The Cabinet introduces itself: the Chancellor

 

 If you've ever traveled to Germany, there's a good chance you've seen tiny pieces of the Berlin Wall for sale at a souvenir shop. But the wall is gone - so where did these colorful pieces come from?

 

After the East German border was opened up 25 years ago, countless people made their way to the wall, equipped with pickaxes and sledgehammers. They tirelessly chipped away at the wall. Their motivations varied, but in general such a person was called a Mauerspecht.  

 

In German, Mauer means wall and Specht means woodpecker. AMauerspecht, therefore, refers to a person who chips away at a wall (specifically, the Berlin Wall, since the word arose in this context and had never been used before). The closest English equivalent would be the word "stonepecker."

  

Todd Green

Plant Manager

Randy Rogers

Director, Site Communications & Governmental Affairs 

David Knight

Executive Director

Stefan Rainer

The election for Germany's representatives to the European Parliament will be held on May 25, 2014. 

Click here for specific details on requirements and instructions for applying. 

For more information, please contact the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Atlanta at 404-659-4760 or info@atlanta.diplo.de. 

First Presbyterian Church,Tuscaloosa

4th Culinary German Dinner

Brock's, Hoover

Chairman

Bryan Winter

Lewis, Smyth & Winter, PC

Vice Chair/Chair Elect

Warren McCullars

Alagasco  

 

VP Education

Dr. Anne-Katrin Gramberg

Auburn University

 

VP Business Development

Brian Hilson

Birmingham Business Alliance

 

VP Communication

Devin Dolive

Burr & Forman LLP

 

VP Culture

Dr. Thomas Fox

University of Alabama

VP Membership

Claudia Zimmermann

Alabama Power Company

Secretary

Judy Benson

Johnson Controls

Treasurer

Arnold Servo

Rödl & Partner

Immediate Past Chair

Arndt Siepmann

City of Auburn

 

Christoph Sander

Marquis Two Tower

Suite 901

285 Peachtree Ctr Ave NE

Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone: (404) 659-4760

Michael Johnson

Butler Snow LLP

Martina Stellmaszek

1170 Howell Mill Road

Suite 300

Atlanta, GA 30318

Phone: (404) 586-6800

www.gaccsouth.com/en 

Greetings! 

 

As Chairman of the Alabama Germany Partnership, I want to give thanks to all of you who attended, participated and sponsored the 16th Annual Celebration of the Alabama Germany Partnership.  A record-setting 260 people attended the Celebration at Bryant Denny Stadium at The University of Alabama.

 

 

 

The Celebration was spectacular. Those attending the Celebration were treated with insightful remarks and commentary from German Consul General Chistoph Sander, Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield, the University of Alabama Vice Chancellor Joe Bonner, and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox. After hearing the inspirational message from University of Alabama Strength Coach, Scott Cochran, we will never again utter the forbidden words of "can't", "hot" or "tired!"

 

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At the AGP annual dinner on March 6th, the AGP Vice President for Culture, Dr. Thomas Fox, honored Dr. Lazda-Cazers for her outstanding accomplishments in teaching and service. 

   

The 2014 Dr. Barbara Fischer Education Award was presented to Dr. Rasma Lazda-Cazers, Associate Professor of German at the University of Alabama. A native of Germany, Dr. Lazda-Cazers studied at the University of Münster and the University of Minnesota, where she received a Ph.D. After having worked at Baylor University, she joined the University of Alabama in 2002.

  

Dr. Lazda-Cazers has been an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow at the University of Alabama. In 2003 she was also selected as the Outstanding Post-Secondary Teacher by the Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers, a state-wide organization. 

 

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Michael Johnson was appointed Honorary Consul of Germany for the State of Alabama in 2011, and previously served as Honorary Consul of Brazil for Alabama for 14 years. 

 

He is an attorney and partner with Butler Snow LLP (www.butlersnow.com), a full service law firm with over 280 attorneys in 17 offices in the US and UK.  His practice is primarily in in the areas of corporate and commercial representation, cross border transactions (including mergers & acquisitions and trade) and commercial credit transactions.  He represents clients in the manufacturing, finance and service industries, including on behalf of German, Brazilian, French, Italian, British, Colombian and US-based entities as corporate counsel.  

 

He has previously worked with the law firm of Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose, the Economic Development Partnership of Birmingham, Pfleiderer Infrastrukturtechnik GmbH (in São Paulo, Brazil) and Zurich-based Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) as a Media Officer for four FIFA World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010) and other international soccer tournaments.  

  

Dear Alabama-Germany friends:

 

Frühling liegt in der Luft! Springtime has finally arrived on both sides of the Atlantic (in fact, perhaps almost earlier in Germany than in Alabama this year), and with it lots of events and happenings of interest to our community.  As expected under Chancellor Merkel's Grosse Kolation for the new Federal Government, the Federal Cabinet has just passed a minimum wage law, setting it at €8.50 ($11.75) per hour. This marks a big change for Germany, since German law previously did not mandate a minimum wage (to the surprise of many Americans). Employers were simply prohibited from paying workers "immoral wages" - but without any definition of that meant.  In practice, trade unions and business groups were in charge of regulating those wages. The German Parliament will review the legislation this summer, and it is expected to take force in January 2015.

 

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