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Eight unmissable events taking place across Germany this July

July is brimming with things to do to help you get into the spirit of summer.

Published: 28 June 2017 15:46 CEST

Eight unmissable events taking place across Germany this July

Performers at the 2012 Gauklerfest in Koblenz. Photo: DPA

1. Opera Square Festival, Frankfurt-am-Main, June 28th- July 7th

The old opera house in Opera Square, Frankfurt. Photo: DPA

Frankfurt is offering the opportunity to kick back, relax and admire the architecture of the Opera Square as you are entertained by a variety of musical acts.

Pop, reggae, choral, salsa, soul, jazz and DJ music are all on offer, so chances are you'll find something that suits your taste in the programme!

2. Christopher Street Day – Cities across Germany, throughout July

Christopher Street Day being celebrated in Hamburg, 2015. Photo: DPA

Locations across Germany will be celebrating Christopher Street Day (CSD), an event more commonly known as Pride outside of the German-speaking world.

Pride or CSD is a celebratory parade of LGBT culture, which originated in the USA. According to the website, the event commemorates resistance of transsexual Latinas and drag queens against police raids of bars in 1960s New York which targeted homosexuals, particularly those of Latino and African-american heritage.

The event that has taken place in Germany since 1979, when it started in Berlin and Bremen. Since then, the CSD celebrations have grown and this year parades have already happened in 18 locations.

But July is the month CSD really gets going, taking place in 20 cities, including Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.

3. Comic Con Germany, Stuttgart, July 1st-2nd

A woman in costume at Comic Con in Hanover, Lower Saxony in May 2017. Photo: DPA

Comic Con, an international convention celebrating all things related to comic books, is returning to Stuttgart after a successful run last year.

It promises plenty of merchandise on sale, exhibitions not only of comics but also of movies, television shows and games. there will also be panels, lectures, a stage for cosplay, and actors providing photo opportunities and autographs.

4. Berlin Fashion Week, Berlin, July 4th-7th

A model at the January 2017 Berlin fashion week. Photo: DPA

Berlin's biannual event is back once again this July. So if you're into fashion, the capital is the place to be to get the latest on new trends and marvel at the work of more than 3,500 exhibitors.

This time around, the event will offer trade fairs, an ethical fashion show and collections from young and experienced designers alike.

5. Breminale, Bremen, July 5th-9th

Visitors to the 2014 Breminale enjoy a dip in the river. Photo: DPA

This summer festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. If you fancy live music, good food or somewhere to enjoy a cold drink and soak up the atmosphere in a circus-style tent, then this is the event for you.

If you're more active, 3-D screen printing, boat trips on the river and dancing on roller skates are also on offer!

There are plenty of activities for younger visitors to the event too, including woodworking, a climbing course, painting, a chance to try out musical instruments and bilingual story telling.

6. Gourmet Garden Food Festival, Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, July 14th-16th

The gardens in front of the Schwerin palace. Photo: DPA

What's not to love about three days of delicious food and wine? If you're in the northeast of Germany and are looking to treat your taste buds, make sure you head to the palace gardens in Schwerin.

If you're able to shift your focus from the appetizing contents of your plate, you'll be able to appreciate the views of the lovely Schwerin palace and enjoy the musical entertainment that the event has to offer.

7. Summer Night's Dream Music and Firework Festival, Munich, July 29th

The Summer Night's Dream festival in 2006. Photo: DPA

Is there anything more summery than an open air music festival?

The Summer Night's Dream festival in Munich's Olympia Park has two stages this year, each catering to different music tastes. The “Parksound” stage will be headlined by panda-mask-wearing German rapper CRO, whereas the “Islandbeat” stage focuses on Austrian and Bavarian music.

To top off the evening, the Olympia Park will be illuminated by a 35-minute firework display which is expected to dazzle the senses.

8. GAUKLERFESTung international juggling festival, Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, July 29th-30th

Performers at the 2012 Gauklerfest in Koblenz. Photo: DPA

A rather quirky event taking place this July is the international juggling festival, which brings together clowns, stilt walkers and jugglers as they exhibit their skills. On Sunday evening, the final night, the best seven acts will perform before a panel, which will then award a prize to the act they deem to be the best.

The festival, which will show 150 artists on five stages, will also include poetry slams, comedy and cabaret performances.

10 essential tips for avoiding rental scams in Germany

When it comes to settling in Germany, one of the most stressful and difficult tasks you’re likely to face is finding a place to live.

With the country in the grip of an ever-worsening housing shortage, there aren’t enough rental properties to meet the high demand – especially in big cities like Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt – and the flats that are available can often stretch even the most healthy of budgets.

With renters desperate to find affordable homes, crafty scammers have seized the chance to place fake ads on the market, often in dream locations with lower-than-average rents.

While some of these scams may be easy to spot, others can be highly sophisticated, with fraudsters setting up professional-looking websites and even allowing hopeful tenants to view their properties in person.

Recently The Local reported on a Polish couple who lost around €7,000 through a rental scam in Berlin. The scammers had sublet a beautiful Altbau apartment in the popular district of Neukölln and created an advert for it via a fake letting agent website, then arranged for people to use a key box to view the property while the real tenants were away.

