Hollywood's German Music

Amazingly different movies can share invisible commonalities: how different are Inception and The Prince of Egypt? What great contrasts we find between The Pirates of the Carbbean and The Da Vinci Code! Yet these famous films, and dozens of others, all feature music from the pen of the same German composer: Hans Zimmer.

Born in Frankfurt in 1957, Hans first wanted to work in popular music: he is seen in the 1970 video "Video Killed the Radio Star" which was the first video shown on the MTV cable network. In fact, it was the very first thing ever shown on MTV: the network was launched in August 1981, at midnight, and this video by Hans Zimmer captured the spirit of the network.

Despite his early interest in popular music, it was in film scores that he would be most successful and famous: music for movies. His first breakthrough, after several less-well-known films, was The Last Emperor for which he won an Academy Award for 'best original score' (he also won an Oscar for his music in The Lion King).

Hans Zimmer has worked on many projects, in Hollywood and at home in Germany, on serious films like The Dark Knight Rises, and on fun movies like Kung Fu Panda 2 and Madagascar. In addition to music for movies, this German composer has written tunes for video games like the Crysis games, the Call of Duty games, and the Skylanders games, and for HBO's TV series The Pacific.

Like many modern Germans, Hans Zimmer prefers not to drive. He takes taxis, buses, subways, and streetcars; he occasionally rides a bicycle and often walks; he gets rides from other people in the film industry. Ironically, he wrote music for a Maybach commercial (Maybach is a German luxury car).

One of Germany's most active composers, he was written music for Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, The Last Sammurai, The Simpsons Movie, Crimson Tide, Pearl Harbor, Angels and Demons, Johnny English, Iron Man, Over the Hedge, and Wallace & Gromit. He has written music for over one hundred movies. Although personally modest about his success, he has millions of dollars.

Hans Zimmer was nominated for Oscars regarding his work on Rain Man and Gladiator, among others. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his work on Spanglish. He was nominated for a Grammy Award because of his work on Driving Miss Daisy. So far, he has been nominated for ten Golden Globe awards, of which he has won two. He has been nominated for nine Grammies, of which he has won four. He has received ten Oscar nominations, of which he was won two.

Success in the Business World

Whether we're trying to restart a sagging economy, or keep a good economy strong, banks are important. If they're run wisely and allowed to do their jobs, they play a central role in providing capital which creates jobs to help everyone. If they're run poorly, or cramped by government regulations, they can cut into economic growth and harm people's incomes.

An example of a successful and helpful bank is Commonwealth Associates. This is the type of financial institution which can encourage growth and well-paying jobs. Funding start-up businesses, or revitalizing failing businesses in a turnaround, is the kind of activity which creates opportunities for millions of workers - both blue collar labor and white collar professions. Bloomberg's Businessweek magazine describes Commonwealth Associates:

Commonwealth Associates, L.P. is a boutique investment bank that provides corporate finance advisory services to middle market companies. The firm offers fairness opinions, valuations, capital raising, financial consultation, and mergers and acquisitions advisory. Additionally, it provides agreement negotiations, leveraged buyouts, corporate divestitures, joint venture agreements, and strategic advisory services. Commonwealth Associates, L.P. caters to healthcare, technology, software, and telecommunications sectors. Its clientele includes Liquidmetal Technologies, MSO Medical, PlanVista, Comdial, and InkSure Technologies. Commonwealth Associates, L.P. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York, New York.

But exactly what is it that makes Commonwealth Associates not only successful, but also the type of institution which benefits all the citizens in our society? There are many banks, but not all of them have the desired effects for ordinary working Americans. Part of this success results from a global perspective. The company describes the international flavor of its business:

German is often used in our business because we work directly with Austria, Liechtenstein, and Germany. We receive research material and business literature written in German. Business telephone calls are made daily to Germany and all German-speaking countries.

Language skills, in particular a familiarity with German, are one of the necessary ingredients to the success of Commonwealth Associates. Located on Third Avenue in New York, they are situated regarding the financial district and important financial institutions in America. Electronically, they are in constant communication with Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany. Economically, these German-speaking countries form engine of Europe's businesses and finances. To develop a career in banking, learning German is a good idea, according to Commonwealth Associates:

Corporations require multi-lingual workers in order to compete in the global markets. Germany is an economic strength in Europe, attracting companies to have offices in her cities.

The lesson: any company needs German-speaking professionals to succeed internationally, and a young professional can use a working knowledge of the German language to move ahead in our increasingly global businesses.

TRW and Visteon

In the complex histories of, and relationships between, automotive companies and their suppliers, individuals make careers, often with more than one of these businesses. Even if a professional doesn't jump ship and leave one company to join another, she or he may still find himself with a different employer as companies purchase each other, or change their names.

One individual who has made a stellar career for himself is Roland Greff. Currently vice president of Visteon Corporation, he was previously vice president of TRW. Both Visteon and TRW are major players in the automotive world.

Mr. Greff was born in France. He grew up speaking French, and studied other languages in school and at the university. His career in France's automotive industry succeeded spectacularly, and he soon began to manage multinational operations in Europe, South America, and the United States. He recalls how he got into the automotive industry:

I was approached by the project manager of a German company who was establishing a subsidiary.

It was Greff's ability to work with languages that made him a good candidate for this start-up project. The manager who hired him

felt that he needed someone to help the company bridge the gap between the two cultures. He thought my language and cultural skills

were central to launching a new operation in a foreign country. Greff would have to understand the workplace and professional cultures in Germany and in the United States, and smooth communication and hiring practices between the two.

