Accommodation

Housing

There is a shortage of housing in Germany which means that accommodation is expensive.

You often have to spend 40% of your monthly salary on rent. 

Furnished one-room apartment / studio:                               ca. 700 - 1100 Euro

Two-room apartment:                                                             ca. 1100 - 1400 Euro

Furnished room in a flat-sharing community:                        ca. 450 - 700 Euro

We urgently recommend you to start looking for accommodation as soon as possible, preferably several months before you begin your stay. At the beginning of the semester the demand for accommodation is particularly high.

Guesthouse of the University of Cologne

There are two guesthouses of the University available for scholars and their families. As there is a huge demand for accommodation, you should make enquires at the earliest opportunity.

Apply approximately up to 10 months before the start of your stay in Cologne for a guesthouse apartment.

In order to make reservation in a guesthouse please refer to your host institute or the Welcome Center. If there is no apartment available in the guesthouse you will have to find an apartment on the private housing market. The Welcome Centre is in touch with some owners and housing agencies and would help you to contact potential parties.

Please notice that we do not dispose of apartments that we can simply assign. We have to do extensive research for every single offer that we send you. This is why we ask you to seriously consider our offers. Very often we can only provide one offer!

We are happy to advise you concerning the search for first furnished accommodation upon your arrival to the extend possible. This service is not offered for subsequent rentals.

Private Accommodation

Research suitable accommodations on the websites listed below. It is often necessary to create a detailed profile on the respective platform.

You can enlist the help of an agency to find accommodation.
(In Germany it is usually the tenant/purchaser who pays the agent’s commission. Please note that you would have to pay additional agency fees or commission fee. According to your stay the fee is between 25% and 120% of your monthly rent.)