Finally, our first app, "German Citizenship Test Preparation," is live on the App Store.
3 learning paths: Fast Track (15 days), Slow Track (30 days), and Free Learning. Pick your pace and let the app guide you in a relaxed, structured way.
Smart daily notifications: Get notified to learn a small set of questions every day.
Wrong-answer tracker: The app remembers every question you got wrong and lets you drill on those until they stick.
Android version will be live soon (awaiting Google Play Store review).
Currently, the app has all the latest 300 questions and supports state questions for some states. Other states will be live in the coming weeks.
Essentials
Finance : Deutsche Bahn is offering a "Super Saver Last Minute" ticket from €6.99. You can only book it for the following week on bahn.de or in the app on weekends. The ticket is valid for ICE, IC, EC, and regional trains within Germany. However, you are bound to a specific train and cannot exchange the ticket. Cancellation is possible within three hours of purchase. Tickets are usually available on less popular routes. [1]
Law : The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum (GEAS) enters into force on June 12, 2026. This means the following for all member states.
Stricter EU-wide asylum screening: Filter at the border, before the asylum procedure starts.
Secondary migration centers: Hold asylum cases in a single central location and return them to the responsible state.
A new returns framework: If a person is refused asylum, move them out of the EU quickly.
Dublin-replacement system: More clarity on solidarity and responsibility-sharing among member states. [2]
Law :The Bundestag passed the Notariatsdigitalisierungsgesetz. It'll enable a fully digital real estate purchase process, including notarial proceedings, communication with tax authorities, and the court. The law will be implemented in phases. Complete digitalization is expected by 1 January 2028. Read more ->
How to get your money back if you are a victim of a fake shop
In our past newsletter, one of our members shared that they were a victim of a fake shop (bought a MacBook, but never received it). Today, they shared that they had gotten their money back.
Here are the steps they took to get their money back.
Contacted their bank to initiate a payment reversal process.
The bank requires the following from you:
An official complaint that you made online
Link to Verbraucherzentral or any other website showing that the e-commerce website is a fake shop. (optional, but strengthens your case)
A screenshot or invoice of the purchase
Emails sent to the seller (fake shop) proving that you contacted them and gave them enough time to process your order.
You pay the bank a processing fee that could range between €10 and €30 to initiate the payment reversal.
NOTE: The fake shop called them after they initiated the payment reversal. They told the reader that they would ship the product in the next few days. The reader refused and asked for a refund on the call. The fake shop told them to request the refund by email.
This is where you have to be cautious. Never send anything in writing to the fake shop once you have initiated the payment reversal process. The fake shop can use your refund request as a reason to stop the payment reversal.
In short, once you have initiated the payment reversal, don't reply to any emails from the fake shop. If in doubt, contact your bank and ask for guidance.
A Request 🙏
Reviews mean everything for online platforms, and GermanPedia is no different.
You can help us compete in Google search by leaving reviews on Google. These really (yes, really) help and are a vital part of Google's discovery and recommendation algorithms.
So, if you find what we are doing helpful, please leave a simple star rating or a short review on Google. This will help more users discover GermanPedia.
Deadline : The deadline to file the 2025 income tax return (Steuererklärung) in Germany is July 31, 2026. If you use a tax advisor, the deadline extends to March 1, 2027.
Deadline : The extended deadline to file the 2024 income tax return using a tax adviser (Steuerberater) is June 2, 2026.
Deadline : US citizens and green card holders residing in Germany must file their 2025 US federal tax return by June 15, 2026 (automatic overseas extension).
Phishing : Fake emails impersonating government entities
ELSTER: The email claims that a tax refund is available. You are asked to confirm your bank details [1]
Deutsche Rentenversicherung. The email claims a refund of €389.88 is owed to you. A button labeled "Request payout now" redirects you to an external website. [2]
Phishing : Fake emails claiming that your payment has failed.
Spotify: The messages carry the subject line "Handlungsbedarf erforderlich" and ask you to activate a "Schutzmodul". Delete such emails. [2]
Amazon Prime: The subject line reads "Update your payment method required KEY-" followed by a 5-digit number. If you are a Prime member, check your payment details only via the official Amazon app or website. [2]
Product Recall : The following products have been recalled by the manufacturer.
Decathlon's VAN RYSEL is due to a stem assembly fault. [4]
Flying Tiger Copenhagen's TEDDY BUNNY plush toy due to a choking hazard. [6]
For emergencies:
BSI Lagezentrum: +49 228 999582 5110
BaFin Consumer Protection: consumer@bafin.de
Police: 110.
