Before you start

Passport or national ID for the mandatory identity verification
A German address, for postpaid contracts and broadband
A German bank account, for direct debit on a contract
An unlocked handset or one supporting eSIM

Step-by-step

1
Buy prepaid on arrival and complete the identity check
Prepaid SIMs and eSIMs are sold in supermarkets, phone shops and online. Activation requires verification against a passport or ID — in store, by video call, or through the Post's service. Quick, and legally unavoidable under the Telekommunikationsgesetz.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Leave the postpaid contract until you have some history
A Vertrag requires a German bank account, a registered address and a Schufa check. A brand-new file yields a refusal or a deposit demand. Prepaid avoids all three, and modern prepaid data allowances are perfectly adequate.
OnlineWho: You
3
Order home broadband on the day you sign the lease
German provisioning routinely takes three to six weeks and can need an engineer plus work in a shared stairwell. Place the order against the future address with a start date. Waiting until you have the keys costs you a month of tethering.
OnlineWho: YouAt lease signing
4
Ask what is physically wired into the building
Fibre coverage in Stuttgart is patchy and correlates poorly with how central an address is — some hillside streets are well served and some central blocks are not. Postcode availability checkers overstate what reaches your flat. Make it a viewing question if your income depends on the connection.
OnlineWho: You
5
Test the signal on your actual commute, not at your desk
The S-Bahn runs in tunnel under the centre, the regional lines run in cuttings along the Neckar, and the slopes shadow signal in ways a coverage map smooths over. If you take calls while travelling, compare the three networks on the regulator's map for your specific route.
OnlineWho: You
6
Check the cancellation terms before you sign
German contracts historically rolled over for a further year if the cancellation window was missed. Since the Telekommunikationsgesetz was overhauled on 1 December 2021 a contract continuing past its minimum term can be cancelled with one month's notice — but older contracts and older advice still reflect the previous regime.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or national ID for SIM registration
Meldebescheinigung, for postpaid contracts
German bank details for direct debit
Rental contract, to order broadband against a future address

Things most newcomers don’t know

Order broadband at lease signing — the gap is weeks, and it is the most predictable frustration of a German move.

Fixed-line provisioning here is slow by the standards of almost every comparable country, routinely three to six weeks and longer where an engineer must work in a shared stairwell of an older building. The order can be placed against a future address with a start date, which costs nothing. People who wait for the keys spend their first month tethering, and anyone working remotely loses real money to it.

Source: community-reported

There is no anonymous prepaid SIM, and automated verification rejects some passports.

Since a 2017 change to the Telekommunikationsgesetz every SIM must be registered against a verified identity document before it activates. Video identification supports only certain nationalities and people are bounced mid-call regularly. The post office route accepts any valid passport and is the reliable fallback — worth knowing before you plan a day around a SIM that will not switch on.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur

Stuttgart's topography makes mobile coverage lumpier than a coverage map suggests.

The city is built on slopes cut by valleys, with the S-Bahn in tunnel under the centre and regional lines in cuttings along the Neckar. Signal drops in places that look central on a map, and a flat one street uphill can be markedly better or worse. If you take calls on the move, check the regulator's map for your commute specifically rather than for the city as a whole.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur — mobile coverage map

Central does not mean connected — ask what is in the building.

Stuttgart's fibre rollout has followed engineering rather than prestige, so a 1900s block in the Westen may be on copper while a hillside estate has fibre to the door. Availability checkers report what is theoretically sellable to the postcode, not what terminates in your flat. Ask the landlord or the previous tenant which technology is actually installed, at the viewing.

Source: Breitbandatlas (Gigabitgrundbuch des Bundes)

Common mistakes to avoid

Ordering broadband on moving day rather than at lease signing.
Expecting to buy an unregistered prepaid SIM off a shelf.
Applying for a postpaid contract in your first weeks with no Schufa record.
Trusting a postcode availability checker instead of asking what is wired into the building.
Choosing a network on price when your daily commute runs through a tunnel or a cutting.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.