The German system resembles the French one in many ways, walk-in community paediatrician included, but it has its own codes: a health fund to choose, a card with no upfront payment, a yellow booklet for check-ups, and 116 117 for the on-call doctor. Here is how it works, with verified addresses and the official list of French-speaking practitioners.
Verified on 30 October 2026
How German health insurance works
No carte Vitale or single social security: each family chooses its public health fund (Krankenkasse), unless it qualifies for private cover. Once enrolled, the insurance card opens every door without paying anything on the spot.
Good to know
Everyone living in Germany must be insured, either in the public scheme (GKV) or privately (PKV) for employees above an income threshold, the self-employed and civil servants. Source ↗
In the public scheme, a spouse without income and the children are insured free of charge with the contributing parent (Familienversicherung), as a rule until the child turns 18. Source ↗
The insurance card (Gesundheitskarte) is all you need at the doctor's: the fund pays the practitioner directly, you do not pay upfront; in the private system it is the reverse, you pay and then claim back. Source ↗
Public insurees freely choose their fund and may switch; core benefits are identical, the differences lie in services and extras (osteopathy, antenatal classes, apps). Source ↗
Co-payments (Zuzahlungen) exist for adults, for instance 10% of a prescription medicine's price between 5 and 10 €, capped at 2% of yearly income; children and teenagers under 18 are fully exempt. Source ↗
As in France, the community paediatrician (Kinderarzt) follows the child without going through a GP. Munich practices are full: call as soon as you arrive, and ask to be registered as new patients before the first cold.
Good to know
The official directory of insurance-approved doctors (arztsuche.116117.de) lets you search a Kinderarzt by district and see opening hours; registration happens at the practice with the child's insurance card, or yours while theirs is on its way. Source ↗
The U1 to U9 screening check-ups punctuate early childhood: U1 at birth, U2 between day 3 and 10, U3 at 4 to 5 weeks, U4 at 3 to 4 months, U5 at 6 to 7 months, U6 at 10 to 12 months, U7 at 21 to 24 months, U7a at 34 to 36 months, U8 at 46 to 48 months and U9 at 60 to 64 months, then J1 in adolescence. Source ↗
The local health record is the 'gelbes Heft' (yellow booklet), handed out at the maternity unit or by the midwife: U check-up results are recorded in it. No institution (Kita, school) may demand to see it; the detachable participation card is proof enough. Source ↗
If you arrive with a child, bring the French health record to the first appointment: the Kinderarzt copies vaccines into a German Impfpass and aligns check-ups with the local schedule.
To enter a Kita or school, a child aged one or over must show the measles vaccinations recommended by STIKO: it is Germany's only compulsory vaccination, in force since 1 March 2020. Source ↗
Two numbers to remember: 112 for life-threatening emergencies, 116 117 for the on-call doctor in the evening and at weekends. Munich is lucky to have four children's hospitals with dedicated emergency units, open day and night.
Good to know
112 (fire and ambulance) is free, including from a mobile, and reserved for life-threatening emergencies; for anything a closed doctor's practice would handle, 116 117, free and reachable 24/7, directs you to the on-call doctor or the nearest Bereitschaftspraxis. Source ↗
In Bavaria, the on-call service (Bereitschaftsdienst) takes over from practices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 pm, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm, and all day at weekends and on public holidays; the doctor may make a home visit if deemed necessary. Source ↗
Paediatric Bereitschaftspraxen, run by community paediatricians, open at weekends and on public holidays in the Harlaching and Schwabing children's hospitals (in Harlaching, 9 am to 8 pm); that is where 116 117 will send you for a Saturday fever or ear infection. Source ↗
Children's emergency units triage by severity, not arrival order: expect to wait for a non-critical case. Bring the child's insurance card, yellow booklet and Impfpass; in case of poisoning, the Munich poison centre answers on 089 19240 and asks you to bring the substance involved. Source ↗
Addresses
Dr. von Haunersches Kinderspital (LMU Klinikum), urgences enfants
Emergency
Lindwurmstraße 4, 80337 München (Ludwigsvorstadt)
The historic university children's hospital in the centre, founded by Dr Hauner in 1846: round-the-clock interdisciplinary emergencies, paediatric surgery, reference centre for rare and chronic diseases. One doctor on outpatient duty, waits can be long.
