Frequently Asked Questions

If your child is at least 1 year old, they are legally entitled to early childhood education. Younger children may also be entitled to a place if their parents are unable to look after them themselves, for example if both parents are working. Childcare facilities and preschools offer early childhood development care.

Your local authority is responsible for the childcare facilities in your town or municipality. Click here to find out more about application deadlines, admission criteria and your legal entitlements.

You are not entitled to a place in the childcare facility of your choice.

"Kindertageseinrichtung" (Kita) (preschool) is the generic term for kindergartens and crèches or socio-educational playgroups etc.

Crèches, toddler groups, mixed-age groups, socio-educational playgroups and company-based facilities offer care for children under the age of 3. In most groups, up to ten children are looked after at the same time, while the mixed-age groups can include up to ten kindergarten-aged children between the ages of 3 and 6 and five children under the age of 3.

Kindertagespflege (childminding) means that a childminder looks after your child – usually in their own home or in the family home. A childminder can look after up to five children at the same time. Childminding services are also available in external child-friendly spaces, where two professionals look after up to ten children together. The professionals work together, similarly to the staff in a preschool.

The monthly fees payable depend on the regular childcare services you use at the respective facility. Fees are staggered based on income as defined in [Bremen's version of Section 5 "Ortsgesetz über die Beiträge für die Kindergärten und Horte der Stadtgemeinde Bremen" (Local law on contributions for kindergartens and after-school care centres in the municipality of Bremen)] and taking into account the size of the household. The contribution period is the kindergarten year, which corresponds to the school year (1 August to 31 July of the following year). Parents/guardians are also obliged to pay contributions during the times when the childcare facility is closed. The contribution is due monthly on a retroactive basis.

If the childcare place is subject to a fee, you can provide the necessary details after the contract has been concluded.

The kindergarten year begins on 1 August each year, and most places are allocated anew simultaneously at this time. To register your child for a childcare place, you should take advantage of the application period in January and indicate the desired admission date on the application form. You can also register your child for a different date, for example because you are moving. In this case, you should apply at least three months before the desired start date. Places are allocated based on the criteria set out in the "Aufnahmeortsgesetz". Registering years in advance or even before the birth of your child will therefore not give you any advantage – in fact, it is not even possible.

Crèches, preschools, and after-school care centres are responsible for the allocation of available places. This is done on the basis of set guidelines and criteria. If there are more applications than place available, the management team of the facility must decide which children will be accepted, taking into account the statutory selection criteria. Priority is given on the basis of proximity to home, if a sibling is already attending the facility or if the Social Services Office confirms that the need for care is particularly urgent and important for the child's educational development.

Once you have been offered a childcare place, you can then accept the place within the acceptance period. If you have any questions regarding the admission of your child, please contact the facility directly.

Children from the surrounding areas of Bremen in Lower Saxony can also apply for a childcare place via the portal. However, the Bremen Aufnahmeortsgesetz stipulates that they can only be accepted once the children in the city of Bremen have been provided for. In addition, parents who do not live in Bremen with their children must pay childcare fees at the respective maximum rate, regardless of their income. This means you may be charged up to 465 euros including lunch per child.

Yes, an application can be rejected. In principle, an application is a non-binding childcare enquiry which is used to plan the expected number of places required at the respective childcare facility. Places are allocated based on the capacity available at the time the childcare service begins. Your legal entitlement to a childcare place has been fulfilled when you are offered a childcare place. The childcare place does not have to be in your preferred childcare facility.

It is possible that your child may not be offered a place at the childcare facility for which you have applied. When applying for a place for your child, it is important that you decide whether a placement in a neighbouring facility or with a childminder is an alternative for you if this happens. If you cannot imagine your child attending a facility other than the one to which you have applied, you will have to wait until a place opens up in the respective childcare facility. Until then, your application will be placed on a waiting list at the childcare facility. If you are happy to enrol your child in a neighbouring childcare facility, a regional placement will be attempted. To this end, the childcare facility management teams and PiB specialist advisers will coordinate with each other within the city districts to ensure that as many children as possible will receive childcare places near their homes. If this regional placement is not successful, your application may be forwarded to the Department of the Senator for Children and Education for central city-wide placement upon request.

The online portal allows you to apply to the childcare service of your choice from the comfort of your own home. Simply enter the data relevant to the application and submit it to up to three preferred facilities. If a facility is able to offer you a place, they will contact you directly.

First, you collect information about which childcare services are available in your area that suit your needs. Important criteria for selecting a suitable facility include the level of care, opening hours, and the educational work staff do with children in the facilities. Once you have found a suitable option, you can easily apply to up to three facilities via the online portal. They will automatically receive the relevant information and can then quickly decide whether they have a place available for you. You can find a How To guide to help you fill in the application form here.

Step 1: Search
Once you have researched the childcare services in your area and found facilities that suit your family's needs, you can start the application process via the online portal. The portal will first show you which facilities are participating in the online application process.

