Quite a number of readers have come to this blog through AllExperts, where I have been answering questions on German law for a decade. With more than a thousand thoroughly answered questions, my profile there was a great source of information on all aspects of German law.
But it ain’t no more.
Why? I don’t know. All I got was this e-mail with a few days’ advance warning that the site would be shut down.
No explanation was provided, even when I asked for it. Stupidly and annoyingly, AllExperts even made all previous answers inaccessible, proving my point that one should never rely on a free service like Facebook or Google for business communication. At the whim of a madman, everything can be taken offline. Come to think of it, maybe I should stop blogging and only write books from now on.
For those who still have questions, I point you to my ever-expanding list of FAQ:
- FAQ on my life as a traveler and digital nomad
- FAQ on traveling to Israel and other countries in the Middle East
- FAQ on getting German citizenship
- with an infographic for the visual types
- FAQ on getting naturalized as a German citizen without living in Germany (a really cool thing which not many countries offer)
- FAQ on getting married in Germany, and much more useful:
- FAQ on getting a divorce in Germany
- FAQ on child custody law in Germany
- FAQ on international child abduction
- FAQ on inheritance law in Germany
- FAQ on freedom of movement in the EU
- FAQ on filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court in Germany
- FAQ on my legal services
If there is anything else of particular interest to you, legal or otherwise, please let me know in the comment section below. If I notice a lot of demand for one particular subject, I will prioritize it, so get your friends to weigh in, too.
The Happy Hermit 
I’m seriously upset by this. Your answers were some of the only (and most comprehensive) resources to consult on issues of international divorce in Germany. I’ve directed others there and will continue to direct people to your blog.
Advance notice would have been nice, non?
Thank you for all of your counsel!
Thank you very much!
I really don’t understand why AllExperts didn’t at least leave the published answers online for future reference. They could even continue to receive revenue by placing ads.
But I am happy now that I built up my own FAQ parallel to AllExperts.
Noooooooooooo! So no more episodes of the I’m-a-flight-attendant-and-my-boyfriend-who-is-married-and-is-german-won’t-send-me-money-and-I-want-a-German-passport-for-my-son saga??
I really hope they will find my blog and entertain us there.
One of my readers who really understands how the internet works has found a way to access part of the archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20150819065151/http://en.allexperts.com:80/q/German-Law-1364/indexExp_118581.htm , but this doesn’t seem to include all questions and answers.
In any case, thanks, Chris!
Speaking of your blog, I’m super curious about that lone individual from North Korea who gave you a visit …
Haha, well spotted!
I have also always been curious. As far as I know, internet access in North Korea is rather limited, so it must have been one of the people in the leadership of the country, maybe Kim Jong-Un himself on a slow day at the office.
Or maybe it was the censor who then put my blog on the list of banned websites because I haven’t had another visit since.
Our supreme leader might at some point thinks to acquire another citizenship, you know, for settlement and stuff, -you know the world now is chaos in terms of passports- at that time he might need some advice from someone and surprisingly your blog is easily accessible, even to the best Korea. What’s the title of the book you will request him to bring?
Haha! :D
I have “Without You, there is no Us: My secret life teaching the sons of North Korea’s elite” by Suki Kim on my wishlist. I listened to an interview with her about her undercover reporting and I was impressed.
Sadly, there are still 13 countries missing: https://andreasmoser.blog/2016/03/17/15-missing-countries/
I was one of the top experts on allexperts for many years. I am not remotely surprised the site shut down. It was very poorly run and managed. For the last several years in particular, participation and questions fell WAY DOWN – so clearly they didn’t advertise or market appropriately.
There was always an annoyingly high percentage of questions that were clearly someone’s homework. Allexpert’s management NEVER blocked or banned these people – so they just kept asking more questions and I kept refusing to answer them.
I won’t miss it. This should have been a multi-million dollar business instead of a monumental failure.
What were/are you an expert for?
You are right about the homework questions. I got many of those in the philosophy section and when I briefly volunteered in the economics section.
Are you on Quora now? I am not sure it’s a substitute for the kind of questions I used to receive, which were very specific individual cases.
Well, damn! I was also an expert on AllExperts (I’m specifically a penguin expert), and this is the first I’ve heard about it being shut down. I never received the e-mail from them that you showed above. And like you and Steve, over the last couple of years, it seemed like all I got were homework assignments. I also rejected most of those requests, as there would be a ridiculously long list of basic questions that they could have easily Googled on their own. Not what we were there for…
At any rate, this is a shame – and I wish I’d had a heads up so I could have captured a few of those Q&A’s. There were several that I often reused, because I’d get the same questions from time to time (I also get those same questions via direct e-mail), and it saved me a ton of time being able to refer to those threads. Oh well – nothing lasts forever.