Despite checking the contract over with legal experts from their local tenants’ association, nobody saw anything out of the ordinary – that is, until they tried to access the apartment and found a family already living there.

So, how do you protect your hard-earned savings and steer clear of scammers while looking for a new home?

Here are 10 important ways to protect yourself from rental scams.

1. Be alert to suspicious signs

The key to avoiding scammers in Germany is to be fully clued up on the warning signs. Was the listing for the property uploaded in the middle of the night, is the advert thin on details or written in bad German or English, and does the offer feel too good to be true?

Though it would be nice to believe there are still cheap flats to be found, finding an attractive property at an overly reasonable price is usually a red flag.

Hamburg

Modern apartments in Hamburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Bockwoldt

If someone claiming to be a landlord contacts you out of the blue, that’s also your cue to run a mile. With so many people looking for housing, most letting agents and landlords will have more than people looking to rent their properties without needing to get in touch with people themselves. Anyone who does is more than likely to be a scammer.

2. Rule out landlords who say they live abroad

One of the major warning signs to look out for is a landlord who claims to be renting the property from abroad, or who says they are out of the country for other reasons, like a last-minute business trip.

That’s usually a scammer’s way of excusing the fact that they won’t be able to meet you personally or even show you the property before you rent it.

“When the country the landlord lives in appears then I would say there’s a really big chance this is a scam,” said Kuba Rudzinski, one of the victims of the Berlin-Neukölln rental fraud.

Even if the excuse seems plausible, your best bet is to ignore anyone who tries to sell you a story about living abroad and simply move on with your house hunt.

3. Do your research online

Before committing to anything, take time to do some thorough research to scope out the property, landlord and letting agent.

Running the pictures and text used in apartment listings through a search engine like Google will help you quickly identify stock photos and text stolen from other listings. For pictures, this is known as a reverse image search.

A laptop

Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash

It’s also worth checking that any websites you’re sent to are fully functional and not copies of other letting agent sites, and that any email addresses match the website domain.

4. Visit the property and ask around

Never agree to rent a property without seeing it in person first. Arrange a viewing and take the opportunity to ask questions about the property and the neighbourhood.

Kuba also recommends speaking with the neighbours in the building to check if the property is genuinely being rented.

“Go to the place before and ask the neighbours, is this flat really for rent? Because these people generally know,” he said. “You’ll need to convince yourself to do it of course, but just ask in the building, ask on the floor where the flat is.”

5. Don’t transfer the full deposit in advance

Advance payments for anything, whether it’s furniture, a deposit or getting a chance to view the property, should be considered a major red flag.

Under German law, you are usually only expected to pay the deposit by the start of the agreed rental contract – and certainly not several months in advance.

Euro notes lie next to some house keys on a table.

Euro notes lie next to some house keys on a table. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Andrea Warnecke

You are also legally entitled to pay your three months’ deposit in three instalments on top of your first three months’ rent after moving in, so definitely be cautious of landlords that place pressure on you to transfer a large lump sum.

If you’re really concerned, look into alternatives for paying your deposit, such as Kautionversicherung (deposit insurance) or a Mietkautionssparbuch, where you open a bank account and pledge the amount to the landlord, rather than transferring the money directly.

6. Insist on meeting the landlord or letting agent in person

If a landlord or letting agent refuses to meet you in person or insists on conducting all communication online, they’re probably not who they say they are.

Insist on meeting face-to-face to verify their identity and ensure they have a legitimate connection to the property.

7. Avoid sending documents straight away

Not all rental scams are about getting money from you directly: many scammers are simply after your personal details for the purposes of identity theft.

Be wary of providing personal documents or sensitive information before you’ve verified the legitimacy of the rental agreement, especially when it comes to things like passport scans or other forms of ID.

8. Seek legal advice from experts

If you’re unsure about any aspect of the rental agreement or if something seems suspicious, seek advice from legal experts or tenants’ associations.

However, be aware that this isn’t always a cast-iron guarantee that a tenancy is legitmate. Over the past few years, fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated, even down to producing water-tight rental contracts for would-be tenants.

An estate agent hands over keys to an apartment. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Christin Klose

According to civil lawyer Emilia Tintelnot, becoming a member of a tenants’ association can be a good way to get affordable legal advice, and it can also be helpful to set up legal insurance to ensure you can access help when you need it without having to pay lawyers’ fees up front.

9. Be wary of stereotypes

Avoid making assumptions based on stereotypes or preconceived notions about someone’s gender or nationality, as this may cause you to overlook things you might otherwise see as warning signs.

In Kuba’s case, the fact that the fraudsters were German made them appear more legitimate in his eyes, as Polish people tend to see Germans as law-abiding and trustworthy.

Be aware that scammers can come from any cultural background and may use a variety of tactics to deceive unsuspecting renters.

10. Keep an extensive paper trail

Document all communication, agreements, and transactions related to the rental process, including phone numbers and any bank details provided.

According to the Berlin police, this type of evidence can be crucial for an investigation if you do suspect a scammer.

While evidence can differ across cases, “pictures, contact details used by the perpetrators, original documents, bank details with payment receipts” are particularly helpful for investigators, and could help the police stop the scammers for good.

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