How difficult is it to get a paid PhD studentship in physics in Germany?
Is it difficult to get a paid PhD position?


In Germany, most PhD positions are paid. In physics, you would typically get a half to three quarters full-time equivalent position as a university employee. I don't think it's particularly difficult to get such a position, if you have the right qualification for it. This will also depend on the place where you got your Master's degree.


  Does the average play a pivotal rule?


A lot of professors that I know do care for good grades. And many university regulations ask for at least a good degree for admission as a PhD student (in my place, that translates to 2.5 or better, though there's a tolerance for students from abroad to take care of differences in the grading systems). 

My suggestion would be to look for position being announced through for example in:


http://www.academics.de
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/
http://www.drarbeit.de


and apply or get in contact with the person there to see how far you can get.

Also try to use your personal network: Ask your supervisors whether they know good labs to apply to, or whether they could even throw in a word for you.