This article is part of an InfoMigrants series detailing how unhoused migrants can stay safe throughout the winter in Germany's largest cities. The other articles in our series cover Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne.

According to a recent study by the German Economic Institute (IW) and the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR), Munich is by far the most expensive city in Germany.

This high cost of living, paired with a severe housing shortage in the city, can cause difficulties for its inhabitants. With a growing population -- since 2000, the city has gone from around 1.2 million people to almost 1.5 million -- demand is higher than ever.

Asylum seekers in Munich are generally housed in state and local centers. However, with the growing demand for accommodation, vulnerable people may still be at risk in cold weather.

Here is where you can find a warm place to sleep in Munich if you find yourself unhoused in the cold winter months.

Also read: Berlin: How unhoused migrants can protect themselves against the cold

Available housing for migrants

These are a few places where you can get help:

Schiller 25: A contact point for emergency accommodation in the Bayern Kaserne and an advice center for homeless people from the EU. The team also looks for unhoused people directly on the street and offers help. In the winter months, it offers a warm bus service.

• Emergency accommodation (Helene-Wessel-Bogen 27, daily 5pm-9am)
• Meet-up & advice (Helene-Wessel-Bogen 27, Mo-Fr 9am-5pm)
• Advice (Destouchesstraße 89, Mo-Fr 9am–12pm, Mo/Tu/Th 1pm-5pm)

The social welfare organization Diakonie runs a tea house -- Teestube "komm", which provides a warm place to spend the day, and assistance in relation to housing.

Munich cold bus: Unlike in many other large cities, the Munich "cold bus" (Kältebus) only operates between 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. It provides people with warm meals, drinks, camping and hygiene products.

The organization's website states that it is "expressly NOT a 24-hour emergency aid facility and we cannot transport people, nor can anyone warm up in our vehicle. We also cannot provide medical assistance." The service cannot be contacted by telephone, instead the bus will search for people in need when it is operating in the evenings.

Here is a list of addresses of organizations that offer assistance to unhoused people in Munich.

Free meals

The Korbinian kitchen provide people in precarious living situations in downtown Munich with a low-threshold and friendly, warm meal and hot drinks every day (during the colder months). It offers warm soup, tea and coffee from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Other useful information

Free Anonymous Healthcare:

At Malteser, you can seek medical aid, even if you do not have health insurance or proper papers. The service is anonymous and free of charge. Your information will not be shared with the social welfare office or the immigration office. You can find a list of these facilities here or search for an organization near you here. In addition, you can search for anonymous medical assistance in your area also on the websites of Malteser and Medibüros.

Migration Advice for Adults and Families -- Migrationsberatung für Erwachsene und Familien -- provides advice on all questions relating to the health system.

Open Med Munich is part of a contact point and mobile missions with a treatment bus. It offers medical care and social advice for people without health insurance and/or barriers to access to standard medical care. The offer is free and, if desired, anonymous. Hotline: +49 177 511 69 65

If a person appears helpless, is unresponsive or is potentially putting themselves or others in an acutely dangerous situation call the EU emergency line 112. The control center dispatchers can help assess symptoms and, if necessary, send an ambulance.

Please note: Hospitals are not allowed to pass on your data to other people or authorities. So don't be afraid to go to a hospital in an EMERGENCY or to call the emergency hotline.

Information for women:

KARLA 51 – a women's shelter run by the Diakonie -- provides emergency accommodation and short-term overnight accommodation for women in Munich.

The Frauenhaus women's shelter in Munich offers protection and security from domestic violence. It provides accommodation and counseling. The women's shelter is staffed around the clock. Hotline: +49 89 35 48 30

Nationwide helpline for women experiencing violence provides anonymous initial telephone and online counseling on all forms of violence around the clock, everyday. Calls are free of charge and conversations can be translated into many languages. Hotline: +49 800 116 016

Café 104 supports all immigrants without residency permits. It provides legal and psychosocial counseling that assists illegal immigrants, especially pregnant women without residency permits.

Useful databases

You can find more useful information on accommodation and wider assistance on the Refugees Welcome database.