August/2017
  AlabamaGermany Partnership   
1900 International Park Drive, Suite 105     Birmingham   AL 35243

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In This Issue
AGP New Member Reception
AGP Young Professionals
Winkelmann Group to Establish Production Facility in Alabama
Bolta Marks New Plant's Opening
At the Table with Stammtisch Birmingham
Americans and E-Mail: What's the Deal?
What You Should Know about Apprenticeships, Trump's Answer to the Skills Gap
Who Were The Prisoners at Fort McClellan POW Camp?
Oma's German Schnitzel Recipe
 
Dankeschön to our PATRON Members:

 
 
 
 
Mercedes




    
 

 
What to do in Alabama

March 2- Oct. 26
Huntsville

August 3-6
Fort Payne

August 5
Orrville

August 11-20
Birmingham

August 11-20
Statewide

August 18-19
Ozark

August 19
Gadsden

August 19
Pell City

August 26
Guntersville

August 26 
McCalla

August 26
Rainsville


Please note that the dates are shared to the best of our knowledge. If you plan to attend any of the events - please make sure to check information directly with the host of the event. Thank you! 

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AGP New Member Reception

Join us in welcoming our new members who has joined AlabamaGermany Partnership during this past year:

Thursday, August 31, 2017
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
New Offices of EDPA
Birmingham 

Enjoy light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments while uniting with old friends and making new connections. We will introduce all our new members and celebrate all our current members. 

This is a wonderful opportunity to visit EDPA's (Economic Development Partnership of Alabama) new location in downtown Birmingham. 


AGP Young Professionals

AGP's Young Professionals (age 21 to 39) are getting ready for their next meetup: 

Thursday, August 24, 2017
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Ghost Train
Birmingham 



We have invited Morgan Copes, president and general manager of Birmingham Hammers to join us. He will share his story about being one of the driving forces behind the team going from dream to reality - creating a professional soccer team in Birmingham. This year Birmingham Hammers played their first game in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). There will also be plenty of time for networking.

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE 
REGISTRATION  WILL OPEN SOON! 

Winkelmann Group to Establish Production Facility in Alabama
By Jerry Underwood

 
Germany-based  Winkelmann Group , a high-tech manufacturer serving the aerospace industry and other industrial sectors, is creating an Alabama-based subsidiary that plans to invest $12 million to establish a metal forming operation in Auburn, creating approximately 50 jobs over the next five years.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and Winkelmann Group CEO Heinrich Winkelmann made the announcement at a press event today at the  Paris Air Show. The Alabama operation will be called Winkelmann Flowform Technology LP.  "As we declare to the world that Alabama is open for business, we welcome Winkelmann to our family of aerospace and defense-related companies in Alabama," Governor Ivey said.


Bolta Marks New Plant's Opening
By Jerry Underwood 


 
Global auto parts supplier  Bolta Group  announced earlier in July the opening of its new $48.7 million production facility at the Tuscaloosa County Airport Industrial Park, which will employ 350 people by the end of 2018.  State and local officials joined members of Bolta's global management team at an on-site ceremony to celebrate completion of the 200,000-square-foot facility.  

Anil Puri, chairman of Bolta's U.K.-based parent company,  Purico Group, said the Tuscaloosa factory will play an important role in Bolta's plants to expand its international footprint. In addition to Alabama, Bolta has advanced production facilities in Germany and Mexico and plans for a location in Eastern Europe.

Click Here for Made in Alabama's Full Story

At the Table with Stammtisch Birmingham
By Mary Lauren Palmer, AGP Summer Intern


Stammtisch, German for "regulars' table, is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis. A Stammtisch is not a structured meeting, but rather a friendly get-together. 
 
     As a Birmingham native and student of German, I had always had a desire to attend the Birmingham Stammtisch. Visiting with the members allows for the opportunity to use German while within Alabama and have a fun, casual conversation with fellow German speakers. This group meets every Thursday night at 7:30 at a quaint restaurant called Giuseppe's Cafe in downtown Birmingham. This Stammtisch is open to anyone who is interested with one key rule: speak German. The group provides a mixture of native German speakers and those who have learned German as a foreign language. I sat down with David, Marlene, Rod, Kerstin, and Gerda to find out more about the group and those involved.

     David explained to me how the group started around 20 years ago.  It began as a way for UAB professors to practice their German. It provides a "little bit of Germany" here in Birmingham.  Anywhere from 6-12 people meet weekly. A German-speaking Stammtisch meeting at an Italian restaurant might seem odd, but they chose the location because of its ability to  accommodate a large group of people who plan to sit and talk for an extended period of time. The group has no official name, although  Deutscher Stammtisch suffices. Kerstin tells me that because it is a Stammtisch, there is no need to call it German. Marlene suggests that the group needs more  "fresh blood". She would love it if more students would attend. Kerstin comments that this makes it sound as if they are a group of vampires. The Stammtisch is promoted solely through email. Those who express an interest get added to the email list, and that is the extent of the announcement. There is no President of Stammtisch. The entirety of organization for the dinner is present in a weekly email, and those who wish to join them simply show up.

After a half hour, the interview changed to a more personal level. I was able to hear the stories of how the individuals ended up in Alabama and their backgrounds:

Marlene was born in a tourist town in Tirol, Austria. She lived in Rome before moving to the United States. Since the passing of her husband, she likes to call herself the "merry widow" because of her positive attitude toward life. 

