The internship is where German theory meets German practice, and where international students discover that "internship" is not one thing but two, with very different rules attached. One kind your university forces on you and may not pay a cent for; another kind you choose, and which, past a certain length, legally must pay you minimum wage. Mix them up, and you either work for free when you were owed money, or blow through your student work allowance without realising. The German word is Praktikum, and the fine print is worth reading before you sign.
This guide explains how internships work in Germany: mandatory versus voluntary, when minimum wage kicks in, the duration rules, and how a Praktikum touches your student visa and work limits. If an internship is on your horizon, know which kind you are doing first.
Two kinds of Praktikum
Everything about German internship rules flows from one distinction:
- Mandatory internship (Pflichtpraktikum): required by your study program, the university mandates it as part of the curriculum. You do it because your degree demands it.
- Voluntary internship (freiwilliges Praktikum): one you do by choice, not required by your studies, to gain experience, build your CV, or test a field.
This mandatory-versus-voluntary split is the thing to get straight, because it determines two separate consequences: whether you must be paid minimum wage, and whether the time counts against your student work limits. The same activity (interning at a company) is governed by different rules depending purely on which category it falls into.
So before anything else, establish: is this internship required by your program (mandatory) or your own choice (voluntary)? Your university's study regulations say which. Get that label right and the rest of the rules follow.
When it must be paid
The pay rules hinge on type and length:
- A voluntary internship longer than three months generally must be paid at least the statutory minimum wage
- A voluntary internship up to three months is typically exempt from minimum wage
- A mandatory internship required by your studies is usually exempt from minimum wage, so it can be unpaid or low-paid
So the clear case where minimum wage applies is a long voluntary Praktikum (over three months). The cases where it usually does not are short voluntary internships and mandatory ones tied to your curriculum.
This catches students two ways. Some do a long voluntary internship and do not realise they are owed minimum wage, accepting unpaid work that the law says should pay. Others assume every internship pays and are surprised when their mandatory curriculum internship does not. Know your type and length, and you know your pay entitlement, and a paid internship comes with a contract worth understanding.
The student work-limit interaction
For international students, internships also touch the 120-day/240-half-day work limit (for non-EU students), and again the type decides:
- Mandatory internships that are a required part of your studies generally do not count against the 120-day limit
- Voluntary internships usually do count, like other work
This is a meaningful difference. A Pflichtpraktikum does not eat into your precious work allowance, it is treated as part of your studies, not as work. A freiwilliges Praktikum does consume work days, so a long voluntary internship can use up much of your annual allowance.
So if you are planning your year's work around the 120-day cap, a mandatory internship is "free" (does not count), while a voluntary one must be budgeted within the allowance alongside any other student jobs. Check how a given internship is classified for the work-day count before starting, especially if you also hold a part-time job.
How it fits the bigger picture
Internships are not just a student-rules puzzle; they are a career investment with real value in Germany:
- They build the practical experience German employers value
- They often lead toward post-study work, an internship can become a job offer, feeding into the student-to-work transition
- They help you test a field before committing a career to it
So even an unpaid mandatory internship has worth beyond pay, it is experience and a foot in the door. And a paid voluntary internship is both income and CV-building. Many students convert a strong internship into a graduate role at the same company, which is one of the smoothest routes into the German job market.
To land one, you apply with a German-style CV (the Lebenslauf), which differs from CVs elsewhere, so format it to local expectations. Treat the internship search like a job search: targeted applications, a proper CV, and follow-up.
What to do this week
- Establish whether your internship is mandatory (required by your program) or voluntary, since this decides both minimum-wage entitlement and the work-day count.
- For a voluntary internship over three months, confirm you are paid at least minimum wage; for a mandatory one, expect it may be unpaid or low-paid but free of the 120-day count.
- Apply with a proper German CV (Lebenslauf), and treat a strong internship as a route toward a post-study job offer.
