We are extremely excited to announce that our blog has now moved to a new website.
The new home of South Africans in Germany can be found at https://www.southafricansingermany.de/
Happy Surfing!
New Website!
Corona virus Information
Here is a list of reliable sites to get factual information. The German hotline is 116117.
Please take note that most rules and regulations comes from the “Bundesregierung” but some rules are decided on “Bundesland” level. I will add some links for these as well.
Many also make use of Threema, Whatsapp or Telegram to help keep people up to date.
The NINA Warn-app is also very handy
Germany
- Robert Koch-InstiÂtut
- Bundesregierung
- Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung
- BMI – Reisebeschränkungen und Grenzkontrollen.
- BMEL –Auswirkungen auf die Lebensmittelversorgung sowie Haustiere und Landwirtschaft
- DGGG – Kreißsaalempfehlungen und Hinweise für Schwangere und Säuglinge
- Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales
- Worldometer – stats per country
- South African Embassy in Berlin
- Patientenservice 116117 – alle infos
- Zusammen gegen Corona
Bundesländer
- Baden-Württemberg
- Bayern
- Berlin
- Brandenburg
- Bremen
- Hamburg
- Hessen
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Niedersachsen
- Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Rheinland-Pfalz
- Saarland
- Sachsen
- Sachsen-Anhalt
- Schleswig-Holstein
- Thüringen
South Africa
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases
- Department of Health
- News site for the Presidency , they also have a Facebook site, search for “The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa”
- The draft framework of the different lock-down levels
- The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) has a great Twitter feed, look for “GCIS Media Liaison”
- Site using Power BI to report on the current situation
- https://mediahack.co.za/datastories/coronavirus/dashboard/
Other Useful sites
- Prevention guidelines from the CDC. Also for disinfecting surfaces
- Keeping the kids entertained News24 Site
- Audible have free books for kids in English and German
- Watching wildlife via live streams
- San Diego zoo live cams
- Virtual Museum Tours
- Yuppiechef offers free online courses
- Online training with Google
Winter in Germany
As South Africans we are used to having great weather most of the year. Our summers are hot and the winters short. There is also not much difference in the sunrise and sunset times between the seasons.
Our houses are built to keep the heat out and we suffer through the two relatively cold months of July and August with extra blankets, heaters, jerseys and OBS.
Winter in Germany is much darker and longer. Depending on where you live, it is mostly overcast, cold, windy, dark and wet.
It is good to know that the south-west of Germany has more sunny days than the rest of the country.
So just how do you survive the winters here?
The first is to get your mindset right. Celebrate each season.
October is full of beautiful fall colours and can still be mild.
November is colder and we are already in Winter time (One hour behind SA).
End of November is when the fun starts.
The Christmas markets are open and there is a festive atmosphere everywhere you go.
December is full of everything Christmas. Embrace it!
Go to the markets, eat too much Lebkuchen, drink too much Glühwein.
Get together with friends and learn about the German Christmas traditions.
Most towns will not have a white Christmas, although it may snow in the mountain regions.
January is much colder and, if you are lucky, it may snow where you live.
The mountains will be full of snow. Get your winter woolies, winddichte Jacke, gloves and Mütze on and enjoy the outdoors. If it gets too cold, enjoy a nice sauna or go to an indoor swimming pool.
February. For me this is the most difficult month, I just want winter to be over. It is getting lighter but not warmer yet. Just hang in there… almost spring. Along the Mediterranean it is already warmer, if you need to take a short break.
March is when spring starts, you will see flowers everywhere and think, yay, it is going to be warm soon… don’t be deceived .. March is still cold and the trees only start getting leaves in April.
The nice thing about winter in Germany is central heating. Your core temp stays high. Shops, the S-bahn and busses will also be heated. This of course means you have to take off your jacket when you are inside.
The Germans will tell you there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. In some sense it is true. Get the right clothes to keep you warm and then go outside! The trick is to layer your clothes and wear shoes that can handle the cold, rain and snow.
Please leave comments on how you get through winter
Moving to Germany – Impressions
One of the first questions many of our FB members ask, is what is different in Germany, what do you like or dislike. Is it easy to adapt, was it a good decision to move there.
