Making friends and finding community in Munich

• Welcome Center München (Ruppertstraße 11, ground floor): drop-in advice for newcomers, regular information and welcome events where you can meet other new residents, and free digital help with apps and online bookings on Thursday afternoons (2026). It also hosts migration counselling services, the MVHS and the Goethe-Institut.
• Munich Onboarding Hub: a city initiative with the MVHS and the Goethe-Institut for international professionals, young professionals and their families. It runs a weekly Open House in the evening, onboarding cafés for specific groups such as job seekers and women, expert talks on settling in and working in Germany, and guided orientation tours of the city. Most offers are free; see the Munich Onboarding Hub page for links to the current dates.

The Münchner Volkshochschule (MVHS) is the city's adult education centre. Besides German courses at all levels and integration courses, it lists open events under Deutsch & Integration, most of them free:

• the Dialogcafé, a weekly conversation group for German levels A1 to C2, free and without registration;
• Open House evenings of the Munich Onboarding Hub;
• workshops, walks and an intercultural choir;
• language tandems with the association Start with a Friend.

You can test your German level online for free before booking a course. See learning German and integration course.

The Münchner Stadtbibliothek has 26 branches across the city and media in more than 60 languages. A library card costs €20 for 12 months (€10 reduced, for example for students, trainees, pensioners and people receiving benefits) and is free for under-18s and asylum seekers (2026). You can register online and collect the card with your ID and proof of address. Several branches offer Open Library hours with self-service access, and the branches run events and learning spaces.

The city's Sozialreferat supports neighbourhood meeting places (Nachbarschaftstreffs): open meeting points for everyone in the area, with groups from toddler groups to seniors' cafés, local information, volunteering opportunities, festivals and rooms you can use. Find the one near you, with current programmes, at nachbarschaftstreff-muenchen.de.

Volunteering is one of the most reliable ways to meet people and practise German.

• Tatendrang (Altheimer Eck 13), Germany's first volunteer agency according to its own description, offers free advice to help you find a role that fits your schedule.
• FöBE, the city-funded office for civic engagement (Ringseisstraße 8a), runs a monthly information point in the town hall where organisations look for volunteers, and the annual Münchner Freiwilligenmesse volunteering fair.
• Neighbourhood meeting places and community organisations also look for helpers.

Registered clubs (Vereine) are a common way to take part in local life: sports clubs, choirs, hiking and mountain clubs, gardening and cultural associations. Ask at your neighbourhood meeting place or search for clubs in your district, ask about trial sessions and membership fees, and go regularly.

Moving abroad can be demanding. If you feel isolated or are in crisis, the Krisendienst Psychiatrie Oberbayern is free and available around the clock on 0800 655 3000, with interpreters for more than 120 languages. For ongoing support, see finding a doctor in Munich.