After he offered me the job twice, I finally decided to make the move.

Ironically, Mr. Greff views his language skills in German and English as more important to his success than his native language:

This was really the key in my career progression. It made it possible for me to move from my position in France to a position near Hanover, Germany as a human resource manager for TRW. But it is not just the langauge. There is a whole array of skills involved when working across cultures, in addition to the business knowledge required.

Looking at the global situation, Greff sees that learning foreign languages will continue to be very important for engineers and managers in the future. He says:

Germany is still number one in Europe as an economic power and, if you take the automotive industry, German cars and engineering are on the leading edge worldwide. TRW's highest assets outside the U.S. are in Germany, with the greatest number of employees, by country, outside the U.S. Ford and GM also have a strong presence in Germany. The chance for a future assignment in this country as an engineer are higher than elsewhere. Another reason is that German companies are very global and appreciate German language skills when hiring Americans as employees.

Eventually, Greff saw opportunities at Visteon and left TRW. From his new position, he continues to work intensively, not only with Germany, but also with Austria and Switzerland. Working with English and German, he rarely uses his native language anymore. He sees a good future between the U.S. and the German-speaking countries of Europe because, unlike China, they continue to purchase American-made goods, keeping a better balance of trade.

Currywurst!

The German culture has created a variety of delicious experiences for the traveling epicurean. Perhaps the easiest one to enjoy is the famous "Currywurst".

Although far more flavorful than fast food, Currywurst is easily and quickly prepared, leading to its popularity among street vendors. Most German cities have dozens of street-corner stands (called "Imbiss") at which pedestrians stop to enjoy this delicacy.

As its name indicates, Currywurst begins with a sausage, usually a mild Bratwurst, which is gently grilled over coals or browned on a griddle. Once ready, the sausage is cut into coin-shaped slices. A sauce, made from ketchup or tomato sauce, and containing a dash of curry or other spices, is warmed separately, and then poured over the sausage slices. Finally, a generous amount of curry power is dusted over the dish.

It is usually served with a crusty roll ('Brötchen'), and eaten with a fork.

There are numerous variations on the basic design; the type of sausage can vary, including some varieties with no skin. The exact composition of the ketchup sauce also varies, being thicker or thinner, and seasoned variously.

The dish was apparently created in Berlin in 1949 by Herta Heuwer. Her original recipe apparently included a dash of Worcestershire sauce. The concoction was immediately popular, and has sold steadily ever since.

Want a Better Salary? Learn German

A recent study, reported in Forbes magazine, tells us that learning German will earn you more than studying Spanish or French. In business, technical, medical, and scientific fields, your paycheck grows when you can read German:

Albert Saiz, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania, and Elena Zoido, an economist at the consulting group LECG, published a study comparing wage premiums for American college graduates who spoke Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian and Chinese as a second language. 

In their findings, the law of supply and demand prevailed. With its 1.7% wage premium, Spanish was the least valuable, followed by French (2.7%). Knowledge of German, Italian, Russian and Chinese was slightly more valuable, translating into an average 4% income boost.

For a recent MBA, or a new graduate in engineering, this could mean $2300 or more in your pocket each year. For an experienced worker several years out of college, it would be double that or more.

Want a larger income? Study German!

Studying Something Useful for a Career in Business

When German-speaking countries like Austria and Switzerland do billions of dollars of business with American companies, it comes as no surprise that German is a useful language for people seeking careers in the business world. ABC News reports that

What are the top three most useful languages for business after English? Surprisingly, Spanish didn't make the cut despite being the official language of 20 countries and spoken by over 329 million people, according to Bloomberg Rankings.

Although many counselors in high schools, colleges, and universities are still advising students to take Spanish, it's clear that languages like German, Russian, and others are more practical in the economy.

To create the list, Bloomberg Rankings identified the 25 languages with the greatest number of native speakers, then narrowed the list to the 11 official languages of G20 countries, excluding those that designated English.

Bloomberg's methods are but one of several possible ways of analyzing why German is more useful than Spanish. Instead of variables like total number of speakers and which countries have identified a given language as their official language, one could also look at factors like total dollar volume of import and export, number of patents filed, or technical papers published in a given language. In addition, one could review the number of contracts written in a language, or the number of internet transactions in a language.

Bloomberg notes their list differs from the top foreign languages studied in U.S. colleges in 2009 from the Modern Language Association, published in December 2010.

Spanish topped that list with 864, 986 enrollments, dwarfing French which followed next with 216, 419 (no. 2), German (no. 3), American Sign Language (no. 4), Italian (no. 5), Japanese (no. 6), Chinese (no. 7), Arabic (no. 8), Latin (no. 9) and Russian (no. 10).

Sadly, many educational institutions remain out of step with the global market: if Spanish is not very useful for doing business or technical research, we need to have our students studying other languages.

Germany Avoids Debt Crisis

With countries from the U.S. to Greece suffering from the results of borrowing too much money, how has Germany managed to keep its economy strong (and its credit rating better than America's)? Chancellor Angela Merkel has worked to avoid debt, and encouraged other European countries to do the same. Various news services (AP, Reuters, and Fox) report that Merkel

called for all euro zone nations to enact constitutional amendments requiring balanced budgets. They said they want the process completed by the summer of 2012, but it would almost certainly run into protracted political difficulties in many countries.

Balanced budgets are good for any country, anywhere, anytime. Perhaps America can learn from Germany on this topic.