Do you have many specific questions about housing?

You can apply for a student residence directly online. After submitting the application, you will receive an e-mail with a confirmation link. You have to confirm your application via the link. Otherwise, we will not receive your application.

In principle, the Studierendenwerk Karlsruhe does not have an application deadline, i. e. it is possible to submit an application for admission at any time. It is also possible to apply before you have received your admission to your university. Please note, however, that applications are only valid for 6 months and you should therefore apply at least 6 months before the desired application date. If you are still looking for a place after the 6 months have passed, you must submit a new application in order to remain on the waiting list.

If we cannot offer you a room right now, we will put your request on our waiting list. How long your application remains on the waiting list depends primarily on the number of available places and the number of applicants. We allocate the rooms according to social criteria and upon receipt of the application. The demand is the greatest at the beginning of the winter semester. You will have to expect a longer wait. The chances of obtaining a room offer during the semester are usually greater.
As soon as we are able to make you an offer, you will receive an email with a deadline in which you must accept or cancel the offer. If you do not re-register within this period, we assume that you are no longer looking for a room.
All applicants on the waiting list receive a monthly e-mail with a link, which you must confirmed in case of further interest. Otherwise, we will delete your request from the waiting list and you may have to reapply.

It is not possible to visit the student residences, as rooms or apartments are occupied throughout. On our website, you will find detailed descriptions and 360° tours with many sample pictures of our rooms. You are also free to visit the residence on your own initiative. If you do not meet the current tenant, you can try it on the floor above or below; most of the time these rooms are similar or the same.

All properly enrolled students at the following universities are entitled to reside in a student residence:
- KIT
- Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe
- Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe
- Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe
- Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg – Karlsruhe
- Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe
- Hochschule Karlsruhe – Technik und Wirtschaft
- Karlshochschule International University
- Hochschule Pforzheim – Gestaltung, Technik, Wirtschaft und Recht
Students who are also scientific assistants, doctoral candidates, trainee teachers, trainees, apprentices, or students at vocational school are not entitled to reside in a student residence.

The maximum period of residence is 8 semesters. Therefore, we ensure that as many students as possible have the opportunity to get a low-cost accommodation. If you hold a position in the student self-administration, you can extend your residency beyond 8 semesters. You can also extend your residency by one semester if you can prove to us that this is your last semester at university and you will complete your studies.

In principle, rental prices include utilities (except broadcasting fee, food and other personal items, use of washing machines and tumble dryers). There is no additional payment or utility cost billing.

The rent is always due at the beginning of the month and is debited from your bank account using SEPA direct debit. Debiting is only possible from European accounts in the SEPA area with euro currency.

Upon conclusion of the contract, a deposit previously defined in the offer is due. We will debit the deposit from your account by direct debit on the 10th of the month of your move-in.

In principle, moving in is only possible on weekdays (Mon – Fri) during the working hours of the janitors. If the contract begins on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, moving in is only possible on the following working day. Please make an appointment by telephone with the janitor responsible for your residence in good time. You will find the contact details in your contract documents.

Furnished rooms and apartments are equipped with: a large wardrobe (approx. 120 x 200 x 60 cm), a bed (approx. 90 x 210 or 90 x 200 cm) with slatted frame and foam mattress, a desk (approx. 140 x 80 cm) with drawer(s), a swivel chair, a bookshelf (approx. 6m in length, depth 35 cm), a curtain rail and a ceiling lamp. Apartments also have a kitchenette with hotplates and fridge.
As a tenant of a furnished room/apartment, you can also rent the following linens free of charge from the janitor: 1 pillow, 1 blanket, 2 pillowcases, 2 blanket covers and 2 bed sheets. You have to return the linens after moving out.

Unfurnished rooms have only a curtain rail and ceiling lamps.

In principle, you can bring your own furniture. However, you are not allowed to remove the existing furniture. If you want to bring your own mattress, make sure to store the existing mattress in your room so that no mold will form.

We recommend that you bring the following basic equipment: dishes, hand towels and bath towels, washcloths, toilet paper, everything for your desk, desk lamp, wastebasket, possibly electrical adapter, PC, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, possibly food for two days, possibly pan, pots, can opener and other things for cooking, alarm clock/clock, possibly radio/TV, sponge, cleaning agent, dust cloth, garbage bags and curtains with accessories.

In almost all residneces, the internet connection is already included in the rental price and can be used around the clock (except: Adlerstraße 41 and Wolfartsweierer Straße). In some residences, there are also connections for telephone and TV.