Kölner Platz 1, 80804 München (Schwabing, U2/U3 Scheidplatz)
The emergency unit of München Klinik's largest children's hospital, run with the TUM university hospital: open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, entrance via Isoldenstraße; paediatric surgery, orthopaedics and neonatology on site.
The southern children's hospital, a stone's throw from Giesing: emergencies on the ground floor of the main building, community paediatricians' Bereitschaftspraxis on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9 am to 8 pm, level 1 perinatal centre and 24-hour rooming-in.
The western children's hospital emergency unit, open 365 days a year around the clock, with triage by paediatric nurses under the Manchester system; welcome leaflets in several languages. Level 1 maternity unit on the same site.
The French embassy in Germany publishes, Land by Land, a list of French-speaking doctors, updated in October 2026. It is not exhaustive, relies on the practitioners' own declarations and does not engage the consulates' responsibility. We list the Munich practitioners most useful to families; most accept public insurance.
Good to know
For Bavaria the list covers the consulate's medical advisers, paediatricians, GPs, gynaecologists, dermatologists, ENT specialists, dentists, speech therapists, physios, osteopaths, psychotherapists and Heilpraktiker; it is the only public source checked by the French administration. Source ↗
Check whether a practitioner is listed as accepting all funds or as private only: a 'Privatpraxis' bills the consultation, which only private or top-up insurance reimburses; the others take the public insurance card. Source ↗
The lepetitjournal.com Munich directory and the Petit guide de Munich complement the list with professionals who register themselves; for care in German near home, the official directory arztsuche.116117.de remains the reference. Source ↗
Addresses
Dr Alexia Horelt-Ernou
Paediatrician
Ramersdorf-Perlach (Ottobrunner Straße 18, 81737)
Paediatrician, also osteopath and travel medicine doctor, yellow fever vaccination centre.
In Germany, the community gynaecologist follows the pregnancy and the midwife (Hebamme) plays a central role before and above all after the birth, at home. You book your midwife as soon as the test is positive, so sought-after are they in Munich, and you register yourself at the maternity unit of your choice.
Good to know
Hebammensuche Bayern, set up by the Bavarian midwives' association with the City of Munich's health department, lists midwives available around your due date and postcode, with a language filter including French; search early, the shortage is real. Source ↗
Maternity leave (Mutterschutz) runs from 6 weeks before the due date to 8 weeks after the birth, 12 for a premature or multiple birth; the allowance (Mutterschaftsgeld) topped up by the employer generally maintains salary, and dismissal is prohibited from pregnancy until four months after the birth, whatever your nationality. Source ↗
Elterngeld then takes over for 12 to 14 months; the application is filed with the Elterngeldstelle within three months of the birth, as it is only backdated three months. Source ↗
You register directly with the maternity unit, often via an online form, then tour the delivery rooms; Munich's big maternity units are level 1 perinatal centres with neonatal intensive care on site, and München Klinik welcomed nearly 6,000 births in 2025 at its Harlaching and Schwabing hospitals (Neuperlach no longer delivers). Source ↗
Addresses
LMU Klinikum, Frauenklinik (Großhadern et Innenstadt)
Maternity
Marchioninistraße 15, 81377 München et Ziemssenstraße 5, 80336 München
The university maternity unit on two campuses, Großhadern in the south-west and Innenstadt near the Haunersches Kinderspital: perinatal centre, online birth registration, hospital midwife team.