Kerstin was born and raised in Mainz. She studied in Berlin and moved to the U.S. for work in the health industry, and she currently works at UAB. She met her husband David (a fellow member) here and Stammtisch has given the couple an outlet to use their German together.

David studied at the University of Göttingen, and his roommate spoke German. The roommate was only allowed to speak German to David while David was only allowed to speak English to him. Without continuous practice, he started to lose his German, and Stammtisch has helped him to keep his German fresh. 

Having been raised in Pennsylvania, Rod grew up with many Italians. He learned to speak Italian with his friends who spoke Italian at home. In school he learned Spanish and French. Later, he lived in Western Africa for a period of time and perfected his French there. By "attending Stammtisch [he has] learned to speak German". 

Gerda's father came from Germany and her mother came from France. At home, her father only spoke German to the family. She studied in Paris for two years. Now, she makes pottery, jewelry, and other artwork.   

For me personally, the moment that stood out to me was when David told me, "Wir dutzen hier" (meaning, we address one another using the informal). This shows how friendly and inviting the members of the Birmingham Stammtisch can be. They truly welcome anyone who has an interest, regardless of age or level of German.   

Americans and E-Mail: What's the Deal?
By Dan Donahey
 
Germans don't get how Americans handle Email communication. First of all, most Americans don't include a proper greeting or complimentary close in their Email correspondence, which seems very rude to most Germans. Next, Germans complain that if they write a longer Email, thier American colleagues don't appear to read it. That becomes clear when they get bombarded with questions that a previous Email has already answered. Not only that, if Germans ask two questions in an Email, their American counterparts only answer one of them. If they ask three questions, the Americans still answer one, and if they ask four questions, the Americans don't answer at all. So, what's the deal?

The problem with Email for Americans is that it isn't considered urgent and Americans are expected to work on the most urgent priorities first. There just isn't a lot of time available to spend on reading or writing Emails. If something is urgent, Americans pick up the phone. By the way, if someone has enough time to write a meter-long Email, the subject matter probably isn't too urgent. The ideal length of an Email is 10 sentences or less, the less the better. That leaves enough room to cover one point and ask one question. If your Email is longer, it will probably end up in "pending," which means they intend to get back to it when they have enough time, but, in reality, they will never see it again. Email is just a poor format for handling complexity. However, if you really need to send a longer Email, then I suggest that you call the recipient and say that you know the Email is long, but you would appreciate it if they could take time to read it. They will, but try to make that the exception and not the rule.

Click Here to read the full story on LinkedIn.

What You Should Know about Apprenticeships, Trump's Answer to the Skills Gap
By Sarah Kessler


Trump's proposed federal budget would cut job training programs by 40% and reduce other types of workforce training programs, such as financial aid for college students.

But this week, which the White House has dubbed "workforce development week," Trump expressed support for at least one workforce development initiative. On June 15, Trump signed an executive order that he said would "expand apprenticeships and vocational training to help all Americans find a rewarding career, earn a great living, and support themselves and their families and love going to work in the morning."

Who Were the Prisoners Who Came to the Fort McClellan POW Camp?

This third installment is taken from The Fort McClellan POW Camp: German Prisoners in Alabama, 1943-1946 by permission of author Jack Shay, whose parents were stationed at Fort McClellan during the war. 

                The prisoners who came to Alabama after capture at various battlefields across the Atlantic Ocean were a varied mix, ranging from battle-hardened veterans to raw, wary recruits. Some were Nazis (a nickname taken from the sound of the first two syllables of the Nationalsozialistiche Deutsch Arbeiterpartei -in English, the National Socialist German Workers' Party), melded to the philosophy of Germany's ruling party; others were mere draftees, conscripted from the ranks of schoolboys and civilians. Some were not even German, but rather men from countries allied with or annexed to the Fatherland. They spoke Polish, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech, French, Finnish, or any of the Baltic or Balkan languages. Some were in their 30s, even 40s, but most were teenagers and young men in their early 20s. They tended to look the same - windswept, sunburned, fatigued from months or even years of fighting enemy artillery and the constant onslaught of intense combat conditions.
                
They were all individuals with aspirations and dreams, likes and dislikes, and loved ones back home, their lives suddenly interrupted in a manner they could not have dreamed of a scant few years earlier.


Oma's German Schnitzel Recipe 
Article Subheading
Oma's German Schnitzel Recipe
Ingredients:
  • 4 veal cutlets, pounded lightly (use pork for Schweineschnitzel)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • about ½ cup flour
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 1 egg
  • about 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 3 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
  • 1 lemon, sliced
Instructions:
  • Trim fat from meat and clip edges to stop edges from curling during cooking.
  • Sprinkle cutlets with lemon juice and salt.
  • Place 3 shallow bowl on counter. In first one, put flour. In second one, mix egg and water. In third one, put breadcrumbs.
  • Coat schnitzel, first with flour, then egg, and then breadcrumbs.
  • Heat butter and oil over medium heat in skillet.
  • Fry cutlets until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
  • Serve immediately, garnished with lemon slices.
Hints:
  • If schnitzel are too big to all fit in the pan, just fry 2 at a time. Once done, put finished schnitzel on a paper towel lined pan and place, uncovered, in the oven to keep warm while frying remaining schnitzel.
  • This German schnitzel is often served garnished with anchovy fillets if desired.