Germany Behind the Scenes

The “Deutschland hautnah – Germany behind the scenes” program ranges from an invitation to coffee to a whole weekend spent together. Hosts from the region invite scholarship holders to their homes or show them their home town and area. This often leads to long-lasting friendships.

“A feeling of home,” is how Natascha from Belarus describes her visit to a family near Karlsruhe. The concept is simple: local residents invite international scholarship holders to their homes or offer a joint excursion. All this is organised by the regional groups of DAAD Alumni & Friends. Generally, an invitation is sent out once or twice a year by email.

Fascinating insights into everyday life, a visit to a school or a sports tournament, a relaxing games evening: it’s the little things that make it possible to take a look “behind the scenes” and find out how people in Germany live. There are often joint excursions to nearby cities. One special opportunity is a visit on festive days, for example when scholarship holders are invited for Christmas.

The “Deutschland hautnah – Germany behind the scenes” program goes back to 2012, but is not offered by all regional groups yet. Generally, the aim is to organize this at a regional level as it is easier to intensify contact. “Such stays greatly contribute to an understanding between cultures,” says Mohammed Al Abed from Yemen. And that is our objective.

If you have further questions about “Deutschland hautnah – Germany behind the scenes”, please contact Henning Belle (regional group Rhine-Neckar), who initiated the program and can be reached by e-mail at

fk-rhein-neckar(at)daad-alumni.de