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The best events and festivals in Germany in 2022

With the obvious caveat that much depends on the health situation and Covid-related rules in place, Germany has an outstanding variety of events on offer in 2022 for tourists and residents alike.

Published: 30 December 2021 12:11 CET
Updated: 9 January 2022 05:11 CET

Waitresses celebrate the end of Oktoberfest in 2019. Photo: dpa | Felix Hörhager

Germany has an incredibly rich cultural calendar – one of the many factors that routinely make it one of the most visited countries in the world.

Here’s an overview of some of the top events coming up around the country, so you can start planning your year.

February

Berlinale (February 10th – 20th)

Cinema-goers in Kino International in Berlin. Photo: dpa | Fabian Sommer

The first major cultural event of the German calendar starts on February 10th, when one of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe gets under way in Berlin.

The Berlinale will be held over ten days and famed Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan will head the jury for the main Golden Bear award.

The festival organizers plan on offering a full programme just like in the days before the pandemic and also say that the festival, famed for the access it gives to the general public, will once again be an in-person event.

Karneval in Cologne (February 28th)

The other major festival taking place in February is Karneval, which is celebrated across the Catholic regions of southern and western Germany, but is most famously done by the city of Cologne.

‘Jeken’ celebrate the start of the Karneval season in the Heumarkt in Cologne in November 2021. Photo: dpa | Rolf Vennenbernd

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, it is very unlikely that main event, the Rosenmontag parade, will take place as normal in the centre of Germany’s fourth largest city.

Dating back to the Middle Ages, carnival clubs build floats that they parade through the city centre and which often poke fun at major political figures of the day.

Last year the parade was only done in miniature form and was broadcast on local television. The organizers have promised that it will take place in some form although the format is yet to be decided upon.

One possibility is that stands will be set up along a shortened route and spectators will have to stick to designated seats.

March

Leipzig Book Fair (March 17th – 20th)

Book worms won’t want to miss one of the oldest book fares in the world, which attracted publishers from dozens of countries before the pandemic.

The fare is going ahead again this year although the international schedule is likely to be more limited than usual. You can find tickets HERE.

Berlin Fashion Week

Known for promoting young designers, the Berlin fashion week’s reputation has grown to such an extent in recent years that it is know mentioned in the same breath as the Paris and London equivalents. If you fancy yourself a fashionista, you can find a full schedule HERE.

May

Hamburg Hafenfest (May 6th – 8th)

The ‘biggest harbour party in the world’ takes place in Hamburg between May 6th and May 8th, when the port city celebrates its birthday.

Boats take part in the ship parade at the Hafenfest in 2019. Photo: dpa | Markus Scholz

Some 300 ships of all ages, shapes and sizes will take place in a ‘sail past’ at the opening of the event, while dozens of stages will be set up around the city harbour offering music and entertainment to visitors.

The festival marks the day 832 years ago when Hamburg was given the status of a free port with the right to trade with much of northern Europe.

German Cup Final (May 21st)

Sport fans will want to mark this date in their calendars. The final of the DFB Pokal will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where two teams will battle it out for the second most prestigious prize in German football.

Tickets will go on sale in March, when fans can apply for a maximum for four seats. More information can be found HERE.

June

Fête de la Musique (June 21st)

This French tradition has been embraced wholeheartedly by the people of Berlin, where stages and music pop up all over the city for one night of singing and dancing. Hamburg also has a smaller event.

Carnival of Culture

Also in Berlin, this carnival parade along the streets of the multicultural Kreuzberg district presents music and costumes from across the world, showing off the diversity of the German capital.

July

Fusion festival (June 29th – July 3rd)

This cult festival beloved of fans of electronic music takes place at the beginning of July in an old communist airbase in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The Fusion Festival takes place over five days and is celebrated for the originality of the stage designs and its non-stop offering of techno music, as well as everything from burlesque to punk on smaller stages.

Tickets are notoriously hard to come by (and not cheap). You can apply during the first two weeks of February HERE. The tickets will then be allocated randomly to applicants.

August

Potsdam Palace Night (August 19th – 20th)

Ever thought you were born in the wrong century? Then a night in the life of a baroque monarchy might be for you. For two days the grand palaces of the Prussian court in Potsdam will open their doors to the public, with entertainment including classical music from the period and a firework display.

September

Wurstmarkt, Bad Dürkheim (September 9th – 19th)

Despite the name suggesting that this festival is all about Germany’s renowned sausages, the Wurstmarkt in the small town of Bad Dürkheim near the French border is actually the world’s biggest wine festival.

Scheduled to take place this year between September 9th-19th, the festival will provide a platform to 54 winemakers to show off their wares.

Oktoberfest (September 17th – October 3rd)

After the world famous booze fest has been cancelled for the past two years, the city of Munich has promised that it will go ahead again this year.

The breweries of the Bavarian capital brew special, extra-strong beers for the festival, that usually attracts millions of people from across the globe.

But the event next year is likely to be smaller than in the past, with mayor Dieter Reiter saying “there won’t be Oktoberfest for everyone in 2022.”

October

Bremer Freimarkt (October 14th – October 30th)

If you enjoy the tradition of a good Volksfest, this event in Bremen shouldn’t be missed. It has been held for almost a thousand years, with the first Freimarkt taking place back in 1035.

For centuries it was a place for craftsmen from outside Bremen to come and sell their wares. But even in the 15th century, locals would come to watch jugglers or see exotic animals.

These days the Volksfest prides itself on having the largest funfair in northern Germany.

Berlin festival of lights (October 7th – 16th)

Each year the German capital gives artists the chance to illuminate some of its most iconic landmarks with light shows.

For visitors to Berlin, this festival offers the opportunity to see instantly recognizable buildings such as the Fernsehturm or the Brandenburg Gate in a rather different light to normal.

December

Nuremberg Weihnachtsmarkt (November 25th – December 24th)

There is perhaps no Christmas market in Germany that is as rich in tradition and famed for the craftwork on sale as the market held in the city centre of Nuremberg.

The event should go ahead as scheduled again in 2022 after two years of cancellation during the pandemic. A particular highlight is always the Bavarian city’s prized Lebkuchen.

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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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