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Living in Dresden

Matthias Hultsch

In the following, we aim to give you an insight in common daily life matters, when living in Dresden as well as information about emergency and security matters.

Shopping for Groceries:

Every neighbourhood and quarter has its bakery, butcher and various supermarkets (Aldi, Frida, Kaufland, Konsum, Netto, Rewe, etc).
Many neighbourhoods also hold weekly markets on a main square in the area. The largest one with lots of regional and fresh produce is held each Friday at Lingnerallee next to Großer Garten (between Deutsches Hygienemuseum and the Transparent VW Factory). To find the closest farmers’ market, click here for a market calendar of regular markets.

Shopping for everything else:

From the main station across Prager Straße to Altmarkt and Neumarkt you will find countless large clothes chain stores and three shopping malls – the Altmarkt Galerie and Centrum Galerie and the QF Passage.
The Äußere Neustadt district in contrast is famous for its large number of small, independent and quirky shops. Happy (window) shopping!

 

Trams and buses within the city are operated by the Dresden Transport Services (DVB), which is part of the wider network Oberelbe Transport (VVO) of regional transport providers. Schedules and information about the ticket prices are provided on their website and at each tram or bus stop.

You can find free smartphone apps for public transport in Dresden by searching your app store for VVO or DVB.

For journeys involving trains the “DB Navigator” app by Deutsche Bahn is useful to have.

Find a map of the DVB network here.

  • Tickets

Tickets can be bought on board the trams (yellow vending machines) and buses (from the driver), at most central bus and tram stops (yellow vending machines) and at the service points (e.g. Postplatz, Pirnaischer Platz, Prager Straße, Albertplatz). Riding without a valid ticket will result in a fine.

You may also buy tickets via your mobile phone through DVB or Deutsche Bahn (DB): Handyticket. A subscription to one of the regional partners (DVB or DB) is sufficient. Careful, these tickets are for immediate use – not for buying them well in advance of your trip.

Various suburban trains (S-Bahn) and regional trains (Regionalbahn, Regional-Express) connect Dresden and the surrounding area and can also be used with regular VVO tickets and semester tickets. Travel centers in the Dresden Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and in Dresden-Neustadt will provide you with further information.

 

  • JobTicket for TU Dresden employees

Employees of TU Dresden are eligible for reduced fares in coorporation with the TU Dresden and DVB. Please find more information on the TU Dresden website (Login necessary).

In cases of emergency or urgent/life-threatening illnesses call:

  • Police: 110
  • Ambulance, fire fighters, rescue services: 112
  • Poison control center: 0361 730 730

Follow this link for other useful emergency numbers (German only).

 

How to make an emergency call:
Try to stay calm and provide the emergency authority with following information:

  • Where did it happen (city, street, house number, distinctive things, description of the location if required )
  • What happened
  • How many casualties are there and specifics about the injuries
  • Your name
  • Wait for queries and instructions. Do not hang up before you are told to.

There will always be an English-speaking or at least English-understanding operator on duty at the emergency call center! The average time of police intervention is about 9,30 minutes.


Find here information about the message emergency call for deaf people, people with impaired hearing or for those who are speech impaired.

A German bank account is needed for many recurring transactions of everyday life, from receiving your salary or scholarship payout to paying your health insurance, rent, utilities or your semester fee as an enrolled student. We therefore recommend to open a bank account as the first thing after a successful registration in the city.

Note that cash and debit cards are the prevailing means of payment in shops in Germany. Credit cards and cheques are uncommon and rarely accepted. Cash machines/ATMs are marked with the eurocash (“ec”) sign.

For the essential information on this topic for incoming researchers, such as required documents, please read the corresponding section of our Welcome Guide carefully first.

Dresden is considered a safe city. Anyway, security in public spaces and police work is different in every country. Therefore we collected a few useful hints for you to keep in mind when dealing with an case of emergency. Download here an information leaflet of the police about your rights in criminal proceedings.

 

Security measures in public transport

Each tram has a speech item button to contact the driver. Usually the drivers rarely understand English but Help! is understood for sure. If you use the emergency brake, the tram stops immediately and the doors will open. Please only use it in cases of real emergencies! The stop may hurt other passengers and you can be hold liable for it. In any case, the driver has to clarify the situation when the emergency brake has been used.
Video sequences are recorded on a hard drive in the tram or bus. They are deleted automatically after 24h.

DDC_Logo_Welcomecenter_RGB_farbig_NEU
Where to find us
Address
Einsteinstraße 9
01069 Dresden
Opening hours
Monday to Friday
10 a.m. till 3 p.m. (please make an appointment in advance)