FAQ – Everyday Life

• Be aware that the entry visa does not include a work permit (if you are a non-EU citizen). The same is true for your first “Fiktionsbescheinigung”. You will get a work permit, when you get your residence permit. This process can take a few months depending on your situation.
• Please take that into account, when planning for your studies in Darmstadt in your home country! (see issue “Financing”)

• We have some information about where students can find a job, and where to get help with your application and your search for a job. Please contact comeTOgether, or visit them during their office hours.

The following list is not complete. It contains some of the important places, but can change quickly:

• Schlosskeller: Nightclub of the TU AStA. Low priced entry and drinks.
• 806qm: event location and café of the TU AStA. During the day a café, beginning from the winter semester 2017/18 also opens in the evenings, low priced entry and drinks.
• Schlossgarten: Open-air beer garden and café of the TU AStA. Only opens in summer. Fair prices.
• Goldene Krone: Bar, club and concert hall. Very popular place to have a drink, play tabletop football or party. The entry to the bar is free, the club costs some money (depends on the event).
• Centralstation: Nightclub and concert hall. Slightly more expensive and many events are not aimed at students.
• Staatstheater: Very low/no entry for students for theater and opera.
• Herrngarten: Popular park in the city to spend some time and relax.
• Woog: swimming lake in Darmstadt. Low priced entry for students.
• Hochschulstadion: Sports field, swimming pool and big lawn. Free entry for TU students. Perfect to be outside in summer, to have fun and to do sports.
• Filmkreis: Once or twice a week they show current and old movies in the Audimax at “TU Stadtmitte”. Low priced entry.

• Our Intercultural Tutors Team (ITT) offers events for you every semester. They offer city tours, hiking trips, visits to museums, bowling, and cooking events.
• You can find a good overview about current events on the web page “partyamt”: https://www.partyamt.de/ (only in German)
• Events of the city of Darmstadt can be found here: http://www.darmstadt-tourismus.de/en/events.html
• The “TU Darmstadt” and the “Hochschule Darmstadt” each announce events and lectures on their web pages. Some of the events are public and open to all students (look at events of the other university from time to time), almost all of the offered events are free of cost.
• TUtor International offers events for students almost every Saturday.
• The AStA of the TU Darmstadt runs two locations for cultural events and parties: “Schlosskeller” and “806 qm”. Both places offer many events and have schedules online:
  • Schlosskeller: http://www.schlosskeller-darmstadt.de/ (only in German)
  • 806 qm: https://806qm.de/ (only in German)
• The AStA of the Hochschule Darmstadt runs a bistro in the “Glaskasten” in their multi-story building in the Schöfferstraße and an open-air bar at the so-called “Osthang” (close to the Mathildenhöhe). http://www.asta-hochschule-darmstadt.de/projekte-angebote/studentische-cafes (only in German)

• Yes, every semester the Intercultural Tutors Team (ITT) organizes events for students and at the same time offers the possibility to get to know people from a variety of different backgrounds. You can find the current program here: http://stwda.de/en/intercultural-affairs/itt/
• Students living in our student residences can also take part in events that are offered to the tenants. The on-site service in the student residences can inform you about upcoming events.

• Take part in the orientation week in the beginning of your studies. Every faculty organizes orientation weeks for the new students starting their study programs. Getting to know your fellow students as early as possible is very important for studying successfully and gaining great relationships.
• In the beginning of the semester there are many Welcome Parties (from the universities, the Studierendenwerk and also many faculties)
• The university groups are a perfect possibility to get to know students with similar interests. www.tu-darmstadt.de > Studying at the TU > Campus Life
• At the events from ITT you can have fun, meet people, explore the area and much more.
• At the sports center you can find a lot of different classes and group sports.
• At TUtor International you will be able to take part in a lot of recurring events.
• The Evangelische Studierenden Gemeinde (ESG) and the Katholische Hochschulgemeinde (KHG) offer many events. Some events are centered around faith and religion, depending on your own creed that can be a great way to get in contact with other people.
• Our tutors from comeTOgether give further advice and tips on where to meet other students.

