Before you start

Passport and residence permit or visa
Meldebescheinigung, for most traditional banks
Steuer-ID, or an undertaking to supply it once issued
A German address for card and PIN delivery

Step-by-step

1
Open a digital account before you arrive if you can
Several German and EU digital banks issue a German IBAN without a registered German address, breaking the deadlock of needing an account to pay a deposit and a lease to open an account. Keep it as a bridge rather than as your only account.
Mobile appWho: YouBefore arrival
2
Add an established account once registered
Sparkasse Nürnberg, the Volksbanken and the direct banks open accounts against the Meldebescheinigung and Steuer-ID. Private landlords in Franconia — who still hold a large share of the stock — are more comfortable with a familiar local institution than with a fintech IBAN.
In personWho: You
3
Order the free Schufa data copy in your first month
You are entitled to one full copy of your data per year at no charge. Landlords expect a Schufa-Auskunft with an application. Request it early so the document exists when a viewing comes up, and expect it to be nearly empty rather than negative.
OnlineWho: YouMonth 1
4
Bring an employer letter to stand in for the missing history
In a market with a handful of applicants per viewing rather than dozens, a landlord will read documents rather than filter on a score. An HR letter confirming an unlimited contract and gross salary, in German, does most of the work an empty Schufa file cannot.
Via employerWho: You
5
Know the deposit rules before a figure is quoted
The deposit is capped at three months' cold rent, must be held apart from the landlord's own assets so it survives their insolvency, and you have an unconditional right to pay it in three monthly instalments with the first three rents. Private landlords rarely mention that right and are often unaware of it themselves.
In personWho: You
6
Set up the SEPA mandates in the first fortnight
Rent, health insurance, the Rundfunkbeitrag, electricity and your phone all collect by direct debit. Germany runs on Lastschrift rather than cards, and a failed collection produces a formal Mahnung with a fee rather than a friendly reminder.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport and residence permit
Meldebescheinigung
Steuer-ID once issued
Employment contract or HR letter
Schufa data copy, for rental applications

Things most newcomers don’t know

The deposit is capped at three months' cold rent and payable in three instalments by right.

Section 551 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch caps a residential security deposit, requires it to be held apart from the landlord's own money so it survives insolvency, and gives the tenant an unconditional right to split it across the first three rents. In Nuremberg, where a lot of flats are let by small private landlords rather than corporations, the landlord often does not know about the instalment right either — say it politely and in German.

Source: Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch §551

A thin Schufa file is survivable here in a way it is not in Munich.

Nuremberg viewings draw a handful of applicants rather than dozens, so a landlord actually reads what you hand over instead of filtering on a score. An HR letter confirming an unlimited contract, three payslips where you have them, and a polite German-language covering note do most of the work. The same file that is dismissed in Munich gets a serious look here.

Source: community-reported

Franconia is more cash-oriented than the German average, which is already high.

Bakeries, market stalls, brewery taps out in the countryside, some doctors' practices and many small restaurants remain cash-only, and a Franconian brewery tap in a village is essentially guaranteed to be. Arriving with a card-only wallet means being turned away from exactly the places worth going to. Carrying fifty euros here is unremarkable rather than eccentric.

Source: community-reported

Germany escalates a missed direct debit faster than almost anywhere.

Rent, insurance, utilities and the broadcasting fee all collect by SEPA Lastschrift, and a bounced collection produces a formal Mahnung with a fee, then a second, then a collection agency, over weeks rather than months. There is very little informal grace. Set every mandate up in your first fortnight and keep a buffer, particularly in the month you pay a deposit.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving with no German IBAN and being unable to transfer a deposit when a flat is offered.
Paying the whole deposit at once without knowing about the three-instalment right.
Attending a viewing without a Schufa copy and an employer letter, in a market where documents genuinely get read.
Carrying only cards in a region where the best places take only cash.
Opening several accounts and credit products in the same month on a thin file.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.