Accommodation

More than one roof over your head.

When you begin your studies, you begin a whole new chapter in your life. Most students move into their first room, apartment or in a shared flat ("Wohngemeinschaft" or "WG").

Finding a place to stay in Konstanz is often time-consuming. For this reason, you should definitely start early and plan in enough time for the search.

Be careful:

Please DO NOT make any advance payments without inspecting the room, apartment or shared flat (WG) without first reaching a binding and written agreement with the landlord/landlady!

Registering your new address

All students who have moved to Konstanz are legally obliged to register with the authorities within two weeks (§ 17 para. 1 Bundesmeldegesetz or "Federal Registration Act"). You also have to register if you keep your previous place of residence as your primary residence (e.g. your parent's home). You can register with the City of Konstanz Bürgerbüro (citizens services) or at the branch offices in Dettingen-Wallhausen, Dingelsdorf and Litzelstetten.

Residence halls operated by Seezeit Bodensee Student Services in Konstanz

Seezeit Student Services can rent you one room of the circa 2,400 rooms in one of 13 residence halls in Konstanz. Please use the "Zimmer- und Mieterportal" (room and rental portal) to request to rent a room or apartment. Since there are usually more rental requests than available space, rooms are assigned to applicants randomly.

The rooms are usually in single or double occupancy apartments as well as in shared flats (WGs = Wohngemeinschaft). A few of the residence halls are located near the city center on the Rhein, while others are a short distance from the university. As a result, students living in the residence halls can quickly reach the university campus on foot, with a bicycle or by bus. The rental costs for single or double occupancy apartments as well as rooms in shared flats run between 280 and 550 euros per person, depending on their size and location. The rooms in the residence halls are furnished.

Other residence halls

Chérisy Konstanz

  • converted, former French military barracks.
  • no central room allocation service; the flatmates themselves choose their new room mates.
  • residents are expected to actively participate in managing the shared living space.

Student residence halls in the area of the former "Jägerkaserne"

  • converted, former French military barracks.
  • 154 rooms in shared flats and 20 apartments (Steinstraße 17, 17a and 21).
  • 40 rooms in shared flats (Werner-Sombart-Straße 21-31).
  • 16 rooms in shared flats ("Altstadt" and "Petershausen").

Albert-Magnus-Haus

  • residence hall operated by the Catholic Church of Konstanz.
  • 348 furnished single apartments.

Thomas-Blarer-Haus (TBH) and Ambrosius-Blarer-Haus (ABH)

  • residence halls operated by the Protestant Church of Konstanz.
  • 174 single apartments (TBH Rheingutstraße 32).
  • 46 apartments with washroom, bicycleroom, parking spaces at the basement (ABH Sonnenbühlstraße 36b).

Humboldt Institute – Association for German as a Foreign Language e.V.

  • private language school with residence hall near campus.
  • residence hall rooms are available to non-language school students when space is available.
  • single and double rooms with bath can be rented per week or month.
  • with cafeteria, but without kitchens.

C3 Konstanz

  • Student residence at Cherisy-Straße 3, 78467 Konstanz, Germany.
  • 172 places in single rooms and shared flats for 2/3/4 students.
  • Modern and fully furnished; shower/WC and kitchen in each flat.
  • All-inclusive rent (incl. caretaker service).
  • Fast fibre-optic internet, large common room, study room, table tennis room.
  • Car parking spaces in the basement or outside.
  • Laundry room, many bicycle parking spaces and very good public transport connections by bus and train.

Private Housing Market

Notice boards

On the notice boards in the entrance area of the university, you will mainly find offers for rooms in shared flats. You can also post your own want ads.

Seezeit Bodensee Student Services

Use the Seezeit Student Services "Zimmerbörse" (housing portal, in German) to find rooms and apartments on the private housing market.

Südkurier news paper

  • The local newspaper has its own online housing marketplace.
  • This section of the paper is available in the Wednesday and Saturday print editions.
  • You can also have your own want ads published.

Online housing exchanges

  • Online housing exchanges in Konstanz for publishing and searching want ads free of charge vierwaen.de (in German).
  • Free online housing marketplace HousingAnywhere.com for flat shares and apartments.
  • Online housing exchange for WG-Zimmer- und Wohnungen WG-Gesucht.de (in German).
  • Facebook-Housing in Konstanz.
  • Accommodation in Konstanz: Here you can also find vacation apartments that can be rented at normal prices during the winter months.
  • Living in the Konstanz surroundings:
    Convenient connection to Konstanz and the university with the Studi-Ticket from the Stadtwerke Konstanz (municipal services), which includes free transportation on buses and the ferry. The Upgrade VHB-Studi-Ticket (regional transportation network service provider) provides free transportation on the trains to Allensbach, Radolfzell, Singen, Engen, Stockach as well as Tuttlingen und Sigmaringen.
    Especially Meersburg has many vacation apartments that provide students a place to live during the winter semester.

Temporary housing

Temporary housing is available for rent if you are unable to find a room or while you are still searching for permanent space. Here you can find opportunities:

More housing: tourist information Konstanz

Wohnen für Hilfe (accommodations for help)

Gardening, child care, cleaning, spending time together – "Wohnen für Hilfe" means you support your landlord and can save a portion of the rental costs as a result. One hour of assistance is approximately equal to a rental discount for one square meter. For those who are looking for affordable living space, like to be socially active, enjoy family life and are not afraid to help out, have found the right place here.

For students at the higher education institutions in Konstanz as well as senior citizens, families and people with disabilities. Visit Seezeit – "Wohnen für Hilfe" to find out more.

Living in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the available housing market is fairly large. You should be aware, though, that the cost of living and rental costs are generally higher than in Germany. Furthermore, there are exchange rate fluctuations between euro and Swiss francs possible.

If you wish to live in Switzerland, you will need to obtain a "Ausländerbewilligung" (residence permit). The local administration of the Swiss Canton of Thurgau ( "Gemeindeverwaltung") issues these permits. It is usually required that you be an EU citizen, not older than 30 and unmarried ("lediger Zivilstand"). Additionally, enrolled students are not allowed to work more than 12 hours per week.

If you are not enrolled you have to have a net income of at least 3,000 Swiss francs per month in order to receive the residence permit. E.g. doctoral students with a university work contract of at least 50% of the normal working hours.