- Daiki Saito
When my company decided to send me to Essen, I took a quick look at the local community and said: Please do!
Relocating to Freiburg
About the City
Freiburg is also known as Freiburg im Breisgau and is a smaller German city found in Baden-Württemberg. This is the most south west part of Germany and the city has the Dreisam river running through it.
The city has about 230,000 residents and is most known for its very old university and the medieval minster that has already been mentioned. It has a high standard of living, which is partly why it’s very popular for expats to move to. Freiburg prides itself particularly in its careful environmental practices.
The city is in the center of an important wine-growing area and is also the gateway to the Black Forest area for tourists and visitors.
The Climate in Freiburg
According to weather experts, Freiburg is hands down the warmest city in Germany and actually holds the all-time highest recorded temperature at 40.2°C. The mild and sunny climate can give the city a Mediterranean feel, which is something that brings tourists and visitors flocking throughout the year.
This makes it a very popular place for people to come on holiday, as well as a lovely place to live for expats and residents alike. As Germany’s climate is varied, spending time in Freiburg guarantees high temperatures and lower rainfall. Summer temperatures are typically 30°C plus. It gets warm enough in fact, that tobacco is grown in Freiburg.
Finding Accommodation
Depending on the time of year when moving to Freiburg, accommodation can be difficult to secure. Bear in mind that there are many students in the city and they often snap up the good and reasonably priced accommodation. How many people are moving over will dictate how easy it is to find a new home.
With small children and a family, it could be prudent to seek advice from your employer if possible, or start researching early on in the process. It’s usual for employers to supply accommodation for the first month or so, in order for expats to have the time to find somewhere they want to live.
This can often be negotiated so it can be possible to ask for a longer period of employer organised accommodation in order to really get to know the area. As with all cities, there are more sought after areas, and the costs do vary. There are excellent and fairly newly built apartment blocks in many sites around the city, which will provide good quality accommodation.