UniChapter
Houses of Cham along the bank of the river Regen, reflected in the calm water, with the stone Straubinger Turm rising behind the trees

Studying in Bavaria, Germany

Cham

A small Bavarian town on the Regen river, close to the Czech border, with a technology campus where almost everyone studies robotics, AI or mechatronics.

3

3 English-taught programmes open for applications in Cham

Next deadline: 01 Dec 2026. Every entry links to its official source.

See the programmes ↓

Cham is a district town in the Upper Palatinate with about 17,600 inhabitants, and it is small enough to cross on foot. The campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology sits on the bank of the Regen, around a ten-minute walk from the town centre, and has about 1,000 students from more than 40 countries in small groups. The Master's programmes here are taught in English and focus on robotics, artificial intelligence and mechatronics, and the campus works with regional manufacturers, so what you study and what the local employers build are the same subject. The price of that is size: there is no Studierendenwerk dorm in Cham, so you find a room on your own, and a big-city nightlife is not on offer. What you get is a quiet town with a river, a leisure pool you can use free with your student card, hills and forest to hike in, and the Czech border about 20 km away.

Population
17,617 (31 Dec 2025)
Area and status
80.69 km2, seat of the Landkreis Cham in the Upper Palatinate (Bavaria)
Distances
about 60 km from Regensburg, about 20 km from the Czech border, about 90 km from Pilsen
Students on the campus
about 1,000 from more than 40 countries
Student services fee (EU/EEA students)
82 EUR per semester, no tuition fee for EU/EEA students
Deutschlandticket for DIT students
43 EUR a month
Campus address
Badstraße 21 and Dr.-Muggenthaler-Straße 11, 93413 Cham
Mensa on campus
Mon to Thu 11:00 to 13:30 in teaching and exam periods, in the foyer of the Technology Campus building
Christkindlmarkt 2026
27 November to 20 December on the Marktplatz, free entry

Part 1

Living in Cham

A border town on a river bend

Cham was already called a town in the year 976, when records name the Reichsburg Camma and a "Civitas Camma". For centuries it sat on the road towards Bohemia, and it paid for that position: Hussite forces besieged it in 1429, and Panduren troops plundered and burned it in 1742. The railway arrived in 1861 and made Cham an important place for shipping timber out of the Bavarian Forest. In April 1945 an air raid on the railway yard killed 63 people.

The town sits on a bend of the river Regen, which curves around the old town, and that is where the nickname "Stadt am Regenbogen", the city on the rainbow, comes from. Two towers of the old fortifications still stand: the Biertor and the Straubinger Turm, both from the 14th century. The Rathaus on the Marktplatz has a glockenspiel, and the parish church St. Jakob stands right behind it.

Cham is also a film town in a small way. The anti-war film Die Brücke (1959) was shot here, including on the old Florian-Geyer bridge over the Regen, and the city museum keeps a permanent display about it.

The old stone tower of Cham rising above the roofs behind the road bridge over the Regen, with flower boxes on the railing
The road bridge over the Regen and the old town behind it.

What to see in town

Everything below is within walking distance of the old town, and most of it costs little or nothing.

  • Biertor and the old town gates ↗

    A 14th-century town gate with round towers at the end of the bridge over the Regen, and the start of a walk around the old town.

  • Rathaus and Marktplatz ↗

    The town hall with its glockenspiel, the market fountain, and the place where the Christkindlmarkt is held.

  • Pfarrkirche St. Jakob ↗

    The parish church next to the Rathaus.

  • Museum SPUR ↗

    A city museum in the former almshouse with the paintings of Heimrad Prem and works of the artists' group SPUR, a photo show comparing old and present-day views of Cham until 6 January 2027, and the display on the film Die Brücke.

  • Städtische Galerie Cordonhaus ↗

    The city gallery in the Cordonhaus, a historic building in the centre.

  • Rundfunkmuseum ↗

    A museum of broadcasting history run by an association.

