Life in Saarbrücken

Saarbrücken is a smallish city with approximately 190,000 inhabitants and hence a pleasant size. It is located right in the heart of Europe and it is the cultural center of the border region of Germany, France and Luxembourg. Some of the closest big cities are Trier, Nancy, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Paris can be reached within 2 hours by train.

Students make up only a part of the population of Saarbrücken. The best-known student district is the Nauwieser Viertel - a colourful mix of alternative shops, bars and restaurants. There are also pubs and bars a plenty in and around St. Johanner Markt. And of course there's a big choice of clubs and discos offering everything from house, techno, rock and dancefloor to salsa and tango - something for every taste and budget.

Tips for living in Saarbrücken

Here are some useful tips for the life in Saarbrücken in alphabetical order.

Bus

The student ID card (semester travel ticket) that you will receive with your immatriculation allows students to use all public transport services in the Saarland area. The current timetable for buses and the tram can be searched online at www.saarbahn.de/fahrplan.

Campus

The campus is surrounded by forest and still just 10 minutes from downtown Saarbrücken.

Cinema

Saarbrücken boasts a large number of cinemas. All of them offer reduced-price tickets on one day a week (“Kinotag”).

• Cinestar, St. Johanner Straße 61 (bargain admissions: Tue, Thur)
• Filmhaus, Mainzer Straße 8 (bargain admissions: Tue)
• Kino Acht ½, Nauwieserstraße 19
• Passage-Kino, Bahnhofstraße 82 (bargain admissions: Mon, Tue, Wed)
• Camera zwo, Futterstraße 5 (bargain admissions: Tue)
• Unifilm, Universität Campus, AudiMax, Bldg. B4 1
• UT Kinos, Berliner Promenade 17 (bargain admissions: Mon, Tue, Wed)

Doctors

A list of local doctors can be found in your telephone directory or in the Yellow Pages. If you need assistance, the staff at the International Office would be pleased to recommend a doctor or medical practitioner. Just call round or phone for assistance (see also the next paragraph!)

Emergency

Fachschaft

The student union (“Fachschaft”) also provides useful tips for new Saarbrücken residents and novel students of Computational Linguisitcs.

• New to Saarbrücken? Info on (Coli) student life
• Student Union Homepage

Fitness

• Uni-Fit (Saarland University)
• Sportcenter Venice: Fitness and Karate center
  Sulzbachstr. 44-48, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-31212
• Rapid Sport: Fitness, Spinning, Aerobic, Powerpump, ...
  Deutschherrnpfad 6-12, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-585007
• TC Training Center
  Neumühler Weg 28, 66130 Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681 - 87 35 65
• SpoGeSa
  Dudweiler Landstr. 7, 66123 Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681 - 376668

Internet

Once enrolled, students have access to the internet via the departments computing network and Wireless LAN on the whole campus.

There are a number of internet shops and Cafés in the city of Saarbrücken that may be useful before the matriculation (enrolment) is complete.

Music

Collegium Musikum, Saarland University
Saarbrücken Campus, Bldg. C5 2 Level 0, Room 20
Tel.: 0681-302-2218 or -3662 or -2336

Nightlife

You can find a calendar of events at www.gesichterparty.de

Selection of pubs and bars in Saarbrücken:

• Café Kostbar, Nauwieserstraße 19
• hellmut, Bleichstraße 11-15
• home, Berliner Promenade 17-19
• Kurzes Eck, Nauwieserstraße 15
• Mono, Nauwieserstraße 38
• O'Dwyer's Irish Pub, Fröschengasse 6
• Tante Anna, Türkenstraße 3
• Ubu Roi, Corner of Cecilienstraße/Försterstraße

Popular night clubs include:

• Club Seven, Futterstraße 5-7
• blau, Am Steg 3: House
• Garage, Bleichstraße 15-17: Dancefloor, Alternative
• Havanna-Member-Club, Futterstraße 5-7: Salsa
• KUFA, Dudweilerlandstraße 7: Rock, HipHop
• Modul, Kaiserstr. 4: Elektro, Funk
• N8Werk: St. Johanner Straße 38: Dancefloor

Post

The post offices in Saarbrücken are at:

• Am Hauptbahnhof 16-18
• Dudweiler Straße 17
• Vorstadtstraße 40

Religion

A number of religious communities in Saarbrücken are listed below:

