thanks - it's a start. I'm hoping I can talk to some actual people, who can give me tips/contacts. So far, no luck.

I know one, but would have to do some work to get some contact info for her. I don't know you at all, sorry. Is it worth my while? She is in her 30's (so probably not an owner) and speaks good English.

I don't want to put anyone out - but I'd like to chat with someone about ideas for getting jobs in Germany. I hear that unemployment is high & firms aren't hiring - even German architects. You don't have to contact your friend if it's lots of work, but thanks for the offer.

I hear that unemployment is high & firms aren't hiring - even German architects.

thats a good joke...i would say specially german architects :-) better choose different country. we have the biggest amount of architects here in germany and its nearlly impossible to find a good job (or even any job)...trust me, i´m german...

so what are you guys doing? i don't get to choose a different country - we're going for my wife's research.

i mean, when you can't get a job, what do you do? are architects doing anything interesting, now that there's no work?

I don't want to work for free, but this really isn't about money for me (at least while in Germany) it's more about just learning and doing *something* while away.

@gruen: hmm...you could try getting some work for cheap money, like maximum 500 euro per month, most of my friends do something totally different than architecture...mayb try to search for the listing of architects under the "Architektenkammer Berlin"

i found it - thanks. i think i'll keep talking to people, and see what happens.

it's a working vacation for me I guess.

i know german architects. and i worked in germany-according to rem, there are more architects in DE than all of the EU combined. which actually sounds about right.

if you speak german and have strong design skills, you should have no trouble finding a job.

unemployment is at 11% but there still seemed to be a ton of construction projects starting up when i left. looking at places like the BDA website and each AK will give you a big leg up. also, troll mags like wettbewerb aktuell and a few others to find lesser known firms that have won competitions, and may need to hire people to work on said winnings. it'll be stressful, but you can do it. my gf and I are looking at going back in a few years, anything to get away from the lunacy we've come across here.

if you speak german and have strong design skills, you should have no trouble finding a job.

hmmm...really ??? i see it totally different...me and my friends are germans and finding a job is really difficult. I mean finding one is ok, but i would like to get paid for it :-)
maybe you should show us the tons of projects *ironic off*

well, as a landscape architect, i can understand that. looked into guenter vogt's office? the question wasn't, "can i find a good architecture firm that pays well?" it was about getting ideas to look for work in germany. you yourself said it was "ok" to find a job. you just seem to be picky and prefer one here you'd get paid a lot of money. did you just get your dipl. ing? none of the praktikanten or freshly graduated workers made more than 1000 euros/month. the only place for americans i found that does pay well is london, and that is rare. i keep in contact with my previous employers, and they said where they are, things are still going strong (BaWu) and offered me a position there again, something there is no way they would do that if there weren't many projects. maybe you only look for employment at the firms that recieve 500+ resumes each month?

and gruen - look into behnisch + behnisch or similar firms, they have many global projects, and some of their work is pretty interesting. perhaps you could help coordinate betw. the us and de. good luck.

Barkow Leibinger /Bolles and Wilson/Sauerbruch Hutton do some interesting work

thanks for all the info - glad to hear it's not impossible...I'll start my search.

temp01 is correct about the employment situation, no doubt about it.

which city will you be living in?

you may try the offices suggested above (barkow/leibinger, sauerbruch hutton), they often need to add staff from time to time to work on competitions. the pay would be quite low though, i'm afraid.

hmmm...its not impossible to find a job, but for what "price" ?
we didn´t studied that long time to just doing other jobs. If you want to get a good job, you either will leave germany and look around at other states and show "flexibility" or you get kids (as a woman) or you find some niche....i gratuated 3 years ago but choosed to work as scientific coworker at university (which is paid quite ok) and some certain periods in Asia and will go back to Asia next month...

I'll be in berlin for the longest period of time. the other cities will be such a short stay that I won't be looking for anything work related.

I don't work for free, but I'm also not looking for anything more than part time - I don't expect to be made partner. This has to do with my personal life (IE: not planning on staying long enough & busy supporting my wife's research - the real reason we're going to germany), not desires for type of work.

berlin is a great city to live in, but if you're needing a job and you're not german (or speak fluent german), then you'll have a tough time. the upside is that it's actually quite a cheap city to live in, and there is so much to do - perfect if you're unemployed!

barkow/leibinger and sauerbruch/hutton may be worth checking out for part time/competition work - both firms have one partner who is american/british.

as long as we're on the "berlin is cheap" thing - any tips for good areas to live in - we will need to be near the state archives, but are willing to be near a S or U bahn line TO the state archives. (?)

i guess to be more specific:

The Bundesarchiv is where we will spend most of our time. It is in the Lichterfelde district (southwest of Charlottenburg).

lichterfelde is pretty sleepy. many young people moving to berlin want to live in more active/central areas such as mitte, kreuzberg or now friedrichshain. it depends on many factors, such as proximity to where you work, if you have children, etc. the ubahn/sbahn is very good so wherever you live you'll be able to reach the bundesarchiv. but if you want to be close look in charlottenburg, lichterfeld, wilmersdorf.

We've got a young daughter, so although I'd love to live in the action, we can't often participate =) so sleepy is ok. Thanks for the list of good places though/

so Lichterfelde and Lichterfeld are different places?