I feel the answers to these questions differ from person to person, it all depends on your attitude and your references or experiences
Below is a list of things I picked up that people struggle with and hopefully we can add solutions and grow this list with your help, so please add comments. Please take note that these are based on experiences and is very much my own opinion.
| Issue | Information | Solution |
| Children adapting to new schools | The school system is very different from that in South Africa. | Most parents will tell you that children adapt very fast, and that the schools are very accommodating. This is a very difficult and personal decision. Talk to other parents in similar situations, that’s what our FB page is for. Look on our blog for more information on schools https://southafricansingermany.home.blog/finding-schools/ |
| Children adapting to German language | Children learn a new language faster that one would expect. | Immersion is key |
| Language barriers in work and daily life | Even if you work in an English environment you will need to speak some German | There are many online options available if you do not have time to attend language classes. Again the key is immersion. |
| Safety | Any country has hot spots where it is not so safe. Nobody can guarantee your safety. | I always answer this question with ” I regularly walk from the train station to home even late at night, without feeling unsafe. We sleep with open windows and sometimes open doors. Our car is parked outside. We dont have an alarm system, and no burglar bars in front of our windows” Again this is my opinion and experience |
| Buying or renting a home | Both have their pro’s and con’s | The cost of ownership of a house can be expensive. The interest rates are pretty low but there are many hidden costs. You could even pay for a new road in front of your house. Renting ..watch out for a complete blog post on renting – coming soon |
| Different types of housing | Flat – Wohnung / Apartment Wohngemeinschaften (WG) – Communal flat or house House – Haus Furnished house (like airbnb) | |
| The weather | In Germany there are actually four seasons 🙂 | I come from the Highveld, we have no real Autumn and spring is max two weeks. Summers are long. Here you learn to celebrate each season. The climate in the North is also different from the South West. Freiburg is the city with the most sunshine in a year. Summer can be hot, winter is cold, wet and dark. It is beautiful when it snows, although it does not snow the whole winter and mostly only in the mountains. The motto here is, there is no bad weather only bad clothes. It rains a lot so you learn to adapt to it. You don’t cancel all your plans just because its raining. Sunshine might be a problem in winter, get out as much as possible, have holidays down South, use special lamps and get your dose of Vit D. |
| House cleaning and gardening | Many have a cleaning service in SA | It is very expensive in Germany to hire help in and around the house. If everyone does their bit housework is not a big issue. Get tech to help you where you can and teach the kids to clean up after themselves. |
| Can I drive with my SA license | Yes | You first need an International Drivers license that you get at the AA. You need to convert it within 6 months |
| Where will I find SA products | There are many online shops available. You can also search in this blog |
Cooking/Baking Substitutes
We get a lot of questions about substitutes for products people are familiar with in SA and cannot find in Germany.
Here is a list of suggestion, as well as some translations. Please feel free to comment if you want to add anything. Lets see if we can grow this list. A lot of items can be found online.
| Product | Substitute |
| Wheat | |
| Self Raising Flour | You do not find this in Germany. You will need to make your own as follows: To make one cup (250ml) Self raising flour Mix together: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt |
| Cake Flour | Type 405 for baking and sauces, pastries and pie crusts and other lighter baked goods Type 550 is finer all purpose flour. Most often used to bake white bread, cookies, muffins, biscuits |
| Rye Flour | Type 1150, Roggenmehl. This is a medium to dark flour. For very dark use Type 1800 |
| Bread Flour | Type 812 for baking bread. a bit chewier texture than all purpose flour |
| White Whole Wheat | Type 1600, contains whole wheat kernels including the germ and bran. |
| Volkoring meel / Whole Wheat | Type 1700 Weizenvollkornmehl, good for baking dense and nutty whole wheat bread |
| High Gluten Flour | Type 1050 best for elastic dough such as bagels and pizza crusts |
| Speltflour / Dinkel Wheat / Hulled Wheat | Type 630 Dinkelmehl , it can be used instead of Type 405, it has more gluten |
| Nutty Wheat | According to the Snowflake website, Nutty Wheat is flour that has 18% coarse wheat bran added to it (wholemeal only has about 12%), so I guess in theory you could make your own. Mix 4/5 plain flour with 1/5 wheat bran (available form health shops). |
| Bran / Semels | die Kleie |
| Wheat Bran | die Weizenkleie |
| Baking Products | |
