leave their addresses and the price is prearranged before the journey giving both parties a certain amount of security.

Intercity Bus

First in 2013 the German law allows bus companies to compete with the privatized Deutsche Bahn-railway company. Since then many bus companies entered the market, which is why you should compare prices using an independent search engine like busliniensuche.de (also available as App) or de.omio.com. Bus lines departing from Nürnberg ZOB are e.g. FlixBus and MeinFernbus. Nürnberg ZOB (Zentraler Omnibus-Bahnhof) is located near to the central station: goo.gl/maps/AHPS9

Often travelling by bus/coach is cheaper than by train, especially if you decide to book spontaneous. Also some buses offer free WLAN.
On the other hand, buses usually take longer than ICE/IC-trains. Travelling within one Bundesland as a group, Ländertickets like BayernTicket for commuter trains might be a better choice.

Trains

DB_Nuernberg,_Adler_02_11The railway network is also very well established in Germany. The Deutsche Bahn offers several opportunities for reduced travel costs.

  • The holder of a “Bahncard 25” receives a 25% discount on ticket prices, with the more expensive “Bahncard 50” the holder receives a 50% discount. Note that a Bahncard 25 can be combined with additional discounts such as Sparpreis 50, while a Bahncard 50 usually can not.
  • “Sparpreis 25” and “Sparpreis 50”: these budget prices apply to return journeys, cover one train connection, a price minimum and a limit travel quota. Both can only be bought  three days prior to the start of the journey.
  • The “Bayern-Ticket Single” costs €21.00 and is valid from Monday to Friday for one day of your choice from 9.00 to 3.00 of the following day, on weekends and on bank holidays from 0:00 to 3:00 of the following day. It entitles the holder to use the commuter trains (second class / train types S, RB, RE, IRE) in Bavaria and the transportation networks of the Munichtransport company (MVV) and of the greater Nuremberg transport company (VGN).
  • The “Bayern Ticket” costs €29.00 and entitles up to five people to travel around in Bavaria for one day. It is valid from Monday to Friday for one day of your choice from 9:00 to 3:00 of the following day, on weekends and on bank holidays from 0:00 to 3:00 of the following day. It entitles the holder to use the commuter trains (second class / train types S, RB, RE, IRE) in Bavaria and the transportation networks of the Munich carrier company (MVV) and of the greater Nurermberg transport company (VGN).
  • The “Bayern-Ticket Nacht“costs €21.00. It entitles up to five people to travel around in Bavaria from 18:00 to 6:00 of the following day. On weekends and bank holiday one can travel until 7:00 the next morning.
  • The “Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket“costs € 39.00 if purchased online or from the ticket machine or €41.00 if purchased in the ticket office of the Deutsch Bahn. Up to five people can travel on one ticket. It is ideal for weekend excursions. It is valid for alle commuter trains of the DB AG (subway, RB, IRE, RE), for most transport companies and non-federally owned train routes and for parts of the Cezch railway network.

For detailed information on the Deutsche Bahn see www.bahn.de.

Telephone/ TV/ Radio
There are special conditions for students concerning radio, TV and telephone charges. Radio and TV services are for free and the monthly basic fee for telephone is about 50 percent cheaper. In order to profit from these reductions, German students have to apply for the Rundfunkgebührenbefreiung at one of the eight social welfare centres (Sozialamt).

Unfortunately, foreign students who are not able to apply for social benefit in Germany, CANNOT APPLY FOR THIS REDUCTION, either! For further questions, call 0911-231-2315

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg