When you emigrate, you pack your life into a few suitcases and boxes – there’s no room for decor from the furniture store. A gift for emigrants should therefore be flat, lightweight, and still remind them of home. Here you’ll find ideas: the hometown as a 3D relief, the home track for motorsport fans, and small items that help with homesickness without taking up space in the suitcase.
Suitcase check: what matters for a gift for emigrants
The first home in the new country is often furnished, small, or just a temporary stop. What goes on the wall there must be easy to move – perhaps even twice in the first year. Three questions will help you choose:
- Does it fit in the suitcase? Flat items travel between clothes; bulky things usually stay in the parents’ basement.
- Does it tell a story from home? A place, a neighborhood, a track – something that connects the person to their past life.
- Does it work in any home? Simple colors and a black frame fit an old building in Vienna just as well as an apartment on the city outskirts.
A great gift for emigrants meets all three criteria. It’s not a dust-collecting souvenir but a piece of origin that hangs in the new kitchen, shared flat room, or office, sparking the first question from new colleagues: Where are you from, anyway?
Home in your luggage: the hometown as a City Tile
A City Tile displays a city section as a white 3D relief in a square black frame – streets, building blocks, and landmarks with plastic depth instead of colorful postcard motifs. At around 15 × 15 cm and about 1 cm deep, it fits in almost any laptop bag. Each Tile costs 69 €.
Berlin: TV Tower and neighborhood for capital city dwellers
The City Tile Berlin shows the TV Tower with surrounding streets and a water area as a white relief. For someone who lived in Berlin for years, this is more than a landmark: it’s the transfer at Alex, the commute to work, the view from the office window. Abroad, this very section becomes a small map of their old daily life.
Frankfurt: Skyline and Main River
Those leaving Frankfurt often miss what they previously complained about: the skyscrapers, the Main River, the walk across the bridge. The City Tile Frankfurt shows the skyline’s high-rises and the river with a bridge as a white 3D relief. For bankers, commuters, and students moving to another metropolis, this is a greeting from home without any kitsch.
Other hometown? Then turn the tables
Berlin and Frankfurt are the two German cities among the City Tiles. If the person is from another place, the City Tiles collection is still worth a look: gift the city they’re moving to – if it’s available. The Tile can hang as a countdown in their old room until the move and then travel with them. Multiple cities side by side later become a series of life stations; see how such a wall grows in our article Gifts for travelers who bring favorite cities home.
Farewell gift for emigrants who’ll miss their home track
For motorsport fans, home is often not a city but a track. Someone who’s spent years doing tourist drives in the Eifel, camping at the 24-hour race, or comparing lap times every weekend leaves the Nürburgring Nordschleife behind when they move.
The Nürburgring® as a 3D frame is officially licensed and shows the Nordschleife with its true-to-original elevation changes as a red relief on a dark map in a black frame. A4 costs 55 €, A3 85 €; for a greener look, choose the Green Hell Edition. As a farewell gift for emigrants from the Rhineland, Eifel, or Ruhr area, this often hits the mark better than any city motif.
Personalized: the farewell in two lines
For an extra 5 €, you can add a name, start number, country, and two lines of text to the frame. The name can be up to 30 characters, the start number two digits, and each line a maximum of 40 characters. Here are two examples that fit:
- “Last lap before the move, January 2027”
- “The Eifel is waiting for you”
Important: Personalized frames are made to order and are therefore non-refundable. Double-check the spelling before ordering.
Smaller and flatter: the Nürburgring GP Tile
If the suitcase is already full, the Nürburgring GP Tile for 69 € still fits: the Grand Prix track as a red relief on white terrain in the square Tile format. More ideas around the Eifel can be found in our article Nürburgring gifts for fans of the Green Hell.
Farewell before departure or a Christmas package?
With a gift for emigrants, the timing helps decide what makes sense. Before the flight, luggage space matters; later, shipping does.
Handing over at the farewell party
If you give the gift at the farewell party, it travels in the suitcase and ideally hangs on the new wall within the first week. Include a note about when and where you last met in the hometown – this turns the relief into a memory of that very evening.
If a group of friends chips in, it’s often enough for two motifs: hometown and home track. A City Tile for 69 € plus an A4 frame for 55 € is manageable for a group.
The Christmas package abroad
Homesickness can feel especially strong during the first Christmas abroad. If the person now lives in another EU country, you can order directly to their new address: We ship in 1–2 business days, with free shipping in the EU for orders over 90 € – but order by mid-December to be safe. For all other destinations, handing it over before departure is the simplest option.
Since you won’t be there for the unwrapping, the packaging can do more. The Premium Gift Packaging for 9.90 € is a black box with silver foil and foam insert. Send a card separately by post, so the package can go under the tree in the new living room.
Gift for a year abroad: when the return is already planned
Not everyone leaves forever. For students on a semester abroad, au pairs, or work-and-travel travelers, the new home is a temporary room, often with little wall space and a landlord who doesn’t allow holes.
Here, the small format shines: A City Tile of the hometown fits above the desk in the dorm and comes back at the end of the stay. Hanging without drilling works with the Klebenagel for 3.99 €, which can be removed without residue when moving out.
A nice twist for a year-abroad gift: For the farewell, give the host city (if available as a Tile); after returning, add the hometown next to it – or vice versa. In the end, the whole year hangs as a pair on the wall.
Gifts to ease homesickness: five ideas without frames
Not every piece of home needs to go on the wall. These ideas cost little, weigh almost nothing, and still hit the mark:
- Family recipe book: Grandma’s roulades, the potato salad from the barbecue, Dad’s Sunday pancakes – handwritten, so it smells like home in the new country.
- Letters for tough days: a stack of envelopes labeled “Open when you’re homesick” or “Open after the first month.” Each friend writes one.
- Video greetings instead of a farewell book: short clips from family and friends, edited into a film that plays on any phone.
- Local newspaper digital subscription: This keeps the emigrant updated on town festivals, construction sites, and club results.
- A visit promise: Announce exactly when you’ll visit, or pool money with friends for the first trip home. The anticipation of a reunion often helps more than any package.
The strongest effect comes from the combination: the relief for the wall, the letters for the drawer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you give someone who is emigrating?
Something that takes up little space and reminds them of their origins: the hometown or home track as a 3D relief, a family recipe book, or letters for the first few weeks. Bulky decor and plug-in devices are best left at home.
How does a relief travel safely in a suitcase?
Best flat between clothes, with the front facing inward. A City Tile is about 15 × 15 cm and 1 cm deep – barely larger than a paperback. For an A4 frame, pad it all around with sweaters.
Can I send the gift directly to the new address?
Within the EU, yes, and even with free shipping for orders over 90 €. For other destinations, handing it over before departure is the simplest way.
Hometown or new city – which fits better?
Those leaving forever usually appreciate the hometown, as it becomes more valuable with each month abroad. For a year abroad, the new city makes a great countdown gift that later serves as a keepsake.
What should I write as a text line on a farewell gift?
Short and specific: a date, a place, an inside joke. On the race track frame, each line can be up to 40 characters, e.g., “Eifel farewell – until the next 24h race” or “Safe travels – we’ll hold the fort.”
Conclusion: Home that fits in any suitcase
When emigrating, everything is ruthlessly sorted. What remains must be small and meaningful. As a gift for emigrants, a City Tile of the hometown or the Nordschleife in a frame meets both criteria and looks just as good in a rental in Lisbon as in a temporary shared flat. Choose the motif that fits their story – and pack a letter for the first homesick night.
