More than you know….
Germans and their impact on our societyHerr Reierstad
Fall 2011
The Germans
• You may not think Germans have much to do with our society today.
• However, we owe a lot of what is America and American to the Germans.
• For example, 1 out of every 6 Americans traces some of their ancestry back to Germany (the largest single ethnic group!)
Oh yeah? What else?• It might be hard to list all of the
things/people we can thank Germany for, but I’ll try.
• Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock is ½ German!
• Leonardo DiCaprio is 1/8 German!
That all?
• Of course not! Let’s indulge your sweet tooth. You can thank Germanic people for these:– Candy corn– Hershey’s kisses– Gummi bears– PEZ
But that might ruin your appetite….
• For these other foods we can thank Germany:– Pretzels– Ketchup (Heinz), that is!– Hamburgers– Bratwurst– Hot dogs (Frankfurters)– Smuckers products– gingerbread
Mann’s best friend• These dog breeds
originated in Germanic countries:– Rottweiler– Dachshund– Doberman– Weimeraner– St. Bernard
And where would style be without
• These German creations:– Levi’s jeans– Adidas tennis shoes– Puma tennis shoes– Birkenstock sandals +
shoes
And of course……
• BMW
• Mercedes-Benz (actually the first ever car)
• Volkswagen
• Audi
• Porsche
Okay, but why should I learn German?
• To make it simple- money!– Germany has the world’s
4th largest economy– Germany is also the
world’s 2nd leading exporter– German is the language of
business in Europe– Germany does a lot of
business worldwide. Knowing German can open doors for you.
Expand your horizons
• More than 120 million people speak German worldwide.
• It is the 2nd most popular language in Europe and Japan, after English.
• The world is getting smaller.
• Knowing German increases your chances of getting a job in many other countries.
She blinded me with
• Science!– German is a good
language for those going into scientific fields
– 4 of the world’s 10 most innovative companies are located in Germany
– Germany exports more high-tech products than any other country except the U.S.
– Knowing German could help you get a foot in the door with one of the above companies
Maybe I don’t wanna go there…
• Ok…they’re coming here!– More than 1 million
German tourists come to the U.S. every year
– The companies that can reach them first get the Euros
– The Florida Journal and Florida Sun Magazin are both published in German to attract German tourists
– 91 billion Euros is a lot of money (they spent that on international travel in 2007)
The Internet
• Germany has a very large presence on the Net.– The German country
domain .de is second in size only to the extension .com
– There are 8 million German Internet domains
– They’re only a click away; get to know them!
Great places to stay• In 2010, Bloomberg Business
Week listed Vienna, Austria as the #1 place in the world to live (based on the Mercer Quality of Life Index)
• 6 of the top 10 cities were in German-speaking countries (10 were in the top 50)
• A lot of great places to live for people with German connections!
1. Vienna, Austria2. Zurich, Switzerland3. Geneva, Switzerland4. Vancouver, Canada/5. Auckland, NZ (tie)
6. Dusseldorf, Germany7. Frankfurt, Germany/8. Munich, Germany (tie)9. Bern, Switzerland10. Sydney, Australia17. Berlin, Germany19. Luxemburg (country)23. Hamburg, Germany30. Stuttgart, Germany31. Honolulu, Hawaii
A rich past
• You might recognize a few of these names. They’ve contributed a little to the world:– Johann w.v. Goethe– Friedrich Schiller– W.A. Mozart– Ludwig v. Beethoven– Johannes Brahms– Richard Wagner– Friedrich Nietzsche– Immanuel Kant
– Johann Strauss
– Richard Wagner
– Carl Gustav Jung
– Sigmund Freud
– Alois Alzheimer
– Henry Heimlich
Learning about these people expands your knowledge of the world!
Finally, wanna save some money?
• Every year, students participate in exchange programs in Germany
• Also, tens of thousands of students are able to study at German universities, where there is little or no tuition
• As an exchange student in Germany, I paid approximately $50 a semester for tuition, and ~$150 a month for room & board (food was extra, though…)
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