I thought it was obvious that there are still going to be fees, but that in comparison to the tens of thousands americans pay in tuition, it's basically free.

To be fair, to a German the tens of thousands Americans pay sound preposterous. The only way we (Germans) rationalize the higher costs in the US is that the quality of education is better -- which doesn't seem to be the case for the majority of universities.

Well that post took the wind out of my sails. I was browsing the Cologne University website until I saw this comment.

Why? Doesn't sound too bad.