The Rathaus on Cham's Marktplatz with the tower of the parish church St. Jakob behind it
The Rathaus on the Marktplatz, with St. Jakob behind it.

Water, hills and the border

The Regen is the centre of free time here. The Freizeitbad on the river has a 50-metre sports pool, a wave pool, a diving pool with a 5-metre tower, a warm pool and an outdoor area on the Regen, and the campus page says students get free entry to the leisure pool and the indoor pool with a student ID. The city also shows canoeists on the Regen at the Rossschwemme on its leisure page, and has a cycling concept with routes through the Bernhard-Wicki-Wäldchen.

Beyond the town the landscape rises to the ridge of the Hoher Bogen and the wooded hills of the Bavarian Forest. The regional tourist board "Land der Regenbogen" publishes hiking trails, educational trails, cycling routes and boat tours, and the Tourist-Info in Cham can help with maps. The campus page also mentions a climbing hall and a cinema. Without a car, the Rufbus on-demand minibus is bookable daily from 6:30 to 21:00 and reaches places the trains do not.

The Czech border lies about 20 km north-east of the town and Pilsen about 90 km away.

The valley around Cham

Aerial view of Cham from the southeast, with the town on a bend of the river surrounded by green hills
Cham from the air, seen from the southeast.
A country road curving past a maize field towards the village of Kothmaißling, with the long ridge of the Hoher Bogen on the horizon
Kothmaißling, just outside Cham, with the Hoher Bogen on the horizon.
A wide green valley of fields and farms seen from the castle ruin at Runding, with wooded hills far away
The Cham-Furth basin seen from the ruin at Runding.

The year in Cham

The local calendar is built around clubs and the town square.

  • Frühlingsfest ↗

    The spring fair in May.

  • Altstadtfest and Volksfest ↗

    The old-town festival is on the second weekend of July, and the Volksfest follows in late July or early August.

  • Chamlandschau ↗

    The regional trade and consumer fair in September.

  • Christkindlmarkt ↗

    From 27 November to 20 December 2026 on the Marktplatz, open Wednesday to Sunday, with handmade gifts, mulled wine and live music, free to enter.

  • Clubs in town ↗

    The city lists its clubs, from the large sports club ASV Cham 1863 with badminton, basketball and cricket sections to smaller associations.

Getting around

Trains: the Oberpfalzbahn runs hourly on the main line through Cham and the branch lines run every two hours, and two Deutsche Bahn Regional-Express trains a day link Nuremberg and Furth im Wald with a stop in Cham. Regensburg, the nearest big city, is about 60 km away. Two city bus lines serve the town, and rail, city buses and regional buses share one fare system, the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Landkreis Cham.

DIT students can buy the Deutschlandticket at the reduced price of 43 euros a month. Students under 23 who live in the district can use local transport free after 14:00 on school days and all day on weekends and holidays. The campus page advises renting in Cham itself if you do not have a car, since the campus is a short walk from the centre.

Employers and jobs

Cham is an industrial district. The town page counts about 600 small and medium-sized businesses.

Part 2

Student life in Cham

Where you can study

University of applied sciences

Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Campus Cham ↗

The only higher-education institution in Cham, and one of the study locations of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (the others are Deggendorf and Pfarrkirchen). About 1,000 students from more than 40 countries study here. The Bachelor's programme is Mechatronics and Project Management for Digital Production (B.Eng., taught in German). Four consecutive Master's programmes (M.Eng.) are taught in English: Applied AI for Digital Production Management, Artificial Intelligence for Smart Sensors and Actuators, Robotics, and Mechatronic and Cyber-Physical Systems. Two technology transfer centres, Intelligent Production (3D printing, automation, computer vision) and Intelligent Robotics (cobots, automated guided vehicles, assistive robotics), link teaching to local industry. The campus is on the Regen at Badstraße 21, and the Mensa is in its foyer.

