🧩 Social groups and meeting opportunities
In brief
Getting back into social contact is easier through low-threshold, non-binding services than by trying to form a "real" friendship straight away. Open meeting points, lunch tables, neighbourhood cafés and multi-generation houses are deliberately designed so that you can simply drop in without registration, membership or prior knowledge.
Step by step
- Find a multi-generation house or neighbourhood meeting point nearbyVia the website of the federal programme Mehrgenerationenhaus or your municipality you can find the nearest house with an open meeting point.
- Contact the municipality's neighbourhood work/community officeMany towns and municipalities have neighbourhood management or community offices (Sozialraumbüros) that know about local meeting points, courses and neighbourhood initiatives.
- Involve parishes and welfare associationsRegardless of your own denomination, many parishes offer open cafés, lunch tables or visiting services that are open to everyone.
- Use the adult education centre and clubsCourses at the adult education centre (VHS) or a sports club offer regular contact with people who share your interests, without "looking for contacts" having to be the stated goal.
- Start small and keep goingA single visit is rarely enough; only coming back regularly turns acquaintances into lasting contacts.
Deadlines
- A single visit rarely changes anything – continuity matters more with meeting opportunities than choosing the "perfect" one.
- Not every service is barrier-free or easily reachable for people with limited mobility; it is worth asking about accessibility beforehand.
- Services differ greatly from one municipality to another – there is no nationwide uniform directory, but local contact points (Bürgerbüro, senior citizens' office, family centre) can help.
- Some people initially find group services overwhelming; a one-to-one conversation at an advice centre can be a sensible intermediate step.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Structural programmes
The federal programme Mehrgenerationenhaus, funded by the BMBFSFJ, comprises around 550 locations nationwide according to the programme, with open meeting points, intergenerational services and low-threshold advice. Municipal neighbourhood management and community office structures (often funded under urban development funding or municipal social planning) complement this locally but are not regulated uniformly nationwide.
Effect of low-threshold services
In its practice recommendations, the Kompetenznetz Einsamkeit names the expansion of easily accessible, free meeting places as one of the central preventive measures against loneliness, expressly in addition to – not instead of – individual counselling or therapy where loneliness has already become entrenched.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.