Quarantine measures due to Corona

Travelers entering Germany who have been a risk area, a high incidence area or a virus variant (virus mutation) area in the past fourteen days must register online before arrival at www.einreiseanmeldung.de and carry the proof of registration with them when entering Germany. If it is not possible to complete the arrival registration online, travelers must instead fill out a paper hard copy substitute arrival registration form (in German). If you arrive by plane in Germany and you are required to quarantine, you are allowed to contiunue to your place of residence and quarantine there.

Further information about digital registration can be found here and general information about entering Germany during the Corona crisis is available on the website of the Federal Ministry of Health.

Entering Germany by plane:

If you want to enter the Federal Republic of Germany by plane from abroad (from any country and not only from foreign risk areas), you are required, starting March 30, 2021, to present a negative corona test in written or electronic form to the carrier before departure. You must carry the test result with you when entering the country and present it upon request at a border control.
The carrier may also provide you with an appropriate test offer. You may not board without a negative corona test. If the test result is positive, you may not board either. 

Currently in Germany, a distinction is made between
1. Risk areas
2. High incidence areas
3. Virus variant (virus mutation) areas

Please check in good time and in any case shortly before your departure for Germany on the website of the Robert Koch Institute, to which group your departure country belongs. In Schleswig-Holstein there are different rules for entry and quarantine for each of the three groups:

Entry from a risk area:

If you are arriving Germany from a risk area you must get a Corona test before or upon arrival and you are subject to a 10 day quarantine. If you have the test done before entering Germany, it must have been done less than 48 hours before your arrival in Germany. However, you can also have the test done after entry. You must, in any case, be able to present a negative Corona test no later than 48 hours after entry if asked to do this by local health authorities. You are allowed to leave the quarantine to take a Corona test.

It is possible to shorten the quarantine period if you have come from a risk area or a high incidence area and you have not been in a virus variant area for 10 days prior to entering Germany. Under these conditions you can shorten the quarantine period by taking a Corona test at the earliest five days after entering Germany, if the result is negative. This means: You must quarantine for at least five days and the quarantine period can be ended at the earliest five days after entry, if you have a negative test result. Until the test result is known the quarantine is mandatory.

Entry from a high incidence area

If you enter Germany from a high incidence area you must have a Corona test done before arrival and you are subject after arrival to a 10 day quarantine. The test must have been carried out less than 48 hours before your arrival in Germany.

It is possible to shorten the quarantine period if you have come from a risk area or a high incidence area and you have not been in a virus variant area for 10 days prior to entering Germany. Under these conditions you can shorten the quarantine period by taking a Corona test at the earliest five days after entering Germany, if the result is negative. This means: You must quarantine period for at least five days and quarantine can be ended at the earliest five days after entry, if you have a negative test result. Until the test result is known the quarantine is mandatory.

Entry from a virus variant (virus mutant) area
(including people who have been in a virus variant area in the 10 days prior to entering Germany):

Currently, only persons with a valid residence permit are allowed to enter Germany from a  virus variant (virus mutation) area . Persons with a valid residence permit must have a negative Corona test result before entry. (This does not apply for children under age six). The swab for the test must have been taken no more than 48 hours before entry. In addition these persons must quarantine for a period of 14 days after entry.

If you enter Germany from a virus variant (virus mutation) area there is no possibility to shorten the quarantine.

General information

If you choose to get tested upon arrival, there are test centers at most airports (for example, at  Hamburg Airport) and in Kiel a mobile station at Bootshafen (on the Kaistraße side) or at the test center in Eggerstedtstrasse 1.

Please note that the 14 day quarantine cannot be carried out in an apartment with a shared bathroom or kitchen, such as most rooms in the dormitories of the Studentenwerk and the Kiel University guesthouses.

It is not easy to find a quarantine-suitable apartment / room in Kiel for the quarantine period. It is also important to ensure that you have enough food during the quarantine period. It would therefore be advisable to contact people you know in Kiel and to ensure that you are supplied with enough food that is allowed to import into Germany. The International Center offers a care package for students in quarantine living within the city limits of Kiel. More informationen about the care packages can be found  here. Researchers (also PhD students) can ask for quarantine help from their host institute.

More information:

The following website has information in German and other languages about the rules regarding entering Schleswig-Holstein from a risk area. To find the Russian/English information, scroll down the section on "Einreise aus ausländischen Risikogebieten". There are information sheets in Russian and English. Information about entering Schleswig-Holstein (in German)

Information about quarantine measures in Schleswig-Holstein (in German)

Latest measurements for the Corona pandemic in Germany overall in multiple languages (scroll down for englisch version)

More latest information on the Corona pandemic by the Federal Government

General Information

Information about the bus system (including schedules and fares) is available from the Kiel Transit Company (KVG). Here you can use a computerized route finder function by filling in the Start (from) and Ziel (to) fields. For example, your Start might be Bahnhof and Ziel might be Universität (or the location of your housing). A few days after you enrol at Kiel University you will receive your »Semesterticket«. It will allow you to use public transportation in Kiel free of charge.

• Information related to the location of faculties on campus and in the city of Kiel can be obtained here.
• A town portrait of the city of Kiel you can find in this flyer.

Transport connections to Kiel University

...by car

Coming from the South:

Drive northwards as far as Hamburg and then follow the motorway A7 in northward direction. At the motorway junction Bordesholm switch to motorway A215 to Kiel. At the end of A215 please follow the road signs to Kiel University.

Coming from the North:

Drive southwards on the A7 and switch to the motorway A210 to Kiel at the junction Rendsburg. At the end of A215 please follow the road signs to Kiel University.

...arrival by airplane

The closest airport to Kiel is Hamburg Airport.

From Hamburg Airport you can take the airport bus »Kielius«, which makes the trip between Hamburg Airport and Kiel up to 19 times daily. Consider that on your return trip, you may be enrolled as a student, in which you pay less than the regular fee. The bus stops at a clearly marked location directly outside the airport terminal. The schedule and prices  can be found here.

There are a couple of airport shuttles running, among these:

Airport Service Kiel

You can also take the S-Bahn (rapid transit) from the Airport to Hamburg Main Station and transfer to a train to Kiel from there. You can buy one ticket for the complete trip.

...arrival by train

Kiel has a major railway station with modern transfer (in German, »Umsteiger«) services. The »Umsteiger« consists of a service center where you can get information from the staff of the Kiel public transit authority, the KVG.
Information about other services such as auto sharing, operated by the firm StattAuto (whose name is a nice play on the identical sound of the German words for ‘city’ and ‘instead’), is also available here.

There is also a bicycle station where Brücke SH operates a monitored bicycle park, repair service and rentals. You can find out more here (in German only).

From the railway station, you can take a bus or taxi to the University, your student dormitory or wherever you’re staying (taxi fare to the University is around € 8 - € 10). Taxis wait outside the north exit (straight ahead), and buses are outside the west exit (to the left).

...arrival by ferry

If you arrive on one of the Baltic Sea ferries (at either Norwegenkai, Schwedenkai or Ostuferhafen), you can take the bus or a taxi to your destination of choice. Taxis are usually waiting there; if you plan to take the bus, determine your route in advance. Information about the bus system (including schedules and fares) is available from the Kiel Transit Company (KVG). Here you can use a computerized route finder function by filling in the Start (from) and Ziel (to) fields.

tax

Information on tax exemption rules for students entering Germany from non-EC countries can be found on Kiel's Lawyer Stephan Felsmann website regarding tax exemption rules.