Emden

Emden began around the year 800 as a Frisian trading settlement on an artificial mound, a warft, beside the Ems. In the 1500s it became one of the main centres of the Reformation in northern Europe, and Dutch refugees who came here helped its trade grow. The city received the title “Reformationsstadt Europas” in 2013.

The port decided what came next. The Nordseewerke shipyard was founded in 1903, and Volkswagen began building cars here in 1964, which made Emden an important port for car exports. On 6 September 1944 Allied bombing destroyed about 80 percent of the city centre, so most of what you see in the middle of town is post-war brick, rebuilt around the old canals rather than preserved from the past. That is why Emden feels low, red and orderly rather than medieval.

Emden's own tourism office lists harbour and canal boat tours and a cycling guide with a route planner for the town and the countryside around it. The campus itself describes sailing, windsurfing and rowing as easy to try here, and the flat land makes a bicycle the normal way to get around.

For a weekend out, AG Ems runs the ferry to the island of Borkum. The company says Borkum has about 180 km of cycle paths and an island railway, the Moritzbahn, and that a ship-and-train connection runs from Borkum to Groningen on Monday to Saturday. Emden's tourism site also links to the Dollard Route around the bay.

The big employers in the story of Emden are the port, the shipyard tradition and the Volkswagen plant. The university runs a Career Service with workshops and a programme that prepares international students in engineering and science subjects for the regional job market, with preparatory German courses, internships and company contacts in the north-west.

Students from outside the EU may work 140 full days or 280 half days a year. A job as a student assistant at the university has no day limit but must be reported to the foreigners' office, and a minijob is allowed up to 556 EUR a month without tax, according to the DAAD at the time of writing. Check the current figures with the DAAD and the Ausländerbehörde before you sign a contract.

The Emden campus is compact: the university describes it as a place where short distances and a personal learning atmosphere go together. The centre of student life is the Lüttje Studi Huus, built on the initiative of students and open to all of them as a place to relax or meet, and the campus also has a Muesli Bar and a food-sharing point. The library on the campus square has its own building.

The AStA organises cultural events and runs a campus cinema, and the Campus-Kultur-Werkstatt invites students to build their own cultural projects. The university also offers an intercultural certificate and a Studium Generale for subjects outside your degree.

The Studierendenwerk Oldenburg runs the dormitories in Emden, not the university, and the International Office says it cannot promise a room. You can apply before you arrive, and the dormitory the university names is Steinweg 20, a fully furnished house. Move-in dates follow the semester dates.

For private rooms the university points to WG-Gesucht, Studenten-WG, ImmoScout24, Kleinanzeigen and the local newspapers Emder Zeitung, Heimatblatt, Sonntagsblatt and Ostfriesen Zeitung. Its advice is to widen your search: Norden, Aurich and Oldenburg are reachable by train, and both campuses are served by public transport. If you arrive without a room, the youth hostel at An der Kesselschleuse 5 in Emden is the affordable short-stay option, and in Leer the one at Süderkreutzstraße 7. Every household also pays the German broadcasting fee, and students are not exempt.

The Mensa is on the campus at Constantiaplatz 4, with about 400 seats. Lunch is served Monday to Friday 11:30 to 14:00 during the semester, and you pick a main dish and add sides as you like. The CaféLounge on the ground floor of the same building sells coffee, snacks, rolls and sandwiches, with fair-trade coffee and tea.

The International Office is in room T 101 at Constantiaplatz 4 and opens Monday to Thursday 9:00 to 12:00. The student services centre and the student advice service are the other first stops.