Step 2: Selection
Select the facilities to which you wish to apply by clicking on the 'Facility' (Einrichtung) button. You can enter up to three preferred institutions.

Step 3: Application
Start the application process and enter your details. Once completed, your details will be sent automatically to the selected facilities, after which you will receive a confirmation.

Step 4: Allocation of places
The facilities will review your application and let you know whether they have a place for your child.

Find out which childcare facilities are available in your area before you apply. Your local authority will be happy to help you.

When choosing a facility, it is important make sure that its offerings suit your family's needs. The facilities' websites contain information on the opening hours, the level of care offered and the educational work staff do with the children, for example.

Many crèches and preschools also offer information events such as open days. You should take advantage of these opportunities to get to know the facilities and their staff.

You will need the following documents to apply online:

• Your identity card or passport
• Child ID number/Kinder-ID
• If applicable, a certificate from the Social Services Office stating that the need for childcare is particularly urgent and important for the child's educational development.

You will also need the following documents from the "Elternbeitragsstelle" for the calculation of parental contributions to childcare and to receive a parental childcare subsidy.

• Completed and signed initial or renewal application form
• Annual certificate from the parents' association/provider
• Identity card of the applicant parent (copy)
• Residence permit of the legal guardian and the child to be cared for
• Proof of care for siblings (copy)
• Child's "Bremen-Pass" (education and participation if you are receiving benefits from the Jobcenter)

Proof of income from the penultimate calendar year before the start of the kindergarten year:

• Tax assessment notice for the year before last; alternatively annual electronic certificate of income tax deduction, income from marginal employment, renting and leasing, capital assets
• Income from self-employment, business, agriculture and forestry
• Notification of public benefits (including BAföG, pensions, benefits under SBG III and SGB II as well as the Employment Promotion Act (Arbeitsförderungsgesetz), other benefits under the Social Security Act such as sickness benefit, housing benefit, maternity benefit, parental benefit and benefits under SGB XII).
• Proof of child support/child support advance payment

Childcare costs will be granted at the earliest from the month in which the written application is received.

Your details will be transmitted automatically to the facilities of your choice as described. If the childcare service of your choice is able to offer you a place, it will contact you within the customary period. If a local community receives more applications than it has places available, it will allocate places on the basis of certain criteria.

If it is not possible to allocate you a place in your facility of choice, you will be notified as soon as possible. The facility will then advise you on how to proceed with your application. For example, it may place you on a waiting list for a specific facility or include you in a placement procedure.

Not all providers and their childcare facilities participate in deinkitaplatz. If your preferred facility does not participate in the online application process through deinkitaplatz, please contact the relevant provider or facility in person and enquire about the individual procedures for applying for and receiving a childcare place.

The deinkitaplatz portal supports parents in their search for a childcare place and makes it much easier to apply to your preferred facility. Thanks to the online application process, you can apply to several facilities at once for a place for your child from the comfort of your own home; the maximum number you can apply to may vary by federal state. You can check the status of your applications at any time. The online service also simplifies the application process for the childcare facilities. We therefore strongly recommend that you apply via deinkitaplatz. Nevertheless, you can still apply directly to a facility, for example if the facility in question does not participate in deinkitaplatz (you can see this in the respective facility profile). If you have any difficulties using deinkitaplatz, please contact the Parent Service at the Department of the Senator for Children and Education.

In order to comply with the legal right of parents to choose, you can assign a preferred order to your selected facilities when you apply. To specify your preferred childcare facility, put it first, followed by your second preference, and so on. This order will be visible to the facilities you have selected and may affect the allocation and selection process.

If your child has been allocated a place, you will receive a written confirmation from the childcare facility. You will then have ten working days to confirm that you accept the place. If you do not confirm within this period, the place will automatically go to another child.

Yes, an application can be rejected. In principle, an application is a non-binding childcare enquiry which is used to plan the expected number of places required at the respective childcare facility. Places are allocated based on the capacity available at the time the childcare service begins. Your legal entitlement to a childcare place has been fulfilled when you are offered a childcare place. The childcare place does not have to be in your preferred childcare facility.

It is possible that your child may not be offered a place at the childcare facility for which you have applied. When applying for a place for your child, it is important that you decide whether a placement in a neighbouring facility or with a childminder is an alternative for you if this happens. If you cannot imagine your child attending a facility other than the one to which you have applied, you will have to wait until a place opens up in the respective childcare facility. Until then, your application will be placed on a waiting list at the childcare facility. If you are happy to enrol your child in a neighbouring childcare facility, a regional placement will be attempted. To this end, the childcare facility management teams and PiB specialist advisers will coordinate with each other within the city districts to ensure that as many children as possible will receive childcare places near their homes. If this regional placement is not successful, your application may be forwarded to the Department of the Senator for Children and Education for central city-wide placement upon request.