International Student Accommodation in Tuebingen
City Guide
The City
Tübingen isn’t your obvious choice when it comes to visiting/living in Germany. Most people want the bright lights and 24 hour parties that Berlin offers, or the laid back attitude that Munich has, but Tübingen will melt the heart of anyone who visits.
The city is built on the river Neckar in southwest Germany, about 30 km away from Stuttgart. Punts and rowing boats line the river banks, quaint German houses overlook these boats – it really is a very picturesque town. The Altstadt is the most beautiful part of Tübingen, with cobbled streets, a magnificent Rathaus, fruit and veg markets, traditional bars and coffee houses; it’s quintessentially German.
A short walk to the highest point in Tübingen’s centre – the beautiful castle, will give you a wonderful view of the red rooftops below, and help you get your bearings. As a university city, Tübingen is full of reasonably priced restaurants and bars, and dozens of book shops and academic buildings.
The city welcomes international students with open arms, and as a result there are many international students, Erasmus or otherwise, who come to spend a semester or two in the city.
Transport
Getting to Tübingen from Stuttgart airport is easy; simply take the ‘Airport Sprinter’ (bus 828) from the airport to Tübingen. The journey takes under an hour and costs about 5€. However, the sprinter stops running about 7.30pm, so if you arrive after this you will need to take a train to Stuttgart Rohr, change to the S1 train at Herrenberg and go on to Tübingen. Of course, if you are arriving for the first time, it may be worth staying in a youth hostel in Stuttgart overnight and arriving the next day to sort out paperwork and get your keys.
As a student in Tübingen, once you have matriculated at the university, it is advisable to get a student bus pass (Semesterticket), which permits you to travel for free around Tübingen. It costs a little over 100€ for a semester, but is much easier and cheaper than using the machine on the bus to get your ticket each time. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights there is a night bus, with buses running until about 3am.
Once settled in Tübingen, you will no doubt want to travel around a bit. With a Schönes Wochenende pass, up to five people can travel on a Saturday/Sunday for about 31€…that’s about 6€ each, and you can go ANYWHERE in Germany. There’s also the Baden-Württemberg pass, which allows up to five people to travel anywhere around Baden-Württemberg for around the same price. With your semester ticket too, you can travel for free to certain places in the vicinity.
University
The Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen is one of the oldest universities in Germany. It was established in 1477 and hosts many research institutes. It is spread out across the city, but university buildings are concentrated on Wilhelmstrasse, one of the main streets in Tübingen. International students will inevitably have classes in one of the buildings along the Wilhelmstr. 50.
When you arrive as an international student, and you have matriculated (registered with the town hall etc), you can either attend a two/three week long intensive language course, which most Erasmus students attend. Or you can simply register for courses and explore the city whilst waiting for the semester to begin. The language course is basic, but there’s the opportunity to meet other Erasmus students and attend a Stammtisch in the nearby Schloss Café. You can also learn how the city works, with customs such as tipping (tip to the nearest 50 cents, in general) and find out where’s best to eat out or go for a drink.
To research courses before you go to Tuebingen, it’s worth looking at www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/qvo/vorl/vvinhalt.html as this gives a general course list. However, most Erasmus students study the Erasmus courses on offer – you will be given a booklet detailing Erasmus courses. Many of these courses, such as the European Studies course, offer trips to nearby cities.
The courses overall, are very interesting and provide an insight into German culture – they also can be very useful for providing background information for your final year modules at university.
Food and Drink
Tübingen is one of Germany’s most affluent cities, but don’t be alarmed, eating out is still reasonable. To experience the regional Schwabian cuisine, go to Neckarmüller, overlooking the river. This restaurant brews its own beer, which is something every visitor MUST try. The food is delicious, and service is good.
For something a bit more upmarket, the Hotel am Schloss, next to the castle, is one of the best restaurants around. Their speciality is Maultaschen – pasta filled pockets a little like ravioli. The wild mushroom Maultasche is divine. This is Tübingen’s most expensive restaurant, but prices are still very reasonable; an average of 8€ for a meal.
The Irish Bar on Wilhelmstr. is popular with students and lecturers alike. This is definitely the place to come for Wildekartoffeln – garlic potato chips. Football is often shown in the evening, and there’s a lively atmosphere.
In the city centre, there are a few Italian restaurants, notably Stern, which do delicious pizzas and pasta dishes for very reasonable prices.
Out on the Town
The Schlosscafe- is a wonderful Bierkeller which has an underground section for bands and DJs and an upstairs section for those who just want a quiet drink.
The Jazzkeller- is a five minute walk from the Schlosscafe, and contrary to its name, plays a variety of music ranging from R’n’B, hip hop to 80s music and indie, but never jazz.
Sudhaus- is a fifteen minute bus ride from Tübingen’s centre, but is well worth the journey. One popular event held annually in June/July at Sudhaus is the Professoren Nacht, whereby professors from the university DJ for the night.
The Blaue Turm- is for those of you who like dance/trance, but drinks here are more expensive.
El Chicos- is a Mexican restaurant above Neckarmüller. It offers cheap but tasty Mexican food throughout the day and a party atmosphere at night. There is a happy hour for cocktails and it stays open until about 4am.
Tangente- is THE place to go on a Monday night, for its famous karaoke. Drinks are cheap, people (mainly international students it has to be said) are merry and the atmosphere is really good.
Day Tripper
Bebenhausen is a half hour walk from Tübingen and is a quaint village with beautiful cloisters. If you take a picnic you can stop in the woods on the way to have lunch, and then carry on to the village where you can stop again at the tea gardens for one of their delicious ice creams.
Stuttgart is well worth visiting every now and again, mainly for gigs and shopping.
Heidelberg is a two hour train journey away, and is pretty much a more touristy Tübingen, except for the majestic castle which is well worth a visit.
Accommodation
There are several very reasonably priced Studentenwohnheims in Tübingen. The main student accommodation village is at Fichtenweg, about 15 minutes by bus from the city centre. If you have organised to stay in student accommodation, you will have to go to Fichtenweg building 5 to pay your deposit before you can move in. Deposits are normally about 400€ and they will be paid back into your account about two months after you have left. You will also get your keys from Fichtenweg 5. Bear in mind offices close about 4pm and this is when most Hausmeisters (janitors) leave work too.
The buildings on Fichtenweg vary. To live in one of the three tower blocks there, it costs about 210€ a month, and the same to live in the Studentenwohnheim on Pfrondorferstr. which is near Wilhelmstr. The residence on Pfrondorferstr. is very homely, however, be prepared to share a kitchen between 13 other people. The showers/toilets aren’t especially clean either.
There are other student residences, some in the Altstadt and some to the southwest of the city, but Fichtenweg is the main one.
The boring stuff
To view some further information about Bank Accounts & Money transfers, Internet & Telephone and Health, visit our Germany homepage.
Guide written by Rachel Preece, English exchange student Tuebingen, 2006/2007.
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