BMW and the power of innovation

A series in the BMW museum.

BMW features a museum full of history and beautiful luxury vehicles.
(photo by Katie Pflug)

by Michelle Graessle

Black leather seats. The cool smoothness of a steering wheel in eager hands. The tenacious purr of a hand crafted engine. Jaw-dropping design that would leave Leonardo Da Vinci in awe. This machine belongs in one place: on the road.

The classic image of a sleek BMW is only slightly altered for the company’s newest concept, BMW i. That difference is not actually even visible, only audible because the BMW i series of vehicles is completely electric. Although its purr may be somewhat muted, its innovation, power and design are unaltered if not improved.

Manuel Sattig, communication manager for BMW project I, is adamant that although combustion engines are becoming more efficient, they will eventually be phased out and electro-mobility will be at the forefront of automotive innovation. He said that people are becoming more and more interested in the environmental and ecological responsibility of the products they buy. With that in mind, and BMW being a customer-driven company, it has to keep up with its customers’ wants and needs and prepare for the future while maintaining brand identity.

“In this time period we are in the middle of an iconic change. Right now, this is not a technology that is the most suitable necessarily for today and tomorrow, but it will definitely be one of the major technologies of the future. That’s why you have to take care of it now, to make your company fit for the future,” Sattig said.

An American BWM tour guide showcases one of BMW's tiniest models.

An American BWM tour guide showcases one of BMW’s tiniest models.
(photo by Marina Weis)

BMW did extensive research before moving forward with the cars. The BMW i3 will be released this fall and the BMW i8 next year.  The price for the i3 will be under 40,000 euros  in Euope; BMW hasn’t finalize the price yet.

The BMW i was formerly known as the “Megacity Vehicle” and is best suited for urban markets. The car must be charged like any other battery-powered device but is also complemented with a small combustion engine. This combination makes for an extraordinary driving experience while also maintaining exceptionally low fuel consumption and emission levels, Sattig said.

Sattig said that the two most important benefits of driving a BMW i are its focuses on environmental and economic efficiency.

“The environment is important because we have to reduce resources and emissions of vehicles. Also, you can actually say right now that driving an electric vehicle is about half the price, just for energy costs, of driving a very efficient combustion engine. Those are the two major factors people think about when considering electro-mobility,” Sattig said.

New innovations aside, BMW will always be a company devoted to driver experience and the tradition of the brand as Stefan Mueller, a staff member of the International Corporate Communications department, can attest to.  For example, it is important to BMW that its cars can go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds.

“BMW is a brand driven by emotion. Our cars are sold on the notion that driving is for sport and it’s fun,” Mueller said.

The appropriately shaped BMW building.

The appropriately shaped BMW building.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

BMW can trace its roots back to Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto, according to the company’s website. In 1916, the Flugmaschinenfabrik Gustav Otto company had merged into Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke AG (BFW) at government behest. Elsewhere, in 1917, the Rapp Motorenwerke company morphed into Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, which was duly converted into an AG (public limited company) in 1918. BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928; the first motorcycle was produced in 1945. It bought the Rover Group in the United Kingdom to expand its range of models, including the Land Rover, Rover, MG, Triumph and Mini. It acquired Rolls Royce in 1998

This idea holds true as visitors cross the street into the BMW Welt and Museum, where the tradition and history of this iconic brand is encapsulated in some exquisite architecture. Classic cars and new concepts are on display for visitors to ogle, including the Rolls Royce and Mini vehicles it produces. Shiny and pristine, the museum holds original airplane engines and motorcycles of the inception of the company as well as showcases the development of BMW through the years.

As the Point Park visitors made their way through the many displays, Mueller’s idea of “driving for sport” is grossly apparent. Each specimen of automotive prowess displayed at the BMW Welt and Museum clearly wants to be used for more than just driving to work. Emotionally invested employees clearly designed and created these cars with some grand scheme of experience in mind; not just for transportation but for the love of driving.

Fotogalerie im Blauen Haus

fotogalerieby Connor Mulvaney

“I think somebody said ‘if you want to make a statement, send a letter,’” said Nick Hermanns, curator of the Fotogalerie im Blauen Haus in Munich.

