I'm going to Germany soon, and I'm bringing my cell phone...what do I need to buy so I can recharge and use it

You need to buy a converter, Europe uses 50 Hz and 220 V, which is different from the US which has 110 V. It is not just having different plugs, it is having different voltage too! If you try to plug in without a converter, your laptop and phone will be fit for the trash can afterwards. Best ask in a good electronics store in the US. And from lots of websites with travel supplies you can order this converter online.

First of all you cell-phone has to be a GSM-Phone. (with a SIM-Card in it) Otherwise you cant use it in europe. It is the easiest way to charge your phone here to buy a european charger for your phone.

Look at your appliances FIRST. If your computer, for example, can run off of 110-240V (it will say that somewhere, usually on the bottom), you don't need a converter, just a plug adapter. My grungy old laptop worked everywhere in Europe, and all I needed for it was a standard European plug adapter. European plugs--with the exception of Britain and Ireland--are round, two-pronged plugs that sometimes have a hole for ground (older European wall outlets sometimes have a ground sticking out of the wall that fits into a corresponding hole on the plug, in an odd reversal from what we're used to in the U.S.) If your computer will NOT run on dual-voltage, then yes... you'll need a converter. Converters are generally expensive and heavy, so be sure you really need one before you get one. I'd also recommending getting a few American-to-European plug adapters, instead of just one, if possible. Most travel stores and even airports will sell them; I find that they're sometimes cheaper in Europe, actually, but it's up to you where and when you buy them. Now, as for the phone; the phone will work 1.) if it's GSM and has a sim card, and 2.) if your phone is tri-band at least, if not quad-band. GSM phones in the US (and not all phones in the US are GSM/sim card anymore) operate at the 1900 mHz frequency; whereas European countries are on either 800mHz or 1800mHz (unless those frequencies have changed since I last looked). That's where the term "tri-band" comes from. Check and see if your wall adapter for your phone is dual-voltage (if it says 110-240V or 110-220V). If so, you only need a wall adapter, not a converter, as I said before. If not, see if the manufacturer has a wall adapter for your phone model that IS dual-voltage. Also, bear in mind that you can go to any electonics store in Germany, like MediaMarkt, and just buy a cheap prepaid cellphone (a cellphone is called a "handy" in Germany) and buy 10 Euro, 20 Euro, 30 Euro, etc. phone cards for it. T-Mobile (D1), Vodafone, and O2 are the primary carriers in Germany. Bear in mind that cell phone plans (prepaid or normal) in Germany or anywhere else in Europe tend to be much more expensive than in the U.S.; and that all incoming calls are free, and calls to other cellphones are cheaper than calls to any landline. If you need to know more, I'd be happy to answer further within the realm of my own experience.

Recharging a prepaid phone (in terms of money) is tricky, but if your cellphone is contract-free, you can easily buy another SIM with a German number everywhere for about ten Euros. Just make sure that your cellphone supports the European GSM frequencies; if it's a "quadband", as most modern phones are, it will for sure. If it's a "U.S. only" brand, it probably won't. As has already been mentioned, for all electrical devices, you'll need a voltage adaptor, as Europe uses 220/240 Volts as the standard current on wall outlets, while the U.S. have 110/120. --- @OP: The German access procider will not be interested in whether your phone has a SIM or not; they'll rather be interested if it's THEIR SIM or not. I'm sure your phone has a SIM, because every phone has.

make sure that whatever it is that you want to bring to germany, 110 220 volt compatible on the batteries that they have.if not then you need a transformer, so that neither of them blow up. and depending on the cell phone you want to bring, it may not work. has to be GMS with a sims card, you will have to buy a sims card for europe anyways.