Find your community

Free advice, churches, culture, media and children's classes for people from the Western Balkans in Berlin.

On 30 June 2026 Berlin registered 54,969 nationals of the six Western Balkans states: Serbia 19,651, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12,344, North Macedonia 8,693, Albania 7,015, Kosovo 6,547, Montenegro 719 (Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, Statistischer Bericht A I 5 hj 1/26, table 10; former "Serbia and Montenegro" not counted). The report's table of people with a migration background by district does not list the Western Balkans separately, so there is no figure for them or for districts. You are not alone here. This page lists free, public or non-profit places. Links checked on 5 November 2026; hours change, so check before you go.

Free advice in your language

• Faire Mobilität (DGB project): free advice for workers on unpaid wages, dismissal, sick leave and agency work. Website in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian; hotline 0800 0005776, [email protected]. The page says advice is given in workers' first languages but does not name which ones. Albanian and Macedonian: no page found.
• BEMA (Berliner Beratungszentrum für Migration und Gute Arbeit, run by Arbeit und Leben; Lorenzweg 5, 12099 Tempelhof): labour-law advice, by appointment on 030 5130 19269 or [email protected]. Faire Mobilität lists it as its Berlin partner. Advice languages not stated; not verified.
• AWO Begegnungszentrum Kreuzberg (Adalbertstr. 23 a, 10997): adult migration counselling (MBE) listed in Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian; tel. 030 695 356-11. AWO FIM Wilmersdorf (Trautenaustr. 5, 10717): MBE in Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian; tel. 030 884 721-61. Source: AWO list, October 2025.
• Willkommenszentrum Berlin: the Senate's free orientation.

Your rights at work and money: After arrival, Already in Berlin?.

Meeting people: faith, culture

• Croatian Catholic Mission Berlin (Feldstr. 4, 13355 Wedding; tel. 030 261 15 40): Croatian Mass on Sundays at 9:30 (St. Joseph, Natalissteig 2, Siemensstadt), 11:30 (St. Sebastian, Gartenplatz, Wedding) and 13:30 (St. Bonifatius, Yorckstr. 88 C, Kreuzberg). Also choirs, folklore, religious education and a drawing school. St. Nicholas celebration (Nikolinje): 5 December 2026.
• Serbian Orthodox parish Berlin: church of St. Sava (Ruppiner Str. 28, Wedding; tel. 030 464 40 60) and church of the Resurrection of Christ (Holzmannstr. 34, Tempelhof; tel. 030 626 57 06). Choirs, a family meeting point and a Serbian school with religious classes. Service times: see the site.
• Albanisches Filmfestival Berlin: first edition 5 to 9 March 2026 at Acud Kino, Mitte, about 20 films (listing). 2027 dates not yet published.
• Karneval der Kulturen: free street festival in Kreuzberg, expected 14 to 17 May 2027. Official dates not yet published.
• Online: search Facebook and Meetup for groups from your country, and nebenan.de for your street. Treat advice there as tips, not facts.

No mosque or Muslim community is listed: umbrella associations are left out on purpose and no single mainstream community was verified.

Sport and leisure

• Landessportbund Berlin club finder: filter by district and sport; most clubs welcome newcomers. Programme "Integration durch Sport" (national sports confederation). No club specifically for the Western Balkans was verified.

News and media

• Radio Slobodna Evropa: news in a South Slavic language with sections for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro; run by RFE/RL.
• BIRN / Balkan Insight: network of non-governmental newsrooms in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Publication languages not verified.

Job search, German, volunteering

• Routes and rules: Western Balkans rule, skilled worker, Opportunity Card, Ausbildung, recognition. Studying: route, admission.
• German: Learning German.
• Integrationslots:innen: Berlin's volunteer guides for newcomers.

Children: first-language classes

• Erstsprachenunterricht: free, usually 2 hours a week, offered by a school if at least 12 children join; register via the school. The page names Arabic, Kurdish, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and Vietnamese as examples. Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Albanian and Macedonian are not named; ask the education administration ([email protected], 030 90227 5050) or your school.
• The Croatian mission (folklore, drawing school, religious education) and the Serbian parish (Serbian school) run children's classes; details on their sites. No Albanian children's class verified.

Doctors who speak your language

Use the KV Berlin doctor search; entries can show languages. Urgent appointment: 116117.