Infineon Student Club

Getting a Room in Munich

Why housing?
Ask anyone who tried, getting a room in Munich is both difficult and expensive. Some students coming to Infineon share a place with friends or family members they have in Munich, although most students are not fortunate enough to have someone ready and able to host them as they arrive. Others get a room through one of the many housing agencies in Munich, where students are usually charged anywhere between 200 to 400 Euros. Others still find a place through newspaper advertisement pages, which dedicate a big part to vacant rooms and apartments in Munich. In short, there are lots of offers as well as a big demand on housing in Munich, and rooms are usually taken by those who keep a close eye on the available offers and act fast to take them!

Short term housing
When you first arrive to Munich you'll need a temporary place to stay in for a week or two until you arrange a more permanent housing. Of course, any of the many hotels in Munich are happy to take you in, but they will charge you the usual tourist fee. Most students, looking for cheaper alternatives to hotels, spend their first couple of weeks in one of a number of youth hostels or pensions present in Munich. An elaborate and informative list of such places, along with addresses and prices, can be found on the Internet here. You can arrange a reservation for these places by calling them even before you arrive in Munich.

Here is the contact information of two youth hostels (the second has an age limit of 27 years):

CVJM-Jugendgaestehaus
Landwehrstr. 13
80336 Munich
Tel: +49 89 5521410
Fax: +49 89 5504282
Web: www.cvjm.de
U/S-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof
DJH Jugendherberge Muenchen
Wendl-Dietrich-Str. 20
80634 Munich
Tel: +49 89 131156
Fax: +49 89 1678745
Web: www.djh.de
U-Bahn: U1 Rotkreuzplatz

Long term housing
Once you find a temporary place to stay, you'll start looking for more permanent housing. Many of us got their housing offers by contacting one of the following sources in Munich. The offers here are usually provided by people who would like to rent a room in their apartment, so you will have to be here in Munich first and meet them before they take you in. Some do accept new tenants without a meeting, but the rent they charge is notably higher.

Infineon's site: This web site is organized and run by Infineon as a free platform to pool possible housing offers brought in by students and employees: www.meetinfineon.de/housing. Please, inform your landlord to make use of this free platform in case a room becomes available. If you provide a room for an intern, you may qualify for a gift from Infineon!
Newspapers:These only come in German. The most important of them is the advertising magazine "kurz & fündig" issued on Tuesdays & Fridays. If you keep an eye on this magazine, you are very likely to find the cheap room/flatshare you are looking for. Some people await its publication the night before the issue day in the Central Station after 7:00PM to be the first to contact the landlords. Here are some other newspapers where room offers are advertised.
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Wednesday + Friday)
Abendzeitung (Tuesday + Friday)
tz/Münchner Merkur (Thursday + Saturday)
Münchner Wochenblatt (Wednesday)
Wohnref: This is a housing agency affiliated with Infineon and is one of the cheapest we know of, despite the fact that they charge a minimum fee of 150 Euros! After signing a contract, you will be faxed or mailed a number of offers that fit your criteria. If you are already at Infineon, you can access the web site of Wohnref on the Intranet at app2.muc.infineon.com/wohnref. For further information

Wohnref gmbh
Otto-Hahn-Ring 6
81739 Munich
GERMANY

Tel: +49 89 636 55533
Fax: +49 89 636 55536
Mitwohnzentrale: This is one of many Internet based housing agencies. You can view their offers on the Internet, but the exact address and phone number is not given. This information is e-mailed to you after you sign a contract. Further information can be found on the Internet site of Mitwohnzentrale at www.mitwohnzentrale.de.

Student houses
An alternative to the short-term, long-term housing approach is to find a room in one of many privately owned student houses in Munich. The available places are very limited and the housing quality is usually poor, but since the rooms in these houses are quite cheap to rent, it is definitely worth the try. A full list of privately owned student houses in Munich can be found here on the site of the Studenten Werke www.studentenwerk.mhn.de. Use the contact information and ask whether they have a room available during your internship period at Infineon; you may make the reservation on the phone even before you come to Munich.