In the big stores (in the city centre of Hanover) you can find almost everything you can think of for sale. Furthermore, there are »Fachgeschäfte« (single dealers), where quality and price of the goods offered are mostly higher.

Please note: Stores often oversell food! It is advisable to buy your food in a supermarket in your part of town. Some supermarkets, so called »discounters« offer their goods very low-priced as there is little staff and a more modest outfit.

Fresh fruit and vegetables of a good quality can be found at Wochenmärkte (weekly markets) in the different parts of town. The mostly Turkish vegetable stores are quite cheap and you can get lots of other oriental goods there. In addition to that there are shops selling international specialities, e.g. Asia-Shops.

Second-Hand-Stores and so called Flohmärkte (= flea markets) offer used goods. This is a very good chance to acquire household- and kitchen tools, that you don’t want to take home with you after finishing your studies. A very good address for cheap used goods is the "Sozialkaufhaus fairKauf". The "Flohmarkt Hannover" takes place every Saturday from 7:00 - 16:00 h Am Hohen Ufer. It is possible to obtain cheap used goods but also antiquities that are really, really expensive. Second hand articles of all kinds are offered in the section of private »Kleinanzeigen« (= small advertisement) in the newspapers. In the internet you will find small ads at the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ) and the special small ads-paper Heißer Draht.

Shopping in Regard to Food Rules

If you depend on a special diet according to religious, ethical or other reasons, you will have to look out for more or other sources of supply. In the meantime, you can get vegetarian food almost everywhere. The refectories and cafeterias of the Student Administration but also pubs and restaurants offer tasty and meatless dishes. Muslims in Hanover can find groceries, which only offer and process beef and lamb.

How to Pay

In Germany, smaller purchases are usually spend with cash (with Euro and Cent). Meanwhile it is possible to pay almost everywhere with your bank card (»ec-Karte« = electronic cash) of your giro account. With this card you can also take out money at the cash point. Credit cards are not very popular e.g in food stores and are mostly used for larger amounts of money.

Keep in mind to put aside the receipts for major purchases! Otherwise you will not be able to exchange something or benefit from the specified performance.

Opening Hours

Opening times can vary quite a lot from place to place. Usual opening hours on weekdays are between 8:00 and 20:00 or even 22:00. On Saturdays, some shops close earlier and on Sundays virtually all shops stay closed. Some bakeries are open for a few hours, though.

The shops at the main station are an exception: they are open noticeably longer and also on Sundays.

Additionally, for smaller shopping you can go to the kiosks and filling stations. They are open at night and on Sundays, some of the filling stations even 24 hours a day. But note: you have to pay much higher prices than in other shops!

Further information can be found at the homepage of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD): Eating and shopping.

Post and Telephone

Important details about the post and the use of public phones are available at the DAAD on the page Media and telecommunications. Rather new are the »Packstationen« (packing station) facilities, where you can fetch and send parcels day and night. Such stations are situated e.g. at the Hauptmensa (Schneiderberg) and at the dormitory Bischofsholer Damm. Please refer to DHL on page Packstation.