- Thomas Crawford
I knew that there is a big international community in Cologne, but where to find them? Yes, I did indeed find them on InterNations!.
Life in Duesseldorf
Education in Duesseldorf
Like many places in Germany, Düsseldorf has an excellent education system. The city is home to many high quality public and private school facilities that cater to a varied selection of needs. Expats moving to the city with children may wish to seek advice from the Regionale Arbeitsstelle zur Förderung von Kindern via their website. The purpose of this ministry is to offer families with children who are not fluent in German to find suitable school placement and language tuition.
Duesseldorf is home to numerous international schools. These multinational institutions have an extremely high standard of bilingual, predominantly English education and award students with a range of certificates including GCSEs, International Baccalaureate and German Abiturs. In addition to this, there is also a Japanese school.
Transportation in Duesseldorf
Duesseldorf has a safe, smoothly operating road network. This is an easy to use infrastructure for drivers, and the roads are well maintained. Please note that driving is on the right. Traffic can be particularly heavy in rush hour and during important city events.
EU citizens can use their driving licenses unconditionally throughout Germany and residents of the USA, Canada and South Africa can easily exchange their license for a German Fuhrerschein. However, expats from other countries may find getting a German license to be a complicated process.
There are plenty of regular and reliable trams, buses and trains that run consistently throughout Düsseldorf, as well as the Rheinbah; an underground subway network that runs over 1400km.
Culture and Leisure
It’s easy to see why Duesseldorf has gained a reputation as being ‘the longest bar in the world’. In the historic center of this traditional brewery city there are over 250 breweries and pubs lining the banks of the River Rhine. The city is also known as being one of Germany’s fashion capitals and is home to an impressive selection of shops. In the section of town known as the Konigsallee, there is a huge number of high fashion boutiques, vintage shops and high street clothing stores.
History buffs and keen sightseers flock to Duesseldorf from far and wide to make the most of the centuries old architecture and renowned historic monuments that can be found throughout the city. The Baroque mansion, Benrath Palace, dates back to the 18th century and is one of the most popular attractions. Another must see site is the Kunsthalle Art Museum, which houses an elaborate collection of world class masterpieces from some of Europe’s most celebrated artists.