[jen]

"I am considering moving to Germany in the next 6 months for roughly a year or so."

You should come before the World Cup in June.

"...the unemployment rate is so high in Germany..."

It is, but it's getting better.

"finding a job may be difficult for someone who does NOT speak any German."

What do you do?

Lots (I would guess a significant majority) of people in Germany don't speak English with any proficiency. I hope one of your friends speaks German and that you get to stay with him.

"I really know nothing about the gambling landscape in Germany (or Europe for that matter)."

I've never played in a casino in Europe, mostly because I haven't found any reasonable games. I play NLHE. Here's what I've found:

1. Some German casinos claim (on websites) to spread low limit HE. I don't know if this is true.
2. Paris: Aviation Club, During the WPT, they were spreading NLHE up to 2-4. They were taking names for a 5-10 game, and they had a short 30-60 going for a short time. The rake was very high.
3. London: Victoria casino, very marginal-looking, was spreading NLHE 1-2 and 2-4 over a weekend.
4. Barcelona: They were spreading one game of 5-10 limit HE and one game of 5-10 PLO over a weekend.
5. HE does not exist in Southern France, including Monaco.

"I have never played any poker online so as of now this is not even an option. I have a certain aversion to online play."

A very questionable stance, I think.

"You don´t have to pay taxes on your winnings in germany"

If it were that easy then everyone would do it. Income taxed in Germany (i.e., real-job income) gets waived in the US so that the tax-payer is not double taxed. $$$ not taxed in Germany (e.g., poker winnings) is (for US citizens) still taxed in the US.