Yes, both TU and h_da have a sports center that offers many activities:

• TU Darmstadt: https://online-anmeldung.usz.tu-darmstadt.de/sportarten/aktueller_zeitraum/index.html (go to letter "I" for International)
• Hochschule Darmstadt: https://hochschulsport.h-da.de (only in German)

• The TU has a web page, where you can register and search for a language partner: Tandem-Partner
• Another possibility is the language café of the TU. There, students come together to talk to each other in different languages in a pleasant atmosphere:
• Students of the Hochschule Darmstadt get support with language skills here: https://sprachen.h-da.de/ (only in German)
• TUtor International offers an event called "Interactive German Learning". You can learn German in a relaxed atmosphere.

• Yes, there are various international university groups, which are based on nationality or cultural similarities, for example: Club Latinoamericano Darmstadt e.V., Ägyptischer Verein Darmstadt e.V. and Darmstadt Indian Association (DIA) e.V. and many more.
• Our Interkulturelles Tutoren Team (ITT) combines tutors from many different nationalities and backgrounds, as well.
• TUtor International offers events called cultural evenings. Depending on what university club presents itself you can also meet people from your home country.

• It is not expensive to go to the museum, to the Woog (swimming lake in the city) - as a student - and free of charge, if you want to visit the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
• Lakes where you can go for a swim in summer or hang out with friends are for example: Grube Prinz von Hesse or Erlensee in Bickenbach.
• There are many parks in Darmstadt to sunbathe, go for a walk, to have a BBQ or to do sports: Orangerie, Prinz Emilgarten, Wolfskehlscher Park, Bürgerpark with sports field or Herrngarten.
• Parks in Frankfurt are for example: Grüneburg Park, Günthersburg Park or Sinai Park.
• There are places like the Weststadt-Café or the Datterich-Klause at the main station, where you can bring and barbecue your own food.
• The Filmkreis of the TU Darmstadt shows a lot of films every semester and you only have to pay a few euros for blockbusters and art house movies, have a look at their program: https://www.filmkreis.tu-darmstadt.de/programm/aktuell/ (only in German)
• If you just want to relax and explore the city, these are some places to go to: Mathildenhöhe with a beautiful chapel, Hochzeitsturm and Jugendstil houses, Rosenhöhe, Hofgut Oberfeld, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Schloss, Hundertwasserhaus, Vivarium or Sternwarte.
• Other places of interest can be found on trips to Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Marburg, to the Odenwald, Bergstraße (for example Felsenmeer) or to the Taunus (Feldberg). The semester ticket covers a large area and you can go to a lot of cities and places for free.
• In summer, you can visit beer gardens in Darmstadt, for example at the canteen Lichwiese or in the Dieburger Straße.
• In winter, you can visit Christmas Markets, go sledging or ice-skating.
• From spring to autumn there are many different flea markets all over Darmstadt
• In autumn there are "Kerbeumzüge" and festivals in the districts: Bessunger Kerb, Heimstätten-Kerb, etc.
• You can find a lot of information about parties, cultural activities, flea markets and everything else that can be done in and around Darmstadt in the free “P-Magazin” (only in German), which you can take with you in many shops and restaurants in Darmstadt, as well as in the canteens.

• May: Schlossgrabenfest – biggest city open-air of Hesse, which takes place around the “Schloss”
• May: Jugendstil days of Darmstadt
• July: Heinerfest – biggest local festival of southern Hesse and second biggest city festival of Germany
• July/August: “Residenzfestspiele”
• August: Christopher Street Day
• September: Festivals in the districts/Kerb (Martinskerb, Bessunger Kerb, Heimstätten Kerb, …)
• September: Wine festival of Darmstadt in the Wilhelminenstraße
• December: Christmas Market (at the “Schloss” and in Bessungen)

Close by:

• August: Film festival in Weiterstadt – open-air film festival with short films. Thursday to Monday.

