News from AlabamaGermany Partnership

December 2022

www.AlabamaGermany.org

AGP Visit to Cullman's German Christmas Market / Christkindlmarkt

Let's get into the Holiday Spirit in the City of Cullman which will be all decked out and hosting its first modest rendition of the traditional German Christmas Market, the Cullman Christkindlmarkt:

Friday, December 9, 2022

Meeting time 5:30 p.m.

Cullman County Museum

Join us in Cullman for a visit to the Cullman County Museum which is a replica of the home of the German Col. John G. Cullmann, founder of Cullman. Museum Director, Drew Green, will give us a tour of the museum and talk about the German settlement and the German Christmas Pyramid outside the museum (the tallest in the US). After our visit, we will see the Christmas Pyramid and walk to the Christkindlmarkt to meet with Judith Caples, owner of A Touch of German. She will talk about her German roots and products in her booth. Then everyone will be able to enjoy the market on their own (about 20 booths and entertainment). You will be able to buy Glühwein and food at the market. Cullman will be lit up pretty for the event.

AGP Young Professionals Christmas in Cullman

Join the AGP Young Professionals (age 21 to 39), as they wrap up 2022 with their final get-together of the year:

Friday, December 9, 2022

Meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Cullman Christmas Market

As many of you know, Cullman hosts an annual Christmas market in December. Christkindlmärkte is a staple all across Germany and brings visitors from all over the country, and we have our own in Alabama! Let's enjoy the market together with Glühwein and other German treats.

We hope to see you there!

Dankeschön to our PATRON Members:

German Food, Gifts and More in Phenix City

Photo from left: Heike (Owner), Annika, Meghan, and Bryan.

Heike, originally from Erlensee by Hanau in Germany, and her American husband, from San Diego, CA, are the proud owners of “German Food, Gifts, and More” in Phenix City, AL Their store is in the Eastern time zone in Alabama and right across from the Georgia state line. The café and store were super busy when I pulled up and it turns out the neighboring town of Columbus, GA, has one of the highest German populations. But how did all this get started?

Heike had her first experience living in the USA when she was recruited in Germany by the US Army as a translator from 1997 to 2000. Years after she returned home to Germany she met her husband Bryan at a Western club. He would soon find out that you don’t turn down an invitation to dance from a German woman just because you don’t dance. Heike had a way to convince him. Ten days later, Bryan deployed to Iraq and would not return for 10 months but when he did, they got married in Germany.

In 2006 came the order for Bryan and the family to go to Fort Benning GA. Heike dove into a life of swim coaching, being a realty agent, taking her broker’s license, and opening a property management company. Raising a family of two boys and a girl made her later take the decision of selling it all and spending more time on family life. When Heike’s mom fell ill and was not sending comfort goodies from Germany and that gave her an idea that was realized 3 months later after she sold her property management company.

Almost five years ago, German Food, Gifts, and More opened their doors. The place consists of a café that offers everything from baked goods, wurst (sausage) plates, schnitzel sandwiches, freshly baked pretzels, and black German forest torte….just to name a few. In the store, you can find everything from coffee, meats, bread, cakes, gift articles, chocolates, beer steins, and traditional Oktoberfest outfits. As the latest, they also have a German food truck that can be requested for events all over Alabama. Their customers come from within a four-hour radius. You will find Heike and Bryan in the store or on the food truck daily plus their staff Annika (German) and Meghan. They are always looking for German-speaking staff.

Heike’s family still lives in Germany and her dream is to be able to live in both countries in the future. One of the things she misses from her home country is the work and life balance. It is very clear that Heike is very driven, has a high work ethic, and is very detail oriented, plus she is very energetic. The café and store are very personal and comfortable. Her goal was to bring a little of Germany to the state of Alabama – all I can say from what I experienced – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Learn more by contacting Heike Horning and checking their Facebook page (link to page). The café and store are open Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Wednesday and Friday to 7:00 p.m.).

Export Markets Bounce Back

By Birmingham Business Journal

Photo Credit: ISTOCK (STOCKFINLAND)

After the rigors of the pandemic dealt a blow to Alabama's export markets in 2020, 2021 numbers show that the state's export markets are coming back strong. Even better, this year's List boasts the lowest number of countries that experienced a negative change in export volume since at least 2017.

