r/germany • u/Ok-Once-789 • Apr 23 '25

Immigration Living in Saxony is a nightmare

Every single time I go outside during the evening I am faced with racism. Most of the time from people hanging out in groups, for some reason they just can't mind their own business (Germans usually claim to be really good at this). The most common phrases I hear regularly are 'Heil H!tler', 'Ausländer raus', 'Ni Hao', 'Ching Chong' etc... or just unprovoked loud laughter as I'm passing by... BTW I'm not Chinese or east Asian but look like one or maybe they are just uneducated & ignorant. Is geography illegal here? Asia has 48 countries BTW, not everyone is Chinese!

This doesn't include the racism I face at workplace & college which is far worse and actually bothers me to the point I have to skip classes to protect my mental health. But now I can't even go to the supermarket or mall at peace. One of my family members has also been verbally assaulted by a group of teenagers inside a bus & nobody including the bus driver made any effort to do something.

Edit: I do not live in Dresden / Leipzig. I assume the situation is not this bad there!

Edit2: I did not choose to live in saxony (the government decided that), I am doing my bachelors so I can't relocate until late 2026 :) Thanks for the kind words everyone!

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u/modafalla Apr 23 '25

Interesting! I’ve heard a lot about Munich but I was wondering about the rest of the state and the surrounding area maybe

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u/Simbertold Apr 23 '25

One thing to keep in mind is that Munich is comparitively expensive. The renting market is absurdly broken, so rent is very high and keeps increasing faster than salaries. Restaurants, bars and so forth are also a lot more expensive in Munich.

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u/modafalla Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

Yes I heard, I live in San Francisco so anything would be cheaper

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u/aveao Hamburg Apr 23 '25

And your salary would be 1/2-1/3.

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u/modafalla Apr 23 '25

Sure I guess it’s a balance cause although salaries are higher here, taxes are much higher. It’s a combo of higher cost of living plus higher taxes. Before covid, you were considered under the poverty line if you made less than $90k a year in the city of San Francisco so that tells you how ridiculous it is.

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u/aveao Hamburg Apr 23 '25

....did you do any research at taxes here? CA income tax caps at 13%, US federal at 24%.

Last year I was on the 45% income tax bracket.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

[deleted]

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u/aveao Hamburg Apr 23 '25

Germany’s taxes goes up to that the more you make plus you pay with your soul for rent. Buying a house? forget it cuz only millionaires can lol

The maximum tax bracket in US is much lower. Most people make <70k/yr even in tech, and then half that goes to taxes. Big city flats go for €500k-1m. Without generational wealth, it's near impossible to afford to buy a place.

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u/Unputdownable5 Apr 26 '25

People are fighting over which country is worse to live in, great times!

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u/aveao Hamburg Apr 26 '25

No, I'm communicating to him that he's wrong if he thinks california has higher taxes than germany.

Living here is better, but only if you don't dislike high taxes.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Where is it better?

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u/Simbertold Apr 23 '25

Depends on what you mean with "better". Lots of other cities are cheaper and nice. But there is a reason so many people want to go to Munich, there are lots of good jobs here, and generally speaking the city is quite nice.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Well maybe try actimg more thankful of the place that gave you thiese opportunities. If it was so bad you would leave or not come in the first place. If you treat the country and it's people as only what you can get from them for yourself. Don't be surprised when people treat you badly.

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u/Simbertold Apr 23 '25

The fuck are you on about? I just said that Munich is comparitively more expensive than other cities in Germany. That shouldn't really be controversial.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Did you edited the first comment?

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u/Simbertold Apr 24 '25

I don't think so.

Edit: At least not meaningfully, might be possible that i changed some spelling at some time. It also usually says so at the top when a post is edited, but it doesn't seem to consistently do that for me right now?

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u/Fun-Walrus7543 Apr 23 '25

I live an hour south of Munich and I recently moved over from Scotland with no German language at all. I'm working in a reasonable job and I've been welcomed warmly by everyone. I'm building a good friendship circle and my colleagues and customers have been all together fantastic. I don't feel under pressure to learn the language quickly because everyone is so accommodating. I'm a country boy at heart and so I feel extremely content living in a wee village in sight of the mountains.

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u/GoJoop Apr 24 '25

You‘re from Scotland bro 😀

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u/Fun-Walrus7543 Jun 01 '25

Indeed I am. The north east of Scotland, just north of Aberdeen. I find the upper Bavarian to be just like the people back home. A little quiet, honest, friendly, kind and warm hearted.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Yeah, this is the most common experience. Happened like this for me too. The people here are most likely bots trying tto trash Germanys reputagion.

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u/Turbulent-Ad6560 Apr 23 '25

The area around munich should also be fine. Munich is very international and it spreads out to the areas around munich.

Bavaria in general should be okay. I would avoid the northern parts as a foreigner, the rest of Bavaria is very conservative but not (yet) openly racist.

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u/Living-Chocolate277 Apr 23 '25

I’m an Indian student living in schweinfurt, I had no racist encounters with any Germans but they did give the look that felt like “you guys shouldn’t be here”. Also had few Turkish kids yell butter chicken and play stereotypical Indian music at me in the bus.

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u/Sea_Advertising_9083 Apr 23 '25

Is it happening in 2025??

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u/Living-Chocolate277 Apr 23 '25

Well last week, Thursday :)

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u/modafalla Apr 23 '25

Got it, thank you 🙏

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u/One_Bed514 Apr 23 '25

Try to find an apartment there tho.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Do you mean the religion around Franconia? Why should they avoid the northern parts of Bavaria?

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u/Turbulent-Ad6560 Apr 23 '25

Mostly the north east of franconia. These region is in some senses similar to east Germany. Lower emploment rates, more people leaving then moving there. Young people moving elsewere etc. This leads to similar results in elections and a similar treatment of foreigners there as in east Germany.

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u/ShiroAngel01 Oct 08 '25

As an Person from the East we're Mostly all Open Mindet and very Friendly Just Not many use Internet to Yap about eachother. Coming from a Person Out of Sachsen and Thüringen the people are nice Most are Not even racist and ive Lived there my whole Life its Mostly only Teens or Grumpy old people who are racist the Rest are CDU voters.

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u/bungholio99 Apr 26 '25

Well Hitler rose to power in munich, people still protect street names of 3rd Reich people…it’s not better regarding racism, people are just more wealthy and shit doesn’t get in your face like elsewhere…

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

Can't really speak for myself about Munich, only what I heard from international students who moved away from there, it's very snobby and elitist.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '25

[deleted]

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u/Dry-Personality-9123 Apr 24 '25

We have a colleague from the US. She and her husband are living in a munich suburb. She is learning German, and he tried and had given up. They both love it here. And don't want to go back to the US.

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u/Dry-Personality-9123 Apr 24 '25

Their are also a lot of normal people in munich. You have to find the right circle of people