On campus

Meals

The Mensa is the university’s canteen, open to both students and staff. The food here is subsidised and therefore very low-priced. The Mensa building is situated on a little hill just above the MPI-INF (D4.1 on the campus map).

The mensa offers lunch from Mondays to Fridays. In the mensa café on the ground floor you can have breakfast and lunch from Mondays to Fridays. During the lecture periods, they also serve dinner.

There are different categories of food: set meal (regular, non-vegetarian, complete set meal with soup/salad, main course and dessert), vegetarian meal (no meat or fish, complete set meal with soup/salad, main course and dessert), free flow (single courses from which you can assemble your lunch, slightly more expensive than the other categories), Tellergericht (one plate with a main course and a side dish, very low priced), and Salatbuffet (salad buffet; you pay by weight). You can find the menu (updated weekly) on the website of the Studentenwerk.

You need your student identity card, that you can charge with money at machines on the ground floor and upstairs, for paying at the Mensa. There are several other cafés and restaurants on campus, e.g. AC (Ausländercafé), Canossa, Juristencafé, Schlemmereule, etc. Check their menus online.
 

What your student ID is good for…

In the mensa you can pay your lunch with your student ID. There are machines (right beside the entrance to the building) that you can use to transfer money to the student ID.

The student ID also functions as a library card for the SULB, the Saarländische Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek here on the campus.

Within the borders of the Saarland you can use all means of public transport for free, which includes busses, trains (apart from the express trains IC, EC and ICE) and the tram (Saarbahn). With the tram you can even go as far as Saarguemines in France.

You can get free tickets for theatre, opera and ballet performances at the Staatstheater (the opera house right beside the river) the Alte Feuerwache, the Sparte 4 (quite alternative theatre for young people) and the symphony concerts that take place in the Kongresshalle. The only exceptions are premieres and guest acts. And this is how it works:

Starting three days before the performance you wish to attend you can get a free ticket at the advance sale desk by presenting your student ID. The ticket office is situated opposite the Staatstheater at Schillerplatz 2. You can choose a seat from all seats that are still available at that moment. You can also get a ticket at the box office by presenting your student ID, but then you will be assigned a seat. It is not possible to make a reservation by phone!
If you want to make a reservation earlier than three days ahead of the performance because a certain play or opera is in very strong demand, the ticket will cost you 5 euros.

Whenever you go to the movies, to a museum, to a concert: Don’t forget to ask if there is a student discount (Studentenermäßigung). You might get a cheaper ticket.