| Baking Powder | das Backpulver sold in packages The baking powder you find in SA is Double acting e.g. Royal Baking powder ( Starch, Acidifying Agents (E450(a) – diSodium Pyrophosphate & E341 – calcium phosphate ), Sodium Bicarbonate (E500) ). This means it has two acidic components. A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet mixture with baking soda at room temperature, and a slow-acting acid does not react until heated. When the chemical reactions in baking powders involve both fast- and slow-acting acids, they are known as “double-acting”; those that contain only one acid are “single-acting. Single-acting baking powder reacts with a water-based ingredient to form bubbles as soon as the ingredients are mixed. If you wait too long to bake your food or over-mix your ingredients the bubbles will escape and your food will fall flat. Common low-temperature acid salts include cream of tartar and monocalcium phosphate (also called calcium acid phosphate). High-temperature acid salts include sodium aluminium sulfate, sodium aluminium phosphate, and sodium acid pyrophosphate.[13] The ingredients for Dr Oetker is Zutaten: Backtriebmittel (Diphosphate (E 450), Natriumcarbonate (E 500)), Stärke. The E341 Calcium Phosphate is missing To my knowledge this just means you need to mix your batter and get it in the oven. If you use a recipe that needs to stand a while like pancakes, you might want to use a double acting backing powder. I found this info on the internet To Substitute 1 Tsp of Double Acting Baking Soda use: 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch OR 1 1/2 teaspoons single-action baking powder OR 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk, sour milk or yogurt to replace 1/2 cup (120 ml) non-acidic liquid |
| Cornstarch (Maizina) | die Speisestärke |
| Koeksoda | das Natron |
| Cream of Tartar / Kremetart | der Weinstein (pulver) |
| Sugars | |
| Castor Sugar / Strooi suiker | der Streuzucker |
| Icing Sugar / versiersuiker | der Puderzucker |
| Dairy Products | |
| Condensed Milk / Caramelised Condensed Milk | Look at the international section in major shops. Some now put it at the usual dairy products |
| Ideal Milk / Ingedampte Melk | Look in Asian Shops or buy online. We did a poll on our FB page about substitute products. Here are the results |
| Instant Custard | Milram Dessert-Soße Vanille  |
| Cottage Cheese | der Hüttenkäse the smooth one is not as readily available as the clumpy one. Quark is a good substitute |
| Buttermilk | For each cup of buttermilk, you can use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to measure 1 cup. Stir, then let stand for 5 minutes. You can also use 1 cup of plain yogurt or 1-3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar plus 1 cup milk. You can also use Buttermilch |
| Other | |
| Foil | die Aluminiumfolie, auch Alufolie oder Silberpapier |
| Clingfilm | die Frischhaltefolie |
| Milo | Most African and Asian Shops. You can also buy it at online shops Some suggest this one from Ovomaltine  |
| Maize Meal | You might find it in African shops, although mostly the yellow variety. Best it to buy online Polenta / Maisgrieß is not the same! |
| Peanut Butter | die Erdnussbutter or die Erdnusscreme. |
| Marmite or Bovril | No substitute. You can buy online or find it in British shops |
| All Bran Flakes |  Can be bought at Lidl |
| Custard Powder | You can buy Dessert Soße from Dr Oetker but it is not exactly the same. It is a good substitute though. Some of the major shops have Bird’s Instant Custard that is more like the custard we know. Saffa shop sells the one from Moirs |
| Colemans Mustard Powder | Available at Edeka |
| Sweets | |
| Peppermint Crisp | Marabou Mint Krokant. Found in most big shops |
| Tennis or Marie Biscuits | Leibniz Butterkekse . A member also noted you can add 2 tablespoons coconut flakes when making a recipe that calls for crushed Tennis biscuits |
| Jelly Powder | die Götterspeise. My own and other peoples experience is that the German jelly powder is stronger than those in SA. The German product does not contain any sugar like the SA one. It also tastes a lot more like gelatine Your dessert will be much stiffer. You will also not find all the flavours we have in SA. You can find pinapple and lemon flavours at online shops like Saffa Shop – A good alternative has come to our attention. RUF makes jelly powder with sugar in the mix. Make sure that you look out for “Zucker enthalten”. They have a lemon flavour. We have not tested it in South African recipes yet, but will soon.  |
| Frozen dough | |
| Puff Pastry | der Blätterteig. Used to make pies, Beef Wellington, pastries, croissants, cheese straws, sausage rolls, strudel |
| Filo Pastry | It is not the same as Puff pastry/ Blätterteig, although it could be used as a substitute in some recipies. To my knowledge it is Plunderteig and I have so far not seen it in shops. It might be closer to Strudel dough |
| Shortcrust | der Mürbeteig. Used as a pie, quiche or tart base |
More information about Flour types
| Ash | Protein | US | UK | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~0.4% | ~9% | pastry flour | soft flour | 405 |
| ~0.55% | ~11% | all-purpose flour | plain flour | 550 |
| ~0.8% | ~14% | high gluten flour | strong or hard | 812 |
| ~1.1% | ~15% | first clear flour | very strong or hard | 1050 |
| >1.5% | ~13% | white whole wheat | wholemeal | 1600 |
Welcome to South Africans in Germany information blog
Hello and Welcome
South Africans in Germany 