“Photography isn’t about having a message. This is just showing how somebody sees a special part of the world.”

Hermanns not only curates his own gallery but also is an avid professional photographer, author and a graphic designer. Seeing the trade of photography from both sides of the gallery windows has given him an interesting perspective on the field.

“I have a pretty simple philosophy about photography. It’s not so artistic and not so sophisticated,” said Hermanns. “[Making a photograph] is just showing how I see something. It’s just a picture.”

Hermanns , 63, who has lived in Munich for 45 years and has operated his gallery since 2010, describes his taste as traditional, which drives his choices in exhibitions in his gallery.  His current exhibit, “Landscape Impressions” is by Willi Morali, a photographer and architect from Velbert, Rheinland

“There is one thing which all my artists have in common.  They do pure photography, so they don’t manipulate [their photographs],” said Hermanns.

This technical foundation separates Fotogalerie im Blauen Haus from the field of German galleries and photographers, according to Hermanns. “I don’t think [this exhibit] fits in anything.  It’s really completely outstanding,” Hermanns said.  “It’s really far away from the German art scene.”

In an art community with many “extremely expensive” and popular photographers, Hermanns’ gallery stays true to his principles.

“This gallery has its focus on photography, not on art. It’s more [about] a kind of straight photography, which is easy to understand and nice to look at,” said Hermanns.  “Of course, sometimes the issues [represented in themes of other works] are wilder than this one, but still, it’s not a big art thing.  It’s just photography.”

willimoraliPhotos in Landscape Impressions by Morali were all exposed on film across several countrysides across Europe.  Each is carefully composed, often with vanishing points or displaying perspective in some form in a way that draws the viewer’s eye around the picture and easily allows him or her to digest the photograph.

“It’s pretty easy to understand. It’s not a sophisticated kind of artificial photography,” said Hermanns.  “You can just look at it, you see it’s a tree, it’s black and white, and I understand what is happening there.  It’s nothing with a big concept or intellectual whatever. It’s just photography.”

The photos were printed in a darkroom on silver gelatin paper and then toned with gold, selenium or palladium to give them a taste of color as well as to preserve them.

This may read like Greek to the modern photo enthusiast, but it is this traditional approach that Hermanns has a passion for.

“The guys who work like this are not so many.  Most [photographers today] shoot digitally…and this very traditional style starts to become rare,” said Hermanns.

However, the value of traditionally made photographs in a lightning-fast paced field is not necessarily worth its weight in whatever it’s toned in.

“I don’t think [working this way] is of value. It’s just another way to work,” said Hermanns.  “I think it’s a question of feeling.  [Silver gelatin] gives you the feeling that this is really craftsmanship, somebody did something with that and not [just] pushed a button.  Both can bring perfect results.”

Morali was able to produce such perfect results in Landscape Impressions, according to Hermanns.

“I think he’s a really extremely perfect printer,” he said.  “If you’ve seen the tones of the photography, there is still something in the black, the deep parts of the photo, and also in the very, very light ones.  This is perfectly done; it’s just really good craft.”

Pittsburgh, meet Munich

The Glockenspiel towers over Marienplatz.  (photo by Carson Allwes)

The Glockenspiel towers over Marienplatz.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

by Carson Allwes

Point Park University’s International Media class arrived in Munich on Friday from the airport and straight into a tour of Germany’s third largest city.

Tour guide Arnoud Beck provided a bus tour from the airport to the hotel. Beck pointed out key points such as the Autobahn, the highway in Germany famous for not having a speed limit. The advisory speed limit is 130 kilometers or 81 miles per hour, and buses and trucks should travel at 80 kilometers per hour or around 60 miles per hour, according to the highway’s website.

Old and new buildings, including Munich’s soccer stadium, flashed by the bus windows as the bus took the group to its hotel. The hotel, Europäischer Hof, is in the center of Munich, near Marienplatz.  And it was very close to the main train station, which the group used a number of times for visits.

Henry the Lion founded Marienplatz in 1158. Today it is a shopping center. Downtown Marienplatz was filled with people browsing shops, eating in cafés, visiting street vendors and enjoying outdoor street music.

