About this site

Infocat is a blog about navigating systems that weren't designed with you in mind.

If you've ever stared at a German legal letter and felt your stomach drop, or Googled a legal term only to find an explanation written for lawyers, or wondered whether you actually have the rights someone told you that you don't — this is for you.

I write about German and European law in plain language. Tenancy law, employment rights, residence and visa questions, data protection, dealings with public authorities. The topics that affect your daily life but that nobody explains clearly unless you can afford a lawyer or happen to know one.

I'm not a lawyer. I'm someone who spent years navigating the German legal system as an international resident — largely on my own, often without professional help, always with more questions than answers. I filed objections, researched statutes, represented myself in proceedings, and slowly built the knowledge I wished someone had handed me on day one. This blog is an attempt to be that someone for other people.

Everything here is written from experience and research, not from a law degree. I try to be accurate, thorough, and honest about what I know and what I don't. Where something requires professional legal advice, I'll say so. Where I can save you a trip to a lawyer by explaining what your rights actually are, I'll do that too.

I live in Berlin. I've lived on three continents and speak four languages. I know what it feels like to be smart and capable and still completely lost inside a system that operates in a language and logic you didn't grow up with.

If that sounds familiar, welcome. Pull up a chair. The cat is here to help.

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