Erasmus-Programm

Housing information for ERASMUS / Socrates-students

Studentenwerk Bonn

The Studentenwerk Bonn is a public institution formally independent of Bonn University. It provides a variety of social services for university students in Bonn. Amongst other things, the Studentenwerk runs four dining halls where inexpensive meals are offered at lunch and dinner time, seven student cafeterias, and it provides housing for approximately 4,000 students in its 36 dormitories.

The dorms

The dorms are not uniform - from renovated 19th century-houses with community bathrooms and kitchens on each floor to large blocks of single apartments, there is a variety of buildings of different age, size, style, etc. In all dorms, students live in single rooms that are equipped with basic utilities, furniture, and blankets and pillows. Students have to bring their own sheets and covers, towels, cooking utensils, etc. Bathrooms and/or kitchens may be communally used by a number of students, depending on the dorm. All dorms are co-ed, that is open to women and men. Several rooms are especially outfitted for students with disabilities.

location

Bonn University is no "campus university" - its institutions as well as the Studentenwerk dorms are located throughout the city. However, Bonn is a city of moderate size and it maintains an excellent public transport system (transportation fee is included in the fee for the student identity card) so that all university institutions can be reached within 5 to 20 minutes (either on foot or by public transport) from each dorm, no matter if one is living in the center of the city or in one of the suburbs.

rent

Rooms are only rented for full months and for a minimum of three months. Monthly rates vary from 163,00 Euro to 320,00 Euro, depending on quality, size of the room, age and location of the dorm, etc. The rent covers usage of water, heating, and electric power. Depending on the dorm, access to cable TV and/or to the Internet (via LAN) may be included as well.

institutions

In each dorm, there are several institutions catering to the needs of the students:
The office of the Hausverwaltung (dorm administration) is the first place to stop by for all new residents. Here, students are checked in and handed their keys during the office hours. The Hausverwaltung is also place to turn to if anything needs repair, or if there are any problems or questions regarding the housing.
The Tutors for Foreign Students are residents of your dorm who have volunteered to take care of students from abroad. They welcome you upon your arrival, show you your room, the building and its surroundings, and explain the organization and the basic rules of life in the dorms. In the course of the semester, they will organize social events. Their most important function is helping you find answers or solutions to any question or problem you might have with regard to living and studying in Bonn.
The Studentische Selbstverwaltung (student administration) is elected each semester by all residents of a dorm. Its members help solve problems or conflicts in residential life, and they organize a variety of social events (parties, sports events, trips to exhibitions, concerts, theaters,...). In many dorms the Studentische Selbstverwaltung runs additional facilities such as a bar, a cafeteria, a shop where bikes can be repaired and rented, etc.

responsibility

The Studentenwerk’s main duty is to provide affordable accommodations for a large number of students, not to offer all-inclusive service. To a large degree, the functioning of social life in the dorms depends on the effort of the students who live there. All voluntary contributions to social life are encouraged and valued, but residents are also required to take over certain responsibilities. By signing the leasing contract, all students agree to keep a set of basic rules that oblige them to...

• keep their private rooms and facilities clean and orderly,
  
• organize the use, cleaning and maintenance of communal facilities together with their fellow residents,
  
• treat common property with care and respect that of others,
  
• and, most importantly, treat each other with respect.

To sum it up...

...living in a dorm during your stay in Bonn offers you a firsthand experience of typical student life in Germany. It will give you the opportunity of meeting and getting to know students outside of the classroom since you will be living together with German students as well as with people of many other nationalities and cultural backgrounds - and all that at an affordable price.

Here you find the housing application to download.