Homesickness during your Ausbildung often has less to do with food or weather and more to do with missing the rhythm of festivals and community you grew up with. Germany’s Indian diaspora is smaller and more spread out than in countries like the UK or the US, but it is real, organised, and — in some cities — has been building temples, cultural associations, and festival calendars for decades.
The community is real, but it’s dispersed
Unlike India, where a temple or community hall is often walking distance away, in Germany you’re more likely to find Indian community life concentrated in and around the larger cities — Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and the Rhine-Ruhr region — with smaller pockets wherever a university or large employer has drawn in an Indian professional or student population. If your Ausbildung placement is in a smaller town, community life may mean a longer trip on the weekend rather than something on your doorstep, so it’s worth researching what exists near your specific city before you assume there’s nothing.
A temple you can actually visit: Hamm
One of the most significant and well-documented Hindu temples in Germany is the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia. Completed and consecrated in 2002, it’s recognised as the largest Tamil-Hindu temple in Europe, built through community donations and now serving as a central gathering point for Hindu worship in Germany, with an annual temple festival that draws tens of thousands of visitors for a procession through the city. The temple is open to visitors daily (roughly 8am–1pm and 5–7pm, with prayer services at set times), and its own website invites the public to visit. If you’re anywhere in the Rhine-Ruhr region, it’s a realistic day trip rather than a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage.
Beyond Hamm, most major German cities have at least one Hindu, Sikh, or other Indian-community place of worship, run by local associations rather than national chains — the honest approach is to search “[your city] + Hindu temple” or “[your city] + Gurudwara” once you know where you’ll be based, since new community spaces open (and sometimes move) more often than any single list can track.
Festivals: expect a shifted, condensed calendar
Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, Onam, and other major festivals are celebrated by Indian community associations across German cities, typically on the closest convenient weekend rather than the exact calendar date, since Germany doesn’t treat them as public holidays and most attendees have work or Ausbildung commitments during the week. University Indian student associations, cultural societies, and temple committees are usually the organisers — following their social media pages once you arrive is the most reliable way to find out what’s actually happening near you, since events are often announced only a few weeks ahead.
Where to look for community, practically
A few starting points tend to work in most German cities: university-affiliated Indian student associations (even if you’re not a university student, many welcome the wider Indian community to their events), WhatsApp or Facebook groups specific to Indians in your city or region, and local temple or gurudwara committees, which often run more than religious services — language classes, cultural events, and informal support networks for newcomers. Your employer or fellow trainees may also already know of an informal network in your specific town, so it’s worth asking early rather than assuming you’ll stumble onto it.
Food, festivals, and grocery runs go together
Festival season and grocery shopping tend to be linked — community events are often where you’ll hear about the nearest place to get proper ingredients for festival cooking. For the everyday version of that question, see our guide to finding Indian food and groceries in Germany.
It takes longer to build than it did at home — and that’s normal
Don’t expect the same density of community you had in India in your first few months. It genuinely takes time to find the right WhatsApp group, the right temple committee, or the right circle of people from home — and it’s one part of a wider adjustment that’s worth planning for deliberately. Our guide on culture shock and homesickness in your first six months covers this in more depth, alongside practical ways to build a social circle that includes both Indian and German connections.
Where this comes from
Details on the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple are from the temple’s own official website, hinduistische-gemeinde-deutschland.de, and from the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL), a regional public cultural institution: lwl.org.
