Quarantine measures due to Corona

Starting November 8, 2020, travelers entering Germany who have been a risk area in the past ten 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). 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.

Starting January 11, 2021, if you enter Germany from a risk area, you must get a Corona test before or upon arrival and you are subject to a 10-day quarantine. You may be able to have the first test carried out in your home country, if tests in your home coutry are recogized by the German government - see the list of accepted countries here. The test must be carried out not more than 48 hours before your arrival in Germany. Alternatively, you can have a test done upon your arrival in Germany. There are test centers at most airports (for example, at  Hamburg Airport) and a mobile station in Kiel at Bootshafen (on the Kaistraße side). Current risk areas can be found on the website of the Robert Koch Institute: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Risikogebiete_neu.html

Please note that the 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 10 days. It is also important to ensure that you have enough food during the 10-day period in an apartment. In case you need to go into quarantine, it would therefore be advisable to contact people you might already 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 can ask for quarantine help from their host institute.

Shortening the 10-day quarantine

Upon arrival you must have a test done at the airport or in the city of your destination. There are test centers at most airports and in Kiel a mobile station at Bootshafen (on the Kaistraße side). You then must register with the local health authority and go directly into quarantine. In Kiel, you can register by e-mail to infektionsschutz@kiel.de. In the e-mail, please include your full name, date of birth, address and telephone number as well as the country you came from and the date of the last day of your stay there.

To shorten the quarantine, you can have a corona test done, at the earliest five days after arrival. Since December 16, 2020 you must pay for the test yourself. There is a mobile test station in Kiel at Bootshafen (on the Kaistraße side). You must register the test result via e-mail to infektionsschutz@kiel.de. After sending in the (negative) test result, the quarantine can be lifted by the health authority.

If you arrive with a negative test result, then you are not obliged to register with the local health authority but you do have to go directly into quarantine. The test must have been carried out not more than 48 hours before entry. Molecular biological tests (PCR tests) as well as antigen tests (that achieve ≥80% sensitivity and ≥97% specificity, compared with PCR tests) are currently accepted from all states of the European Union and from the countries on this list from the Robert Koch Institute: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Tests.html  Please check regularly whether the tests carried out in your country of departure are recognised in Germany.

At the earliest five days after arrival you can have a second test done. Since December 16, 2020 you must pay for the test yourself. There is a mobile test station in Kiel at Bootshafen (on the Kaistraße side). You must register the test result via e-mail to infektionsschutz@kiel.de. In the e-mail, please include your full name, date of birth, address and telephone number as well as the country you came from and the date of the last day of your stay there. The test result (from your home country or airport) should also be sent. After sending in the (negative) test result, the quarantine can be lifted by the health authority.

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)

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.