Accommodation
There is no campus system at German institutions of higher education. Students have to look for their own accommodation in the vicinity. Finding a room or flat is probably the biggest hurdle you will have to surmount during your stay in Germany because living space in most German towns is both expensive and hard to come by. The following can help you find an accommodation:

The Foreign Student Office
The Foreign Student Office at the place where you will be studying can tell you about vacancies in student residences and application procedures. Get yourself put on the waiting list for an apartment in a guesthouse belonging to the institution, although the waiting list may take anything up to a year and there is no guarantee that you will get a place at all. Some Foreign Student Offices are able to put you in contact with private landlords if students have passed on the name and address at the end of their research period. If you are satisfied with your own accommodation you are kindly requested to do so, too, hen you return home.

Student Services and AStA
Student Services and AStA at some institutions have produced brochures containing advice for flat-hunters in the respective towns. Get this sent to you. Student Services and the AStA social section are also responsible for allocating places in student residences. Get in your application early and get your name on the waiting-list! Student Services also have addresses of private residences. A room in a student residence costs between DM 100 (but only in the new Länder) and DM 450 per month. Some residences offer a restricted number of places for families. On the whole they offer single and double rooms with several students sharing a kitchen and possibly bathroom facilities, too. In the new states rooms are often shared by several students. Some foundations have their own guesthouses. If you have received a scholarship enquire at the foundation.

Student Accommodation Agencies
At some institutions Student Services and AStA have organized accommodation agencies. Those searching are given about 3 addresses to contact. Any one address will not be given to more than 3 people on any one day, so your chances are not too bad. You have to pay a deposit for the addresses, which will be returned to you next day when you bring them back and report whether you have decided on one of them.

House-sharing agencies ("Mitwohnzentralen")
In many towns with institutions of higher education there are agencies letting furnished or unfurnished rooms to private tenants for a period of days, weeks or months. They also offer rooms in shared-housing ("Wohngemeinschaften"), occasionally for longer periods. You do have to pay a commission if you find somewhere but the tenancy agreements are checked by lawyers and offer you an initial degree of legal security so that you can study the housing situation in the vicinity of your institution in peace.

Newspapers and Notice-boards
Offers of accommodation are available in local newspapers, usually in the Wednesday and weekend editions. You can also advertise that you're looking for a room. Classified newspapers specialize in advertisements. You could also find accommodation at your university. The “notice-boards” are usually crammed with offers of accommodation scrawled on bits of paper. For those who arrive in Germany alone, flat sharing in so-called “WGs” (Wohngemeinschaften), is a good way to get to meet people.

Health Insurance
All students have to take out a health insurance in Germany. Anyone falling ill in Germany has relatively little, other than the ailment, to worry about. Students, no matter where they're from, are all insured with public health insurance companies. That costs less than 50 euro a month and is well worth it. Any doctors visits, hospital stays and treatment are free of charge. 
Proof of health insurance has to be presented at the admissions office before registering for classes. No health insurance means no registration. 

Foreign students must take out health insurance here in Germany. Any public health insurance company can give you more information and all the necessary application forms. In certain German states it's sufficient if foreign students furnish proof of health insurance cover taken in their home countries. The offices for international affairs at the individual universities will also be able to supply you with more information. Some examples of insurance companies are the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse, Techniker Krankenkasse, and Barmer Ersatzkasse. 

Students at colleges of preparatory studies, guest researchers, anyone taking part in language courses and students who are older than 30 do not qualify for public health insurance. They have to get private health insurance. Nevertheless, they still have to supply proof to the Foreigners Affairs Office that they have adequate health coverage in order to attain a residence permit. 

The German Students Services (Deutsches Studentenwerk) has an agreement with a private insurance company that allows persons in the above named group to receive private health coverage for under 50 euro a month. The Studentenwerk has more information.