Germany
Quite sad that Germany government decided to appease Russia with its policies of minimal military help to Ukraine due to fear of getting cut off from Russia's gas supply. Which would indeed destroy a large portion of EU economy. This reliance on Russian energy export is the only reason the Ukraine war was allowed to happen in the first place.
What's even more tragic is that some minor political 'green party' managed to ban off nuclear in Germany. I hope things change and change soon because further reliance on non EU made energy sources means no good prosperous future for whole of EU. There's lots of fascinating research happening to solve fusion so will see. Although some say even that won't fix the energy problem in Germany/EU.
Aside from those geopolitical failures, Germany seems like a nice place to live in if you ignore the super high taxes. Berlin is one of my favorite cities to visit. The food and people there are amazing.
Notes
- Germany, particularly Berlin, have a pretty vibrant startup eco-system. If you are just trying ideas, there is no need to register a business (legally you only have to do this once you intend to follow through long term). You can register a business for 35€ - most cities offer this online. Registering a limited liability company is a little more complicated (you need a 1h appointment with a notary), but can be done from 500€ onwards. If you plan to do less than 50.000€ in revenue this year you qualify as a micro business and don‘t need to file or pay VAT. You only need to file an annual account within a year of the financial year ending. Cost of this starts at around 500€. Our legal system and corporate culture is set up in a way that you are very unlikely to be sued for damages. So even medium sized companies (several million in revenue) frequently operate as full liability companies.
- I've never met anyone how wants to start his second company in Germany after having started his first one there.
- Germany is pretty much the most approachable option for plenty of non-EU skilled workers, especially in IT. If you're European and you're not experienced, UK and especially Switzerland are still more restrictive from what I'm noticing. The only remaining option is Netherlands where for non-EU people opportunities seem to be less numerous and citizenship potential much less likely. Germany is definitely one of the better options even though the tax system is beyond dumb imo (if your net income is 57k you pay the same portion for taxes and social contributions as someone who earns 250k, that is laughably stupid in my view, but it doesn't change the fact that Germany has a lot to offer)
Links
- How to Berlin - Your relocation friend.
- Сколько стоит жизнь в Берлине (2019)
- Five Elephant - Specialty coffee roastery, artisanal bakery, and small Berlin café chain, located in the heart of Germany’s capital.
- Berlin.de - Official Website of Berlin city.
- IchBerlin - Complete Guides and Resources for Expats in Berlin and Germany.
- Rent controls have split housing in Berlin into two distinct markets (2021) (HN) (Tweet)
- Germany's Political System Explained
- Easy German - YouTube - Produce videos and a podcast to help you learn German as spoken in the streets and among friends.
- Post-Merkel Germany May Be Shaded Green (2021) (Tweet)
- Awesome German - Links to learn German as foreign language.
- German for Programmers (2019)
- Ask HN: How are salaries for senior devs in Berlin at the moment? (2021)
- How to find a Software Developer job in Germany (2021)
- How to Split a City in Half (Berlin)
- What do Germans fear the most? (2021) (HN)
- Was Germany’s 19th century industrial expansion due to an absence of copyright? (HN)
- How Germany's Economy Is Hurt by Supply Chain Shortages (2021) (Tweet)
- List of German inventions and discoveries
- Germany Tax explained
- German taxes on capital gains
- Investing in Germany's startups is complex (2021)
- Nona - German Search Engine. (HN)
- Investment in Germany advice (2021)
- Incorporating in Germany is hard (2021)
- Berlin’s Transformation Is Wunderbar: a San Francisco Transplant’s View (2021)
- Germany Finance Reddit
- Yes, Other Countries Do Housing Better, Case 2: Germany (2021) (HN)
- Resources on egovernment in Germany
- Berlin Apartments - Information of apartments in Berlin for digital nomads.
- German-NLP - Curated list of open-access/open-source/off-the-shelf resources and tools developed with a particular focus on German.
- What is in your opinion the most beautiful building in Berlin? (2022)
- Why Germany is hooked on Russian gas (2022)
- Flathunter - Telegram bot to help people with their flat search. In Germany.
- Irish and German people offering things
- How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020) (HN)
- Youth Cultures in East Germany 1985 / Stasi (East German Secret Police) (HN)
- Germany, rearmament, and Ukraine - "Why 100 billion Euro may not fix the German military" (2022)
- Simple Germany - English content to empower internationals to beat German bureaucracy.
- HN: Germany's Energy Catastrophe
- How long did it take you to feel like Germany is your home and what made it possible for you?
- Germany's decisions to shut down nuclear made EU vulnerable to shortages of reliable sources of electricity (2022)
- Great food places in Berlin (2022)
- Curated list of German Tech Podcasts
- TEVR ASR Tool - State of the art German speech recognition in 284 lines of C++. (HN)