• Protestant Student Community (Evangelische Studentengemeinde - ESG)
  Waldhausweg 7, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-9366110
• Islamic Community of the Saarland (Islamische Gemeinde Saarland e.V.)
  Im Malhofen 4, Saarbrücken-Burbach, Tel.: 0681-7616885
• Catholic Students' Association (Katholische Hochschulgemeinde - KHG)
  Saarland University, Saarbrücken Campus, Bldg. A3 1, Tel.: 0681-3022950
• Jewish Community (Synagogengemeinde Saar)
  Lortzingstrasse 8, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-910380
• Turkish Islamic Cultural (Türkisch Islamischer Kulturverein)
  Hohenzollernstraße 120, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-9273298

Shopping

Saarbrücken offers a number of discount supermarkets such as Plus, Lidl Aldi. There are conveniently located branches in Mainzer Straße and on the way from campus to the city. The food departments at Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof are somewhat more expensive.

Asian food can be bought for instance at Asia Shop, Mainzer Straße 55. Middle Eastern include Central-Markt, which is opposite the der Zukunft in Dudweiler Straße and Santha Weltmarkt at Nauwieserstraße 38a. And anyone would like to test the culinary delights of neighbouring France only needs to take a number 102 or 126 bus to the border where there's a SIMPLY supermarket.

Swimming pools

• Calypso Indoor Water Park, Deutschmühlental 7, Saarbrücken
• Dudweiler Indoor Swimming Pool, St. Avolder Straße, Dudweiler
• Schwarzenberg Outdoor Swimming Pool, Am Schwarzenberg, Scheidt

There is also a swimming pool on campus. You have to register with the “Hochschulsport” to be allowed to use it (see next paragraph!).

Sport

Students can make use of the activities on offer within the Sport program (“Hochschulsport”) at Saarland University.

Local sports clubs in and around Saarbrücken offer a very wide range of sporting activities. The following is just a small selection of what's on offer:

• Badminton: www.asc-dudweiler.de/badminton/ba_vereine.php
• Basketball: www.atsv-basketball.de
• Football: www.saarland-hurricanes.com
• Rowing: www.ruder-club-saar.de
• Chess: www.schachvereinigung-saarbruecken.de
• Inline skating: Inlinezentrum
• Indoor climbing: www.kletterzentrum-saarbruecken.de

Telephone

You can apply for a phone line by contacting Deutsche Telekom (for instance at the T-Punkt store in Bahnhofstraße) and ask about their uni@home offers including internet. An alternative is an Alice DSL connection. With that you have the advantage of able to cancel whenever you want (4 weeks before the end of the month).

The international dialling code for Germany is +49. To call an international number from Germany, you will first need to pre-dial the international access code '00'.

Theatre

• Saarland State Theatre (“Saarländisches Staatstheater”)
  Schillerplatz 1, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-32204
• Alte Feuerwache
  Landwehrplatz, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-3092203
• Theater im Viertel
  Nauwieserstraße 13, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-3904602

Train

The Deutsche Bahn (DB) connects Saarbrücken and Paris in less than 2 hours.

The BahnCard is a national rail discount card. There is the BahnCard 25 with which you will get 25% discount on all fares and the BahnCard 50 for 50% discounts. For second-class travel and validity of one year the BahnCard 25 costs 39€ and for first-class travel it can be purchased for 81€ only for students younger than 26 years. The card will be automatically renewed for a further year unless written notice of termination is sent to DB's BahnCard Service unit at least six weeks before the date on which the current card is due to expire.

Various cultural events

A calendar of cultural events is available at Saarbrücken's homepage under Culture & Leisure. Special regular events hosted in Saarbrücken:

• January: Max-Ophüls-Festival – A festival showcasing young talent in German-language films
• Early summer: Perspectives du théatre – A festival of French theatre
• July: Saarbrücker Altstadtfest – Saarbrücken's traditional city fair
• July: Sommer Szene, International street theatre festival
• August: Nauwieser-Viertel-Fest – A street festival in the Nauwieser Viertel district
• December: Weihnachtsmarkt – Christmas market

Youth Hostel

Europa-Jugendherberge Saarbrücken
Meerwiesertalweg 31, Saarbrücken, Tel.: 0681-33040

You can apply at the hostel to join the German Youth Hostelling Association (DJH). As a member you will have access to affordable accommodation at hostels around the world. The annual membership fee for students up to the age of 26 is €12. Membership runs from October 1 of each year and is renewed automatically unless terminated before September 30.