The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-12
AMERICAN GERMANY
HAS ITS EXISTENCE
Wave of Americanism Is Now
Flooding Germany
THE BERLINER OF TODAY
The German Dreamer of Days Gone by
Has Turned OpHorfunist-Berlin
Now Has Eight Hundred
Millionaires
THE BERLINER OF TODAY
nv HEINRICH II. REINERT

n Berlin. June 11.-(Special )-American-
Germany will probably sound strange at
|uTrst. Nevertheless it exists; very much
TO- in fact And If up to the present one
has always heard a great deal about Ger
an-Americanism and never anything
about American ermanism, itts only be-
cause the one is as old as the United
States themselves: the other is quite new
SO new. that it surprises even the Ger
mans.
The German American visiting his ma
tive country after an absence Oh, say
about twenty years, will look wondering
" about him, stranger. And the born
American who knows Germany by hear
saw only and visiting Berlin for the first
tsme in his life, will as likely as not, be
asking himself whether or not he is really
In Germany or still at home.
A wave of Americansm is flooding Ger
many gaining strength daily, becoming
more pronounced continually, apparent
| in the multitude of things large or small.
What would have been deemed an impos-
eibility only ten short years ago, has be-
come matter of course today. The old,
so far typically German question: who
are your" is heard less and less; the
| typically American question:: What can
you dor? more and more. Buildings
|Apring up like mushrooms, built up in the
space of a few months, just like in the
United States. Women emancipation is
F trump; even DR.. Mary Walker we have in
the person of Rosa Luxenburg. Just an
illustration small in it's way, but mighty
significant In the Berlin of today hardly
anybody thinks Of stopping an electric
car Men and women board and leave
the car while it is in motion. Berlin has
department stores as large as any in New
York or Chicago. The cars on the l.
roads, underground or trans are just as
beautifully overcrowded as anywhere in
. America.
The purchasing power of money has
zone down tremendously; almost all
classes live above their income; the taste
for extravaganza developed of late by the
ladies is becoming y serious question; the
voung men marry younger than before and
quite frequently their wives continue their
occupations after marriage. The old pro-
verbal solid stability has almost disap-
peared entirely, and has been replaced by
luxurious fashiness. new house in
Berlin is usually a sort of palace-frcsi
the outside: inside the walls are some
times so thin that one can occasionally
follow conversation of the neghbor next
door
\ The Berlin of today has 500 millionaires.
That alone speaks volumes. Most OF
them have made their money through
@peculation. The German the dreamer
IT days gone BY. has turned opportunist.
Whatever pays at the moment he'll take
hold Of; the old he'll throw aside without
the slightest hesitation.
Tie Berliner of today has become more
American-German than any emigrant to
the States ever became German-Amer-
lean.
This fact has been the fundamental
reason for Roosevedts hearty reception
Nm Berlin. King Edwards death had
actually dampened the expression of en-
thusiasism to q certain extent, but no ma
,tion can have hailed his coming with
more sincerity and honest JOY. For every
Berliner, without exception, loves Roose-