I think it was handled very unprofessionally towards the experts. As another commentator suggested, if you go to the archived version of the web, you may still access a few of your old posts for further use.
I have no question about penguins, but I love them! Recently, I watched an episode of Planet Earth II about penguins on Zavodovski Island.
Me too, I was a car racing expert and had answered many questions but they just stopped managing the site years before they actually turned it off. You are right, it was mismanaged from day 1, could have been brilliant and made a ton of money for someone with an ounce of sense. Great shame.
This is a real shame. You answered a question of mine on the site a while back, and I found this post while looking to thank you for your help, since I have since received my Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis.
Still, many thanks again for your help!
Thank you very much, that’s very nice of you to let me know! I appreciate that a lot, and I am very happy that it worked. – Just in time to vote in for the federal elections in September. ;-)
Absolutely devastated. 😔
Everybody is. :-(
I am very upset allexperts abruptly shut down. I depended on them for answers. For many years actually.
You can post your questions here now.
Hey the Andreas I was also one of the Experts answering questions on All Experts.com and had been on there for several years helping people identify various films from their childhood and sci-fi related questions, especially fictional robots. Like you I got the email warning about it’s clossure with no explanation and as you said all the previous work we did on there appears to be erased. I am answering questions now on Quora at the moment but I come across your post here in Google. All the best with your future site from one for AE to another.
Kerry
Each time I am reminded of how AllExperts treated us, I get angry again.
In my case, answering legal questions, I did at least get clients from it as long as it worked.
But most others, like you, were helping people selflessly.
I hope that many people find you on Quora! I am not sure yet if I should sign up there too. What I liked about AllExperts is that I had three days to answer the question, with nobody else answering the same question. That provided some motivation to devote time to research and writing. On Quora, I would always be worried that someone else is working on the same question simultaneously, maybe even with a similar reply, rendering part of the effort moot.
I am trying to find Bible Study help. When all experts was up, I used to write to a Scott Talbot. He had recently moved to Washington State but that’s all I know abt him.
Do you have any ideas on how to contact him?
If you pray really hard, the gods will answer that one.
Joyce hall, Adnreas is a sarcastic, idiotic loser born every minute. Assholes like these really need to respect other’s views and feelings.
I like it when people combine an appeal for the respect of others’ views with insults because of expressing such views, all in the same sentence.
Thank you for being so understanding. Unfortuney, I do get a lot of people making fun of me.
Thanks for the links. Very helpful.
When everyone is making fun of you, maybe they have a point.
Andrea, if I were gay or Jewish or Muslim, people wouldn’t dream of making fun of me for my faith. However, because I am Christian, it’s seems to be ‘open season’
Read Matthew ch 5. Vs 10 thru 12.
Being gay is not a faith.
And if you look around my blog, you’ll see that I am making fun of anybody who believes in gods, angels or zodiac signs.
Also, if you weren’t running around like a missionary, telling people to read a fairy tale, you might receive less pushback.
I didn’t say being gay was a faith. I only meant that if I were gay, then people like u wouldnt dream of arguing with me.
Also, I m not ‘running around acting like a missionary’ I simply asked a question.
Oh, by the way, were u ever taught that it wasn’t nice to make fun of others?
The only one I told to read the Bible is u. U must b afraid of something.
Being annoyed is something different than being afraid.
Joyce, this is a few years late lol, but I used to answer Bible Study questions on AEs for a time before limiting my answers to Sci-fi related questions due to nasty comments and trolls. If I can help in any way in terms of Biblical studies I am still keen.
You are so wonderful. I found the expert I was looking for
I totally understand what you mean about trolls and haters. Thats what makes it interesting. Because I have learned so much.
Sad. VERY sad. It was an Internet institution. I hope it will return.
Joyce, just try this : http://www.zabasearch.com/people/scott+talbot/wa/
There are three in Washington state
Andreas, “Loser”, in response to your brain fart, “telling people to read a fairy tale,”, as I am no longer of the belief of turning the other cheek to assholes like you, I say if you behave like a prick by making fun of others’ faith, then you will be treated like the cocksucker you are. Fuck off and die, moron.
Did your god(s) tell you to be that aggressive?
Very sad.
I visit the URL time and again with the hope that my favourite psychic will be there.
Some were truly gifted and started leaving earlier. Their whereabouts are not known.
I wish someone here lets me know.
Thanks in anticipation.