A new beginning can be scary. But Babette dared to do it anyway. After a breakup, she got together with her current boyfriend and left her life in Germany behind.
This piece comes from the stern archive and first appeared in January 2024.
It almost sounds like a typical Hollywood tearjerker: A woman, a man – they have known each other for around ten years, but somehow it never worked out. They stay in loose contact until they finally become a couple. But this story is not made up, it is the love story of 32-year-old Babette, which she tells here:
“On paper, I had everything in Germany: a beautiful old apartment near the city but still in the countryside, my family around the corner and a secure job as a school psychologist. I could even have been a civil servant. Materially, I was well provided for, could buy myself nice things – but I was not happy. I was in a relationship that was not good for me. After the separation, I finally got together with the love of my life.
Unexpectedly landed in Denmark
I have known my boyfriend for around ten years. We always kept in touch, but always missed the right time to get together. And now we were both single – maybe we were secretly waiting for this moment. My boyfriend has lived in Copenhagen since his master’s degree, and when we got together, we decided relatively quickly that we wanted to start a family too. And that I would move to Denmark to be with him. I gave birth to our daughter in Germany. During my parental leave, I traveled back and forth a lot between Germany and Denmark. I have been living permanently in Copenhagen since June 2023 and have never regretted this step. Even though I never thought I would end up in Denmark.
I could always imagine living abroad, but I was never a big fan of Scandinavia. But the longer I’m here, the more I like it. The Danes are more relaxed and laid-back than the Germans. Everyone here uses first names – even when I call the tax office. I really like the Hygge philosophy of life: making yourself comfortable at home with a cup of tea in the unpleasant weather or discovering the beautiful cafés in Copenhagen. In the summer you are rewarded for having made it through the winter. The quality of life is then simply super high, you can go swimming everywhere and there is a great atmosphere in the city.
I took a risk by emigrating to Copenhagen. But it felt like the step towards great happiness. I simply realized that freedom is much more important to me than security. Some people might describe my move to Copenhagen as naive. I think I am somewhat naive, but that is perhaps part of venturing into the unknown: raising my child alone with my boyfriend, with no family nearby. It is a challenge, but also an opportunity for us as a couple – to know that we are a team and that we can manage as a couple. But we also have a network of friends in Denmark in case of an emergency. Of course, it is different to having your grandmother there.
The new beginning as a big change
At the beginning I sometimes felt very lonely in Copenhagen, I thought back to my life in Germany and wondered how I would be able to support myself in Denmark. But little by little I settled in really well and work as a freelance psychologist. It gave me a lot of strength that through this new beginning I saw that I could master such a big change in my life. And that it can be a positive thing when your life changes dramatically. When I emigrated, it helped me to think that if I had to go back to Germany and build a life for myself there again.
For the future in Denmark, I would like to learn the language even better. When I am in Germany, I notice that I enjoy being able to speak in my mother tongue and to incorporate things that I couldn’t express in Danish. It is both a blessing and a curse that things work out very well in Copenhagen when I only speak English, and our family language is also English. But I would like to understand more and have more contact with Danes. So far, I have found it rather difficult to make Danish friends – but I have the feeling that when people open up here, they are very warm.”
If requested, only the first name is given in the article. The editors know the full name.
Source: Stern
I’m Caroline, a journalist and author for 24 Hours Worlds. I specialize in health-related news and stories, bringing real-world impact to readers across the globe. With my experience in journalism and writing in both print and online formats, I strive to provide reliable information that resonates with audiences from all walks of life.
