You have now received a variety of opinions. I always like the most diverse views, even if I do not like all of them myself, they may initially annoy me or be out of the question; nevertheless, they can contribute to decision-making. Regarding the "international environment," I experienced it abroad more as a separation from economically disadvantaged people, practically an "elite formation/separation from the rabble," which in our case really had nothing to do with an actual intellectual elite; rather, the opposite was the case, often there was arrogant decadence... even among the children. Many of these international schools have a lot of noise and smoke, which is why I would always prefer a "completely normal" school in Germany for my children! My wife has worked with private and public schools, and there is no general difference; if anything, the tendency leans towards public schools. In the big city, at so-called problem schools, you do not necessarily want your child there either, but even in the surrounding area, you can always find a good school in Germany that enables any path for the future. We were frankly shocked by the extremely high proportion of children receiving Ritalin and similar medications, even though we were amidst children of the supposed "elite." If anything, in Germany, one should rather make a decision regarding education based on the federal state, and our capital city or the state of Hesse does not exactly hold top positions there…;) I certainly did not want to push you into a small district town, but only to express that in Germany already from small district towns, you usually have several grammar schools and other schools, universities to choose from, sometimes even completely foreign-language. Children from the circle of acquaintances today work in decent positions at Bosch, SAP abroad, etc., and they all attended respective regional schools, where internationally compatible standards now prevail almost everywhere. If you say you like pubs, restaurants, going out, etc., then I can understand that, even though for us the quieter life was more suitable for the family. In your place, I would first rent a nice apartment/house in Frankfurt/surroundings and live and settle there nicely together. From there, you can gradually find out what you like and see for yourself what can fit for the future. You can best throw such offers (your link) straight into the bin. Building takes time, the choice of the right building plot is extremely important and should never be done hastily. Who knows what else will still arise when you have arrived here and live in peace…… we are glad that we did it that way back then, even if one or the other move was added. Happy New Year and good decisions.