Living in Bremen

Are you searching for accommodation in Bremen? This page provides on overview of your opportunities.

Please notice that in order to find accommodation, you usually need to be physically present in Bremen. German landlords or people living in shared apartments hardly ever accept someone as their new tenant or flatmate unless they have met them in person. Depending on the type of housing you are looking for, you should start looking for a residence about 1 to 3 months ahead even though the Bremen housing market isn't one of the tightest.

It is also recommended to have a German (native) speaker with you when looking at apartments or signing a contract. Depending on your expectations, this process can be quite challenging and may take some time but flat-hunting is a good way of getting to know Bremen. However, you could cover this period of time by using temporary accommodation.

The first decision you should make is which type of accommodation you are searching for. Your stipend should enable you to afford an apartment of your own, other options are to share a flat or to live either in a private student hall on Uni Bremen campus or in one of the Colleges at Jacobs University (University accommodation). Please find more detailed information on each of these options on the linked subpages.

The city of Bremen has more than 500.000 inhabitants living in an area of approximately 325 km². Bremen consists of a number of city quarters that vary in character, vivacity, infrastructure, demographic structure, and price of accommodation. To help you find out which quarter you would like to live in, we provide a short overview of the most popular quarters.
Soon after you get accepted to BIGSSS, we will notify you on whether your office will be situated at the University of Bremen (UB) or at Jacobs University. We recommend waiting for this information if you prefer to keep daily journey times low.

Excellent and English-speaking information on housing in Bremen can be found on the Jacobs University - Graduate Students Association website. We strongly recommend having a look at their website even if you are not going to be located at Jacobs University. They have a lot of experience in helping international students and provide excellent overview information. We particularly recommend their overview on German housing terms and abbreviations.