Klinikum Dritter Orden, Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe
Maternity
Menzinger Straße 44, 80638 München (Nymphenburg)
Maternity unit renowned beyond Bavaria, level 1 perinatal centre with the adjoining children's hospital, caesarean theatre within the delivery area, preparation interview around 36 weeks for registered mothers.
The southern public maternity unit, level 1 perinatal centre with the children's hospital on the same site, minutes from Giesing and the French school.
Beratungsstelle für Natürliche Geburt und Elternsein, Häberlstraße 17
Häberlstraße 17, 80337 München (Ludwigsvorstadt)
Community perinatal centre active for over 45 years: antenatal classes, postnatal recovery, parent cafés and freelance midwives, in a multilingual house; French-language courses and a French café have been offered there, ask about the current programme.
Apotheken with their red cross are everywhere and the pharmacist is happy to advise, but forget paracetamol at the supermarket: in Germany, almost everything is sold in pharmacies. Doliprane does not exist, look for Paracetamol, and Spasfon has no equivalent.
Good to know
Medicines, even over-the-counter ones, are reserved for pharmacies (Apothekenpflicht): drugstores only sell supplements and care products, no painkillers or syrups. Source ↗
At night, on Sundays and public holidays, an on-duty pharmacy (Notdienst) is always open in each area: the day's list is posted on the door of every pharmacy, and the aponet.de search engine, run by German pharmacists, gives it by postcode. Source ↗
On prescription, adults pay a 10% co-payment, at least 5 and at most 10 € per pack; children and teenagers under 18 pay nothing, and the prescription (pink or electronic on the insurance card) is presented at the pharmacy. Source ↗
Equivalents: Paracetamol (ben-u-ron syrup and suppositories for children) for Doliprane, Ibuprofen (Nurofen Junior) for Advil, Kochsalzlösung or Meerwasser-Nasenspray for saline solution, Fenistil for bites. Pharmacies happily prepare paediatric doses and sell the Fieberthermometer and Zäpfchen everyone uses here.
For a long-term treatment started in France, have the Kinderarzt issue a new prescription on arrival: the pharmacist is not obliged to honour a foreign prescription they cannot verify, and only a German prescription opens cover by the health fund.
The schedule of STIKO, the German vaccination committee, closely resembles the French one, with a few shifts and two fundamental differences: nothing is compulsory except measles to enter a Kita, and chickenpox is vaccinated from age one. Everything is done at the Kinderarzt, with no vaccination centre.
Good to know
The only obligation: proving, from age one, the measles vaccinations recommended by STIKO to enter a Kita, a childminder's or school, under the measles protection law in force since 1 March 2020. In France, eleven vaccinations are compulsory for young children. Source ↗
Baby: rotavirus from 6 weeks, then the hexavalent vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, Hib, polio, hepatitis B) and pneumococcal at 2, 4 and 11 months, as in France; meningococcal B is given at 2, 4 and 12 months, slightly earlier than the French schedule. Source ↗
Measles, mumps and rubella are given at 11 months then 15 months, slightly earlier than in France, and chickenpox is vaccinated at the same ages although it is not in the French schedule; both vaccines can be given the same day or four weeks apart. Source ↗
Newborns: as in France, RSV (bronchiolitis) immunisation with monoclonal antibodies is recommended before the first winter season, ideally on leaving the maternity unit for babies born between October and March. Source ↗
Older children: tetanus-diphtheria-whooping cough boosters between 5 and 6 then between 9 and 16, HPV for girls and boys from age 9 in two doses, meningococcal ACWY in adolescence; flu is not routinely offered to children, unlike in the UK. Source ↗
Vaccines are given at the Kinderarzt's practice, often during the U check-ups, and recorded in the Impfpass (the WHO yellow vaccination booklet): bring the French health record so they can copy in the doses already received. Also ask whether the tick-borne encephalitis (FSME) vaccine, very common in Bavaria, is indicated for your child. Source ↗
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