Over the last several years, four markets have consistently reported over a billion dollars in export volume. Those markets are Germany, Canada, China, and Mexico.

Germany and Mexico saw the largest growth from 2020-'21 out of the four, with Germany increasing by 66% and Mexico by 34%. Canada posted a strong 19.8% volume percent change, while China had the smallest growth at 1.6%.

Read more Birmingham Business Journal

German Auto Industry Badly Impacted by the European Energy Crises

By Automobilwoche.de

Companies are increasingly burdened by high energy prices. A significant proportion of automotive companies are planning to relocate and reduce production due to high energy costs. This is the result of a DIHK survey.

According to a survey, high energy prices are increasingly affecting companies in Germany. The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) spoke of a dramatic situation on Tuesday. According to a DIHK survey, 16 percent of manufacturers in Germany's key automotive industry have already reduced their production. 17 percent want to relocate their production.

This is the result of a special evaluation of the automotive industry from a DIHK business survey, which was first reported by "Handelsblatt". According to the DIHK, the automotive industry is symptomatic of developments in the economy as a whole.

In a letter from DIHK general manager Martin Wansleben to the heads of the chambers of industry and commerce, it says: "In addition, the lights are on red for us because we can see the speed at which the financing situation in companies is deteriorating." A view to the federal government, it says: "The situation in our economy is dramatic - consistent crisis management and faster action are now absolutely necessary."

After the special evaluation, business expectations in the automotive industry plummeted. Only ten percent expect better business in the next twelve months. Half have negative business expectations. 95 percent of the companies see the high raw material and energy prices as the greatest business risk. According to this, two out of five motor vehicle manufacturers speak of a problematic financial situation, and the number of suppliers is almost half.

Dankeschön to our SUSTAINING Members:

Certified, Internationally Recognized German Instruction

Do you need qualified, certified, and internationally recognized German instruction for one or several of your employees?

Goethe-Zentrum Atlanta became an approved vendor within the AIDT program this September. This means that German learners in Alabama whose companies partner with AIDT may qualify for tuition and certification cost reimbursement under the AIDT program.

Please contact Goethe Zentrum ATL's language department at language@goetheatlanta.org for more information.

Exploring Cullman’s German Roots

By Business Alabama

Drew Green isn’t German, but as director of the Cullman County Museum, he knows a lot of German history, particularly as it pertains to Cullman.

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” he says of talking to folks about the Cullman-Germany connection. “I’ve talked to people from all over the world.”

And those talks all start with one man, John Cullmann, who came to the U.S. from Germany in 1865, buying some land from the Nashville-Montgomery Railroad and establishing the town of Cullman in 1873.

“John Cullmann was our founder, and his goal was to start a German colony here,” says Green, whose father, Don, was a two-time mayor of Cullman. “Cullmann was a very good salesman, especially in Germany. He convinced thousands and thousands of Germans to move to this area. For the first 25 years in Cullman, if you didn’t speak German, it was hard to do any kind of business here.”

Back in the day, Cullman at times seemed like a tiny slice of Germany in the middle of Alabama.

“When there was still a larger German population, they liked to have parties and parades, and there was an annual Founders Day celebrating the first five families who came to Cullman,” Green says. “Up until the 1940s, a lot of our churches had German services, and we have two Benedictine organizations, Saint Bernard Abbey and Sacred Heart Monastery, both from Frankweiler, the same area of Germany where John Cullmann was born.”

Following the two World Wars and through the 1960s, the German population and experience dwindled a bit in Cullman, but it began to rev up again as Cullman’s centennial approached in 1973.

Read Business Alabama's Full Story

Welcome New AGP Member

Please help us welcome our new member:

CORPORATE - ASSOCIATE

Stanton Chase

Tim Fetzer

Director

The Tennessee office of Stanton Chase provides executive search services for senior executive, management, and board director searches to clients in the United States and internationally across a number of sectors, including Consumer Products and Services, Healthcare, Industrial, Technology, and Financial Services. This office also provides comprehensive management assessment services. In addition to its principal office in Nashville, and to better serve clients in the region, the office also has search consultants based in Birmingham, AL, as well as in Memphis, TN.

As an AGP member, you can connect with them through the AGP membership database.

Learn more at: www.stantonchase.com