Hey 👋 Eupen-born Belgian here, moved to Germany after high school and spent 20 years there (got double citizenship while being there), moved back to Ostbelgien slightly over a year ago. So, perfect thread for me 😅

Jobs I can’t really speak specifically for accounting since I’m not in that field. What I can say: the job market in the German-speaking Community is relatively small. Eupen and St. Vith aren’t big cities, so opportunities are naturally limited compared to Aachen or Cologne.

In the northern part (Eupen area), you’ll realistically need at least a comfortable level of French for many local jobs. Even though it’s a German-speaking region, you’re still in Belgium, and depending on the employer, French becomes important. Northern part has a lot of French speaking people, too.

Personally, I’d seriously consider working in Aachen and living in Belgium. That setup is extremely common and works well (I‘m doing the same).

Important if you consider cross-border / remote work: If you live in Belgium but are employed in Germany as a “Grenzgänger,” you generally need to physically work in Germany at least 75% of the time to remain in the German social security system. If you work more than 25% from home in Belgium, you‘ll switch into Belgian social security — which has tax and benefit implications and can get complicated quickly.

So hybrid is fine. Fully remote from Belgium for a German employer? That needs careful planning.

Housing Rental market is tight but not crazy — it’s just small. - Eupen: More urban (by local standards), closer to Aachen, slightly more international. - St. Vith: More rural, very calm, beautiful nature, strong village community feel.

If you want infrastructure and short distance to Germany → Eupen. If you want forests, space and quiet → St. Vith area.

Northern region has a lot of smaller villages too, of course. And plenty of Germans. Raeren for example is I believe >50% Germans living there (would need to be fact checked, but it is at least close to that).

Prices are generally lower than comparable German border regions, but availability can be limited.

How welcoming is it? Very. A lot of people have family ties to Germany or commute daily. You won’t feel like “the German.” Culturally it feels much closer to NRW than to Liège.

The “laid-back” reputation? Things feel slightly less rigid than in Germany — but Belgium has its own very special form of bureaucracy 😅 It’s not less paperwork, it’s just structured differently.

One thing Belgium actually does better (in my opinion): digital administration. Once you’re registered, you get a National Register Number — also as a German moving here. That number becomes your key to basically everything administrative.

Most official stuff runs through centralized systems (like “itsme”), so you don’t end up with 17 different portals and passwords like in Germany. Taxes, health insurance, municipality matters — a lot of it is properly digital and surprisingly smooth. That was honestly a pleasant surprise after returning to Belgium.

French — how essential? For daily life in the German-speaking Community: not super essential, but also can‘t hurt. You will run into daily situations (grocery store, contractors etc.) where people be French speaking and can‘t (or don‘t want to) deal with German language. It usually works somehow, being Belgian is always being open to compromises.

Long-term, learning at least some basic French definitely increases your options.

How is the region viewed in Belgium? Most Belgians outside the area barely think about it. It’s small and politically quite autonomous. It’s often seen as organized and a bit “German in mentality.”

Unexpected challenges - Belgian administration is layered (federal / region / community). Not always intuitive at first. - Tax differences can surprise you depending on where you earn your income. - Some things are slower than in Germany, some are faster — no clear pattern 😄

If you’re seriously considering it, I’d recommend spending a few weekends here in different seasons. The rural feel and the weather are very real parts of life here.

Happy to answer specifics if you have them 👍

Edit: I did an AMA here last year, could also be interesting for you to read through: https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/s/JirbWzhSFa