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…)