Why this project exists, who is behind it, and what is the motivation.
I’m Christian Dittmann. In 2013, I moved to Berlin from Santiago de Chile with no contacts, no family, and barely functional German. I spent months trying to understand the Bürgeramt system, figuring out insurance options, and fighting through a bureaucracy that felt unnecessarily complex and opaque.
I was lucky. I found people who helped me, and that support was life-saving. Looking back, I can see it clearly. But I also watched dozens of friends and colleagues go through the same struggle: Talented professionals losing weeks to Anmeldung appointments, choosing the wrong insurance, missing housing opportunities or visa deadlines, wasting time with the wrong job search strategy, simply because they didn’t understand the process. I even saw close people give up and leave Berlin because bureaucracy became an insurmountable barrier.
I started going with them: To the Bürgeramt, the Ausländerbehörde, health insurance offices, the Finanzamt. I translated, explained, advocated, and helped things move forward. After doing this more than 20 times, a pattern became obvious. This wasn’t bad luck or individual failure. The Berlin system feels like something that newcomers were expected to solve and find out without guidance.
I’ve worked in Berlin’s startup ecosystem for over a decade, as a graphic designer, freelancer, and entrepreneur. I know what it means to get teams operational fast, and I understand exactly where international hires get stuck. I also founded a graphic design studio in Friedrichshain, which grew successfully until a major personal crisis and the lockdown happened at the same time.
—That moment forced me to reinvent myself. I chose to focus entirely on helping others navigate Berlin.
WelcomeBerlin is the support system I wish had existed when I arrived. The idea has been with me for years, and since November 2024 I’ve been working on it full time.
