Aussie life in Berlin: footy, cricket and community

You can leave Australia, but you'll still want to watch the grand final. Luckily Berlin has a footy club, a cricket scene and more Aussies than you'd think.

The short version

The Berlin Crocodiles have played Australian rules football in Germany's national league since 2003, with men's and women's teams, and they train at Schillerpark in Wedding [1][2][3].
Berlin is one of Germany's cricket heartlands, with several clubs and a ground on the Maifeld beside the Olympic Stadium [4][5].
Time zones are brutal: depending on the month, Berlin is 8 to 10 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne, so live sport means very early mornings or very late nights.
Australian food is a hunt, not a shop. Bring Vegemite in your luggage and learn to love German bread.
Cooee Germany is the easiest place to find other Aussies, flat leads and someone to watch the footy with.

Who the Aussies in Berlin are

Berlin draws a particular kind of Australian: creatives, tech workers, hospitality crew, researchers, people who came for six months and are still here a decade later. Many come on the working holiday visa, and from 1 October 2026 Australians can apply for it up to age 35 rather than 30 [6], so expect a fresh wave of slightly older arrivals.

There's no single Australian neighbourhood. You'll find Aussies spread across Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg, often in English-speaking workplaces and friendship circles. That makes it easy to settle in, and also easy to stay in an expat bubble. The Aussies who seem happiest a few years in usually have a mix: German friends, international friends and a couple of people who understand why you call it "arvo".

Footy: the Berlin Crocodiles

Yes, there's Australian rules football in Berlin, and it's good.

The Berlin Crocodiles formed in 2002 and have played in AFL Germany (AFLG) since its home-and-away seasons began in 2003 [1]. They wear green with a gold yoke and a gold crocodile logo, and play out of Schillerpark in Wedding [1][2]. They've been one of the league's strongest sides, listed as AFLG premiers from 2021 through 2024 [1], and in 2025 they won their semi-final against the Rheinland Lions 108 to 83 [3]. The club also fields a women's side in the AFLG women's competition [7].

What makes it work for Aussies:

It's not just for expats. When SBS German visited the club, it was the German players, men and women, who explained what hooked them on the game [2]. Expect a mix of accents at training.
It's a ready-made social life. Training, games around Germany, and the inevitable post-match beers.
Germany has a national side. The German national team is nicknamed the Eagles, after the eagle on the German coat of arms [1].

If you're more spectator than player, turn up to a home game in summer, bring a folding chair and help explain the rules to curious Berliners.

Cricket on an Olympic field

Cricket has deeper roots in Berlin than most Aussies expect. Germany's first cricket club was founded in Berlin in 1858 by English and American residents [4]. Today the city has a cluster of clubs, including Berlin Cricket Club, BFC Viktoria 1889, Britannia 92, DSSC, Reinickendorfer Füchse, AC Berlin, Bangladesh CC Berlin and the Pakistan Cricket Club Berlin, several of which play in the regional Bundesliga and Verbandsliga competitions [4].

A big chunk of the action happens on the Maifeld, the vast lawn next to the Olympic Stadium in Charlottenburg. Cricket was moved there from the nearby Körnerplatz ground, where it had been played since the 1950s, with new pitches installed in 2012 [5]. Standing at the crease in front of the old Olympic bell tower is a uniquely Berlin experience.

The national body is the German Cricket Federation (DCB), and the sport has grown fast: from about 70 teams nationally in 2012 to around 350 by 2019 [4]. Clubs are usually keen for experienced players and umpires, and Australian accents tend to get a warm welcome at the nets.

Watching sport from home: the time zone table

Here's the hard truth. Your sporting life will be lived at odd hours. Both Australia and Europe use daylight saving, but they switch on different dates and in opposite directions, so the gap moves through the year.

Time of year	Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra	Brisbane	Perth
Early April to early October	Berlin is 8 hours behind	8 hours behind	6 hours behind
Early October to late October	9 hours behind	8 hours behind	6 hours behind
Late October to late March	10 hours behind	9 hours behind	7 hours behind
Late March to early April	9 hours behind	8 hours behind	6 hours behind

What that means in practice:

AFL Grand Final. A traditional 2:30 pm start at the MCG is 6:30 am in Berlin. Bacon rolls at dawn, anyone?
NRL and State of Origin. Evening kick-offs in Sydney or Brisbane land around midday or early afternoon in Berlin, which is the one time the gap works in your favour.
Boxing Day Test. The first ball at the MCG lands in the middle of a Berlin night. Most people catch the last session over breakfast.
The Ashes in England. A happy accident: matches in the UK are only an hour behind Berlin, so you can watch live at normal hours, and a cheap flight gets you to Lord's.

Some sports bars and Irish pubs in Berlin show AFL and NRL on request, especially for finals. Call ahead. Otherwise, a streaming subscription and a mate's lounge room does the job.

Food from home (and what to accept)

Let's manage expectations. Berlin is a brilliant food city, but Australian products are hard to come by.

Vegemite. Pack it. Some international grocers and online shops carry it, but supply comes and goes, and prices reflect the trip.
Tim Tams, Shapes, Milo. Specialty imports at best. Many Aussies bring a suitcase-load after every trip home.
Meat pies. You'll find good pies occasionally, but there's no corner-servo equivalent. Some Aussies make their own for footy finals.
Coffee. Berlin's specialty coffee scene is strong, and a flat white is easy to find in the inner districts. You won't miss home here.
Barbecues. Grilling in Berlin's parks is only allowed on marked barbecue areas, such as spots on Tempelhofer Feld and in Mauerpark; it's banned in the Tiergarten, and permissions can be pulled in hot, dry weather [9].

The upside: German bread, Vietnamese food (Berlin has a large Vietnamese community), Turkish bakeries and the summer lake culture make up for a lot.

The Australian calendar, Berlin style

Australia Day. Usually cold, dark and grey in Berlin. Many Aussies mark it with a pub meetup, a barbecue indoors or simply a quiet Vegemite toast.
Anzac Day. The Australian Embassy is at Wallstraße 76–79 in Mitte [8]. Check its website and social channels in April for any commemorations it is holding or supporting that year.
Christmas. Berlin's Christmas markets are excellent and make a real winter Christmas feel like a fair trade for the beach. Just don't expect prawns.
Elections. You can usually still vote from overseas. Our voting guide explains how to stay on the roll.

How to find your people

Join Cooee Germany. Our Facebook group for Australians in Germany is where people post grand final screenings, flat leads, "anyone flying home with a spare suitcase?" requests and meetups.
Get to a Crocodiles training. Even if you never play a game, footy clubs abroad are among the friendliest ways in.
Find a cricket club. Especially if you can bowl, keep wicket or umpire.
Say yes to German invitations. Book clubs, climbing gyms, a Stammtisch (regular pub table) at work. Berliners can seem reserved at first, then become friends for life.
Learn the language. Even basic German opens doors that English-only life keeps shut.

You'll miss home sometimes, especially in February. But with a footy on your shelf, a jar of Vegemite in the cupboard and a group chat full of other Aussies, Berlin gets very easy to love.

Aussie life in Berlin: where to find footy, cricket and your people