Preparing for Travel

Before commencing your research stay at the Institute, there are a number of practical issues that you will need to address. These include satisfying the formalities for your entry into Germany, finding accommodation and taking out health insurance. Below you can find the most important information, links and platforms on these topics.

Entry formalities

Traveling to Germany involves your first complying with certain formal requirements. Euraxess Germany, an information and advice point for internationally mobile researchers, provides important information for the advance planning of a research stay in Germany.

Visa

If you have to apply for a visa to enter Germany, you will need a Hosting Agreement (Aufnahmevereinbarung) from the Institute.

If you plan to finance your stay out of your own means, please contact the library. Your contact person is Mrs. Halsen-Raffel. Please follow the library’s information on access and registration before you make your request.

If you were granted an MPI scholarship, you will receive the Hosting Agreement on request from Ms. Schröder (welcome@mpipriv.de).

You can find further important information on visa and entry formalities on the homepage of Euraxess, the Federal Foreign Office and the Hamburg Welcome Portal.

Formalities for stays of more than 3 months

If you plan to stay in Hamburg for more than 3 months, you will have to register as a resident within two weeks after your arrival. Please find further information about the registration procedure and the online appointment tool here.

Accomodation

Please take care to search for an accommodation in a timely manner. Accommodation for only a few months is hard to find and often rather expensive in Hamburg. We advise our guests to consider accommodations outside the direct neighborhood of the Institute, if need be. Hamburg has a very good network of bus and train lines, so that you will be able to reach the Institute relatively comfortably from other parts of the city too.

Please find more advice on apartment-hunting in Hamburg here.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is compulsory for a stay in Germany. The insurance must cover the entire period of your stay.

First check whether your existing health insurance is also valid for your stay in Germany. If you are an EU citizen, your health insurance will usually also cover treatment costs in Germany. In any case, please check with your insurance provider.

If you are a citizen of a non-EU country or if your existing insurance does not cover you in Germany, you must take out additional health insurance. For visa applications, different health insurance requirements apply depending on the visa type. Please take note of the information you will receive from the visa office of the German diplomatic mission responsible for you.

Further information on the different types of health insurance can be found at EURAXESS Germany, the information and advice center for internationally mobile researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. We generally advise against taking out low-cost travel health insurance because it often does not cover important risks.

If you receive a scholarship from the Max Planck Institute, special requirements of the Max Planck Society may apply to your health insurance. Please refer to the information you received with your scholarship confirmation or letter. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Schröder (welcome@mpipriv.de).

National Holidays/Sundays

Most shops, medical practices and offices are closed on national holidays and Sundays. The Institute (including the library) is also closed on these days, as well as throughout Christmas and New Year’s Day.

National holidays in Germany 2023/2024:

Christmas: Mon 25.12 + Tue 26.12.2023
New Year’s Day: Mon 01.01.2024
Good Friday: Fri 29.03.2024
Easter Monday: Mon 01.04.2024
Labor Day: Wed 01.05.2024
Ascension Day: Thu 18.05.2024
Pentecost: Mo 20.05.2024
Day of German Unity: Thu 03.10.2024
Day of Reformation: Thu 31.10.2024
Christmas: Wed 25.12 + Thu 26.12.2024