Abortion rate in different German federal states
Bremen and Berlin have the highest abortions per 100 births. Read more ->
Need help communicating complex ideas visually? We help you turn data into your most persuasive story. Contact us to learn more.
AI Corner
Codex vs Opus: Key differences that people have observed.
Diff-1: Codex is self-aware, Opus is not
Here is a prompt that works well with Codex but not with Opus: Are you 100% confident in this strategy? If not, find all possible loopholes, suggest proper fixes, and run this loop until you are factually 100% confident in the new strategy.
Reason: The user notices that Codex 5.5 is self-aware. Opus 4.7 is an insecure model. You can paste this prompt over and over again. Opus keeps saying, "You're absolutely right..." But with Codex, after 2-3 iterations, you'll notice it patched all loopholes.
Usage: You can use this in every task, from creating a strategy for your business to coding your application. E.g.: AI suggested a way to implement a feature. Paste the prompt above to improve it. You want to explore an idea. Past this prompt and let AI iterate over it. Original post ->
Diff-2: Codex 5.5 is more practical and self-verifying in coding/debugging tasks.
It actively tests, checks edge cases, smoke tests, and iterates on real issues, while Opus 4.7 often gives confident but unverified suggestions that fail in practice.
Reason: Codex-5.5 validates empirically instead of guessing or rushing to "production-ready." Opus 4.7 feels overconfident in recent comparisons.
Usage: In daily dev work, describe a bug or feature to Codex; it will implement, test, and refine more autonomously. Original post ->
Diff-3: Opus 4.7 excels at content generation, creative design, and nuanced writing.
Reason: Claude models have long been tuned for human-like, high-quality prose and idea exploration. Recent user tests show Opus 4.7 still leads in this area.
Usage: Use Opus for marketing copy, blog posts, UI/UX design feedback, research brainstorming, or any task needing polished, creative output. Switch to Codex for implementation. Original post ->
Diff-4: Codex 5.5 is more cost-efficient for long-running tasks.
Usage: For long coding or analysis sessions (e.g., full project builds or data tasks), try Codex.
Conclusion
Both models are extremely good at getting things done. You start to notice these differences when they become part of your workflow. Sometimes these differences can be annoying or pleasantly surprising.
At GermanPedia, we switched to Codex 5.5 for backend coding tasks, Opus 4.7 for frontend coding tasks. We use Sonnet 4.6 for research and writing.
Latest News
The Merz government marks one year in office. Here is what they have achieved so far.
Energy costs cut by approximately €10 billion per year.
The minimum wage is increased to €13.90 per hour.
The €500 billion infrastructure fund is operational.
The US has set a deadline of 31 Dec 2026 for the EU to grant access to sensitive police data. The US needs this data to screen travelers. If the EU refuses to share this data, the US will end visa-free travel for EU citizens. This means that if you enter the EU police database for any reason (protests, suspects, criminals, etc.), travel to the US will get tougher. [1]
Hantavirus-hit cruise ship: Spanish and international authorities are evacuating 150 passengers and crew from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship. The first Spanish group is en route to Madrid, and more flights are planned through Monday. Three people have died in the outbreak so far. Officials and the WHO said the risk of wider community spread is low. [2]
Community Corner
Need support with your residence permit or citizenship. Checkout LegalWeg*.
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany We are looking for tax advisors interested in organizing the webinar on how to save taxes. If you are a tax advisor or know one who might be interested, reach out to us by simply replying to this email. Essentials Finance : Women in Germany receive an average of 24% less statutory pension than men. Though Mütterrente and Kinderberücksichtigungszeiten offset most of the...
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany If you thought you only pay the government in the form of your payroll taxes, think again. The most obvious taxes you pay are Payroll tax -> Your employer deducts it from your gross salary Taxes you pay from your net income VAT -> You pay it on every product or service you buy in Germany. Insurance tax -> Paid on every insurance you buy. Airport fees and taxes -> Paid...
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany A live Q&A webinar to ask your questions directly to an immigration lawyer. Developing our German citizenship test preparation app took us less than 3 days. But it's taking us weeks to get it published on App Store and Play Store. 😔 We hope to launch the app by the end of this week. Essentials Finance : From May 1, 2026, federal and municipal public sector employees'...