• The facilities and different services from the Studierendenwerk are located all over the city.
• In the canteen “Stadtmitte Mensa” in Alexanderstr. 4 you can find:
  • Head Office / Secretariat
  • Accommodation Service
  • Social Counselling
  • Intercultural Affairs with the Intercultural Tutors Team (ITT)
  • comeTOgether
• Financing / BAföG offices are located in the canteen “Lichtwiese”
• There are a number of canteens and bistros of the Studierendenwerk distributed all over the city.
• As well as the student residences of the Studierendenwerk
• The psychotherapeutic counselling is located in the student residence Nieder-Ramstädter-Str. (old building)
• The site map containing our bistros and canteens shows where they are located.
• The site map of the accommodation service shows where our student residences are located.

• For the TU Darmstadt an overview of the different buildings can be found here: https://www.tu-darmstadt.de/universitaet/orientierung/index.en.jsp
• Orientation within the buildings can be difficult. The first number of a room number indicates the floor, on which the room is located. For example, room 123 is on the first floor and room 012 or 12 is on the ground floor.
• For the "Hochschule Darmstadt" you can download the campus map here: https://www.h-da.com/about-us/location/

• Using the “Semesterticket” you can use local public transportation and regional trains free of charge. Therefore, you have to carry your “Semesterticket” and a valid ID with a photo with you, whenever you are using public transport, as you will have to show these documents if a ticket inspector checks you.
• You can find a good map of what the “Semesterticket” covers on the webpage of the TU AStA

• The app of the “Deutsche Bahn” or of the RMV (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund) gives you information about buses and trains. You can enter your place of departure and destination and you will get the closest stops, the names of the busses/trains, the departure times and the journey time.

• In Darmstadt, students can use rental bikes from the “Deutsche Bahn”. They are called “Call-a-Bike” and there are many stations in town, where one can rent and return them. You have to register for the service, however. The first hour is free of cost for students. Most of the places in town can be reached by bike within 15-30 minutes.
• How to rent these bikes and where the stations are located was compiled by the AStA of the TU and can be found here: https://www.asta.tu-darmstadt.de/asta/en/node/1850

• In the canteens and bistros of the Studierendenwerk students of the TU Darmstadt and the Hochschule Darmstadt get food at a reduced price. Here you can find the current menu and further information about our canteens and bistros: www.stwda.de/en
• Our "Biergarten Lichtwiesn" is perfectly placed on “Campus Lichtwiese” and has very favourable prices. A great place to hang out with your fellow students.
• Darmstadt offers a variety of restaurants, snack bars and pubs. Normally, everybody will find something they like. In addition, Frankfurt is not too far away and offers many culinary highlights, as well. Before going to a restaurant check the prices and special offers for students. Many do have information online.

• There are many supermarkets and discounters for daily grocery shopping. There are also supermarkets with "halal" products or with a variety of international items.
• Our comeTogether tutors and the tutors from ITT can give you information about the different supermarkets in private conversations or via e-mail. Do not hesitate to contact them!

• The social counselling offers counselling and support for the following: questions concerning right of residence and labor law, financing of studies, financial problems and debts, (health) insurance, jobbing, personal problems and con-flicts, contracts and searching a room.
• The department of financing informs about BAföG and study loans.
• The psychotherapeutic helpdesk offers support for many questions, for example concerning anxieties about ex-ams, difficulties to concentrate or work, family conflicts or anxieties.
• The students from comeTOgether support with looking for rooms, jobs and internships as well as preparing your applications. They also advice on living and going out in Darmstadt.
• The Intercultural Tutors Team (ITT) helps with going to the authorities, networking, meeting people and events.
• Every Tuesday afternoon we offer open hours for legal advice, free of charge.

For Darmstadt and its surroundings a multilingual brochure was made, which lists the different medical specialists and hospitals plus their spoken languages:
Welcher Arzt spricht meine Sprache? - Which physician does speak my language?