Moving to Ohringen, Germany

DebsA

Member

Member since 12 November 2016

Baden-Württemberg

DebsA

14 November 2016 15:01:10

DebsA

14 November 2016 15:01:10

Baden-Württemberg

My husband, of German nationality, myself a South African and our son of 4 months will be making Germany our new home within the next year.

We looking at moving to a smaller town like Ohringen away from the bigger cities like Stuggart.

I would like to hear from and chat to other members who live in the area and how you found adjusting to the area.

If there are any moms on the group, I would love to hear about play groups and schools.

We would like to make sure we making the right town choice and don't mind commuting for work.

We look forward to hearing from other members.

beppi

Germany - Singapore Expert

Member since 08 August 2010

World Citizen

Germany & Singapore Expert

beppi

15 November 2016 10:48:15

14846

beppi

15 November 2016 10:48:15

14846

World Citizen

I assume you mean Öhringen, a village an hour North of Stuttgart, near Heilbronn?
(I found no Ohringen on Google Maps.)

In general, villages and small towns offer much less than cities in terms of public amenities (incl. play groups and schools - you may have to drive to Heilbronn for those), cosmopolitanism (don't expect your neighbours to speak English or be interested in a foreigner!) and cultural life. They do offer better access to quiet surroundings, nature and sometimes have closer-knit neighbourhood communities (IF you can fit in).
You need to also consider that you will probably not be working in the beginning, due to kid, language issues and being new in the country. There isn't much to do in a village and the people are less open (or at least it's more difficult to find the open ones), so you'll be sitting at home alone a lot. This is much easier to manage in a city, where you can go shopping and there's always a cafe nearby.
Me and my (foreign) wife had the choice of relocating to a town (Böblingen) or Stuttgart as a big city. We chose Stuttgart and I am convinced it was the right choice for us, even though the commute takes almost an hour.

TominStuttgart

Germany Expert

Member since 19 March 2012

Stuttgart

TominStuttgart

15 November 2016 11:15:01

2623

TominStuttgart

15 November 2016 11:15:01

2623

Stuttgart

Öhringen is about 30 Km east of Heilbronn, the closest city of any size. I don't know the town well although I have been there long ago. It would be a big coincidence if someone here is living there. There is some pretty scenery but like Beppi mentioned it is probably a quiet place with not so much culture. I understand that people might choose a smaller town to live in than Stuttgart but one needs to look at the commuting time and cost if one works in the city.

The question becomes where do you expect to be working and spending your free time?

If one works in Stuttgart then there are many closer nice places. Öhringen takes a good hour to drive and one has to expect rush hour traffic on a daily basis. Trains take around 75 minutes as one has to change in Heilbronn. Thus it is really much too far from Stuttgart to be practical to commute.

But having work in Heilbronn it might come in question. That connection is 21 minutes with regional trains and 42 minutes on the S-Bahn system. The S-Bahn takes longer because it has many stops but it does run more often, every 10 to 20 minutes during peak times. If one commutes to Stuttgart, then one would ideally be connected by the Stuttgart S-Bahn or U-Bahn systems. The Heibronn – Öhringen S-Bahn is an extention of the Karlsruhe system.

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