In most residences, you can also rent parking spots. If you are interested, please contact the Housing Department. If there are no free spots available, we will put on a waiting list.
Where you can find the residences with an underground car park or garage on our homepage. Currently, you are not allowed to park a gas-powered car in our underground car parks. If you have a car that is higher than 1.90 m, there may be problems at the entrance. In some garages in the St. -Georgen-Straße 15 – 17 in Pforzheim, you can only park cars that are no longer than 4.30 m.

In Germany, you have to register with a citizen’s office in Karlsruhe (e.g. Kaiserallee 8 or Beuthener Straße 42) or in Pforzheim (Östliche Karl-Friedrich-Str. 2) (depending where you live) within two weeks of moving in. You can find further information and forms here: www.karlsruhe.de or www.pforzheim.de. Since November 1st, 2015, you need a confirmation from the landlord / property owner for the registration. Our tenants receive this certificate from the janitor when they move in.

Movements within our residences are only possible in well-founded exceptional cases (e.g. on presentation of a medical certificate). If you have problems with your room, please contact the Housing Department.

In this case, please contact your caretaker immediately. Please note that the loss of a key can be very expensive, as the cylinder must be replaced in addition to the key. New lock cylinders can cost between 250 and approx. 600 euros. The costs for replacing the cylinder must always be borne by the person who caused the loss.

Subleasing in the first and last two months of the tenancy agreement is not possible for liability reasons. Your contract is not terminated by the subleasing. The subtenant provided by you becomes your tenant and you become the subtenant's landlord. All agreements you make with each other only concern the two of you, the Studierendenwerk Karlsruhe is not involved. At the same time, this means that you will remain our main tenant. If your subtenant causes any damage to your room, it will automatically fall back on you. Therefore, we recommend that you ask for a deposit from your subtenant. Ideally, the subtenant should also be a student. You can sublease your room for a maximum of three months at a time per semester. To apply for a sublease, you have to fill out our Application for Approval of a Sublease at least one week in advance and submit it by e-mail. The sublease may only take place after prior approval.

There is a washing and drying room in every hall of residence. Here you can use the washing machines for a fee and hang your washed clothes out to dry.

Our dormitory rooms are allocated according to the principle of equal treatment. Our flat-sharing communities are therefore diverse in terms of gender, age and nationality. This is very important to us, especially to support the development of social skills and cultural exchange among each other. In principle, the applicant has no influence on the composition of the flat-sharing communities.

As a student in a hall of residence with shared flats, you must pay the broadcasting fee together as a shared flat. We will gladly issue you with a certificate for this. If you live in a flat, everyone pays the broadcasting fee for themselves. You can find detailed information here. However, it is also possible to apply for exemption, e.g. if you receive BAföG.

The Studierendenwerk provides brooms, hand brushes, dustpans and mops to all housing groups when they first move in. After that, the tenants themselves provide replacements; this also applies to the necessary cleaning materials. All staircases (except Wolfartsweierer Straße 7) are cleaned by a company. The tenants always clean their rooms/apartments/flats themselves, in residential groups also the common rooms. Only in a few halls of residence does a cleaning service take over the cleaning of the common rooms.

Rubbish must be separated in all dormitories. For this purpose, a leaflet on proper separation is posted in each residential group. In Karlsruhe, there is currently also a large waste collection twice a year. No large waste is collected from the dormitories in Pforzheim; large waste must be taken to the landfill there or taken home.

If you ever have problems with the internet, you can contact our support at support@wh-ka.de.

Damage and defects in the hall of residence, in garages or in the associated outdoor area must be reported to the caretaker as soon as possible. In all halls of residence there are forms "Schadensmeldung/Auftrag" (damage report/order) which you can put in the caretaker's letterbox or give directly to the caretaker. Please report any damage to water, electricity or gas pipes directly to the caretaker.

The termination of the tenancy agreement must always be made in writing, i.e. with a legally valid signature. Cancellation by e-mail is not possible. The date of receipt by the Studierendenwerk is decisive for compliance with the legal notice period of three months. So make sure you send your notice of termination in good time! You can find the Cancellation forms on our homepage under Forms: contract termination Karlsruhe, Unter Forms: contract termination Pforzheim.

When you move out, you make an appointment with your caretaker for the inspection of the rented property. A move-out protocol will be drawn up, of which you will receive a copy. The move-out protocol records the condition of the rented property and, if applicable, the condition of the common areas belonging to it, i.e. kitchen, hallway, bathroom and toilet at the time of moving out. You hand back the key(s) provided. Move-outs are only possible on weekdays during the working hours of the caretakers. Please make sure to arrange the date with your caretaker at least five working days before you want to move out.

If you still have some time of residence left, you can move back into one of our halls of residence after a stay abroad. To do so, you have to submit a new online application with the note " Wiedereinzug" ("moving back in"). We will then try to offer you a room as first priority. However, there is no entitlement to this.