International office ↗

Student unions, services and groups

Study culture and campus

Cham is a small campus and the teaching reflects that: the university describes small groups with personal contact to teachers, and labs where students work on projects with companies. The Master's courses are international and in English. The larger student clubs and the Studentischer Konvent belong to the whole Deggendorf institute, so many of them are based in Deggendorf. The institute also lists a Catholic and a Protestant student community (KHG and EHG), an African students' association (ASVD), a university cinema, a Formula Student team and many subject clubs, none of them tied to Cham in particular. In Cham, the contact points are the campus office, the International Tutors and the university sport courses.

The Mensa in the foyer of the Technology Campus building serves a hot lunch on weekdays from Monday to Thursday, with one meat dish and one vegetarian dish, plus sandwiches, pretzels and salads. Payment is by card, and prices have three categories: student, employee and external. Outside opening hours there are vending machines for drinks, sandwiches and coffee. The Mensa is closed from 23 December 2026 to 6 January 2027.

Housing

The Studierendenwerk Niederbayern/Oberpfalz lists halls of residence in Regensburg, Passau, Landshut, Deggendorf, Pfarrkirchen and Straubing. Cham is not on that list, so plan to look for a private room or flat. Start early, write to the Welcome Centre and the campus office before you arrive, and ask the International Tutors in Cham. The campus page says living in Cham itself is the best choice if you do not have a car, and describes the cost of living as affordable.

Costs to plan for

Student services fee, EU/EEA students
82 EUR per semester, no tuition feesource
Fees for international (non-EU/EEA) students
Check the university's fee regulations before you applysource
Deutschlandticket for DIT students
43 EUR a monthsource
Leisure pool and indoor pool in Cham
free with a student IDsource
Liability insurance
from about 3 EUR a monthsource
Christkindlmarkt in Cham
free entrysource

Only prices that a university or city page states are listed. Rents and the blocked-account amount are not included here, because no rent figure for Cham is published; check the German embassy page for the current blocked-account amount before you apply for the visa.

Your first weeks

  1. 1

    Before you travel

    Non-EU/EEA students apply for a student visa at the German embassy or consulate at home once the admission letter arrives. You also need proof of health insurance before the university can enrol you.

  2. 2

    Week 1

    Register your address at the Einwohnermeldeamt of the Stadt Cham in the Rathaus, Marktplatz 2, and book the appointment online at termin.cham.de. EU/EEA and Swiss students must register within two weeks of arriving.

  3. 3

    Weeks 1 to 4

    Non-EU/EEA students apply for the residence permit for studies at the Ausländerbehörde in the Landratsamt Cham, Rachelstraße 6. The university says to do this before the visa expires, or within 90 days of arrival if you came without a visa. The office asks you to book an appointment, even during opening hours.

  4. 4

    Weeks 1 to 4

    Meet the International Tutors in Cham, enrol in a sport course in iLearn and ask the Welcome Centre anything about fees, funding and insurance.

  5. 5

    Whenever you want a job

    The institute's Job Rock-IT programme runs seminars for finding internships and working-student jobs. For the number of days or hours you may work with your residence permit, ask the Welcome Centre or the Ausländerbehörde.

The Spitalkirche Hl. Geist in Cham, a plain hall church seen from the street
The Spitalkirche Hl. Geist at Spitalplatz 1.

Where you come from matters here

Pick your home country: food, faith, community groups and the consulate that serves you, checked 21 October 2026.

🇮🇳 Living in Cham as an Indian student

Cham has no Indian consulate, and no Indian association is listed by the city or the institute. The nearest consulate is in Munich.

  • Consulate General of India, Munich ↗

    At Widenmayerstr. 15, 80538 Munich. It serves Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and offers passport and attestation services with online appointments.

  • Indian Students in Germany ↗

    A portal run by the Embassy of India in Berlin that lists Indian student associations and city coordinators across Germany and has arrival advice and an events calendar.

English-taught programmes in Cham

Soonest open deadline first. Every entry links to its official source.

Deggendorf Institute of Technology

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