In Germany you will need your own bank account for many aspects of day-to-day life, such as for paying your health insurance contributions or rent.
Blocked Account (Sperrkonto)
In many cases, a blocked account with a German bank will be required. To this end, upon opening a sum will be paid into the account, from which every month only a limited amount may be withdrawn. At present the amount for a blocked account is around €8640. Every month only €720 may be withdrawn from this amount. A blocked account with Deutsche Bank is, according to many students, very simple to operate. To open the account, you will need:
- your letter of admission from the university
- your registration document from the residents' registration office (Bürgerbüro)
- your passport / identity card
The Deutsche Bank branch can be found at Otto von Guericke Strasse 12, D-39104 Magdeburg. It can be reached on tram lines 1, 6 and 8, City Carré / main railway station stop. Other providers in the area include Volksbank, Commerzbank, Sparkasse and Postbank. In addition, it is also possible to open an online account with DKB, Targobank, ING-DiBa and various other providers.
Current Account
It will be necessary for you to open a current account in order to make payments (rental, semester fees, health insurance contributions) and to receive scholarship payments or transfers from abroad. To do this, you will require your letter of admission from the university, your registration document from the residents' registration office and your passport/ID. The banks offer different services at different prices. Students are even able to open free accounts with some banks. For this reason, it is worthwhile carrying out a price comparison before choosing a bank. Many banks will only open an account for you if you are staying in Germany for more than six months.
Living Costs in Magdeburg
For better financial planning, we have drawn up a brief overview of average monthly costs. We hope this will help you to better plan your budget.
| One-off costs (EUR) | Monthly costs (EUR) | Annual costs (EUR) |
Rent |
| 250 - 350 | 3.000 - 4.200 |
Deposit for the apartment | 250 - 500 |
|
|
Food and Drink |
| 100 - 250 | 1.200 - 3.000 |
Mobile phone and internet |
| 15 - 30 | 180 - 360 |
Semester fee | 129,90 / semester |
| 259,80 |
Health insurance |
| 110 | 1.320 |
Books and writing materials |
| 10 | 120 |
Broadcast contribution |
| 18,36 | 220,32 |
Miscellaneous |
| 124 | 1.488 |
Total | approx. 320 - 500 | approx. 630 - 880 | approx. 7.685 - 10.865 |
In comparison with many other towns and cities the rental prices in Magdeburg are relatively low. There are no tuition fees, and the semester fee already includes the cost of bus and tram travel within Magdeburg.
For further information please visit the website of our Office of Academic Affairs (Akademisches Auslandsamt).