Seeing a doctor in Berlin: finding a Hausarzt, booking specialists and calling 116117

Getting sick in Berlin is fine. Getting sick in Berlin before you've found a doctor is the bit that hurts.

The short version

• Australia has no reciprocal health care agreement with Germany, so Medicare won't help you here. You need German health insurance, public or private, before anything else [1].
• Find a Hausarzt (GP) early, while you're well. Many Berlin practices are full; use the KV Berlin doctor search, online booking platforms and the 116117 appointment service [2].
• After hours, call 116117 for the on-call doctor or go to a KV emergency practice. Call 112 only for real emergencies [2][3].
• Prescriptions on public insurance cost you 10% of the price, at least €5 and at most €10 [4]. Australian scripts won't be filled; a German doctor has to re-prescribe.
• If you're off work, you can call in sick for three days; from day four you need a doctor's certificate, which usually goes to your employer electronically [5].

How it differs from home

In Australia you walk into a clinic, hand over a Medicare card and maybe pay a gap. In Germany the system runs through your health insurer, and the doctor you see is chosen by you, not assigned.

Private patients usually pay the bill themselves and claim it back from the insurer. Keep every invoice.

Finding a Hausarzt who takes new patients

This is the real problem, and it's worth solving before you need it. Plenty of Berlin practices, especially in popular inner districts like Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, say they're not taking new patients (keine Neuaufnahme).

Where to look

1. KV Berlin's doctor search (Arzt- und Psychotherapeutensuche). The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians lists practices across the city and lets you filter by specialty and district [2]. Look for a filter for languages if you want English.
2. Online booking platforms. Many Berlin practices take appointments through Doctolib or similar sites. Search "Allgemeinmedizin" plus your area and look for first-appointment slots for new patients (Neupatienten).
3. Your insurer. The big public insurers run their own doctor finders and often a phone service that will help.
4. The 116117 appointment service. If you're publicly insured and live in Berlin, KV Berlin's Terminservice can find you an appointment with a doctor or psychotherapist. For most cases, the wait from your call to the appointment is at most four weeks. It can't promise an appointment in a foreign language [2].

What to bring to your first appointment

• Your electronic health card (or private policy details)
• Photo ID
• A list of current medications with their generic (active ingredient) names, not Australian brand names
• Copies of any recent results or specialist letters from Australia, ideally in English

Once you've been seen, you're effectively a patient of that practice. Stick with it; a practice that already knows you can do more for you, including phone sick notes.

English-speaking doctors

Berlin has many doctors who speak good English, but don't assume the receptionist does. Learn a few lines: Ich möchte einen Termin (I'd like an appointment), Ich bin neu (I'm new), Ich bin gesetzlich versichert (I'm publicly insured). Booking online sidesteps most of it.

Specialists and referrals

Public patients in Germany can book many specialists, such as dermatologists or gynaecologists, without going through a GP first. In practice, though, a referral from your Hausarzt often gets you seen faster, and some specialists, like radiologists, generally work on referral only. The 116117 service can also help with urgent specialist appointments when you have a referral marked as urgent [2].

If you're privately insured, specialists are usually quicker to book, but check what your policy actually reimburses before you go.

After hours: 116117, emergency practices and 112

Getting the number right matters. Berlin's hospitals regularly ask people not to use the emergency department for things a GP could handle.

The Ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst on 116117 runs around the clock and is free. It's for illnesses that would normally need a GP but can't wait until the next working day [3]. The on-call team can give advice, send a doctor for a home visit when needed, or point you to a practice.

KV Berlin also runs emergency practices (KV Notdienstpraxen), usually based at or near hospitals. At the end of 2025 there were six for adults and five for children and teenagers [3]. Opening hours change over holidays, so check KV Berlin's site before you go. Expect longer waits at peak times like Christmas and flu season [3].

Pharmacies and prescriptions

The Apotheke, marked by a red gothic "A", is where you get both prescription and many over-the-counter medicines. Supermarkets and Drogerien like dm and Rossmann sell vitamins and basics but not the stronger painkillers or cold and flu tablets you might grab at Woolies.

Prescriptions

• E-prescriptions. Doctors now usually issue prescriptions electronically. The pharmacy reads them from your health card.
• What you pay. On public insurance, you pay 10% of the medicine's price, at least €5 and at most €10, and never more than the medicine costs [4]. Items under €5 are paid in full. Ask for a receipt; there's an annual cap on co-payments [4].
• Sundays and nights. Pharmacies take turns doing duty. Every pharmacy posts the nearest duty pharmacy in its window, and you'll pay a small night surcharge.

Bringing medicine from Australia

Smartraveller warns that some medicines available in Australia are restricted or illegal in Germany, even with an Australian prescription. Medication can't be posted to Germany, so bring enough to last until you've seen a German doctor, and carry a copy of your prescription or a doctor's letter [1]. Strong painkillers and some ADHD medicines fall under Germany's narcotics law and need extra paperwork; the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) has the rules [1].

A German pharmacy won't dispense on an Australian prescription. Book a GP early, bring your Australian scripts and letters, and ask for a German prescription for the same active ingredient. The brand name may be different.

Sick notes for work

German employment law is strict about sick notes, and it works differently from the Australian medical certificate.

1. Tell your employer straight away on the first day you're sick, by phone or email. No note is needed for the first three calendar days [5].
2. From day four, you need a certificate (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, or AU). Your contract can require one earlier, and your employer can ask for one from day one [5].
3. The certificate goes electronically. Since 2023, if you're publicly insured, the doctor sends the eAU to your insurer and your employer retrieves it. Privately insured employees and minijobbers still get paper [5].
4. Phone sick notes exist, with limits. A practice that already knows you can certify you by phone for up to five days for mild illnesses like a cold or stomach bug [5]. That's one more reason to register with a Hausarzt early. Some politicians want to scrap phone sick notes, but as of March 2026 the rule was still in place [5].

While you're on a certificate, your employer keeps paying your salary for up to six weeks per illness. After that, a public insurer may pay sickness benefit.

The Australian side

Medicare stops covering you once you've left Australia to live overseas, and there's nothing in Germany that substitutes for it except German insurance [1]. Our guide to Medicare when you live abroad explains what happens to your enrolment, and our German paperwork guide covers choosing between public and private cover.

If you end up seriously ill or in hospital and need help contacting family, the Australian Embassy in Berlin is at Wallstrasse 76–79 in Mitte, phone +49 30 880088 0 [1]. Consular staff can't pay your bills, but they can help with contacts and next steps.

Want a GP recommendation from someone who's actually been there? Ask in Cooee Germany, our Facebook group for Australians in Germany. Members regularly share which Berlin practices are taking new patients and which doctors speak good English.

Sources

1. Germany travel advice – Smartraveller (Australian Government)
2. Ein Überblick über medizinische Kontaktstellen – Bezirksamt Mitte, Gesundheitsamt (berlin.de)
3. Emergency practices on public holidays and between the years – berlin.de (December 2025)
4. Zuzahlungen zu Medikamenten, Hilfsmitteln & Co. – Verbraucherzentrale
5. Telefonische Krankschreibung: Regeln, Rechte und Tipps – Apotheken Umschau (updated March 2026)

Keep reading

• German paperwork for Australians: registration, tax ID and health insurance
• Moving to Berlin from Australia: the complete guide
• Medicare when you live abroad
• Private health insurance when you move overseas