Vendors set up along the streets with their carts full of fruits, vegetables and white spargel, or asparagus, which was in season.  Their customers were dressed in everything from lederhosen to everyday apparel.

This Marienplatz street vendor sells fresh produce. (photo by Carson Allwes)

This Marienplatz street vendor sells fresh produce.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

Marienplatz has several key points that depict Munich. Beck showed the group a couple of churches, including Bürgersaalkirche and the Frauenkirche.

Bürgersaalkirche is between two buildings and almost blends into the scenery. The church has a museum for the Rev. Rupert Mayer SJ. He was a Jesuit priest who was a chaplain in World War I, losing a leg in a grenade attack. During World War II he preached against the Nazis and was placed in “protective custody” and later sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis. He returned to a hero’s welcome from Catholics and others after the war ended and died of a stroke in November 1945. Pope John Paul II beautified him in 1987, which is a path to sainthood. The museum also displayed many other different religious statues and relics.

The Frauenkirche is the tallest building in Munich. It was decided by the city that no building should be taller than the Frauenkirche’s two towers, which are around 100 meters tall.

Beck explained why the Frauenkirche survived the war.

“The high points of the church gave the army [a marker] to bomb the city,” he said.

This saved the Frauenkirche and many other tall buildings as they were used for the military during the second war.

Inside the Frauenkirhe, Beck told the story of how the church was built. According to legend, Jörg von Halsbach needed funding in order to build the church and asked the Devil for help. The Devil would help but only if Halsbach did not put windows in the church.

The devil's footprint sits on a tile inside the church. (photo by Carson Allwes)

The devil’s footprint sits on a tile inside the Frauenkirhe church.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

Halsbach tricked the Devil by using the architecture to give the appearance of a windowless church. Devil was not fooled.

“In [the Devil’s] anger at being fooled, he [stomped] his foot and left his footprint [in the floor],” Beck said, showing it to the students.

The Frauenkirche is also the home of the archbishop. This is the church where former Pope Benedict XVI practiced as bishop before moving on to the Vatican.

Another famous piece of architecture is the Glockenspiel.

The Glockenspiel is in the center of Marienplatz, an old gothic-themed building with gargoyles and flying buttresses. The clock is in the center tower. The clock tower has two open windows with pieces that move at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., attracting a crowd. The inner mechanics put on a show for the people in the square. The entire show lasts about 15 minutes.

Beck’s tour ended with permission to begin exploring and sampling Munich’s cafés and restaurants. The tour formed a foundation of important landmarks and history that better shaped the group’s understanding of the city over the rest of their trip.

An Overview of Süddeutsche Zeitung

Suddeutsche Zeitung features a broadsheet layout.  (photo by Carson Allwes)

Suddeutsche Zeitung features a broadsheet layout.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

by Carson Allwes

Point Park International Media class’ final media visit was to Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the largest quality newspapers in Germany.

Süddeutsche Zeitung was the first free national paper in Germany. It reaches about one and half million people and is a Monday to Saturday paper. It depends partly on subscribers and single copies; about 84 percent of total sales come from this. One subscriber pays about 51.60 euro per month.

Having this revenue helps it not accept any government funds, which is true for some other German media. “There is no political pressure…no pressure from the government what to write,” said Michael Stengl, the product manager of advertisements.

Stengl started with a video of what a day is like at Süddeutsche Zeitung. Stengl translated the video and introduced the group to the newspaper company.

A day at Süddeutsche Zeitung starts at 4 in morning and the paper starts printing at 6 o’clock in the evening. There are usually three editions of the paper before the final copy.

“There are a few similarities between The New York Times and Süddeutsche Zeitung,” Stengl said.

There are regionals papers, free advertising papers, business information and specialized medicial and technology papers under the Süddeutsche Zeitung brand. The national edition of Süddetusche Zeitung, often abbreviated simply as “SZ,” contains four feature sections in economy, culture, sports, and politics. Issues printed for Munich and its closest municipalities will normally contain a local news insert.

Süddeutsche Zeitung has published an eight-page insert of The New York Times articles since 2004; this is known as The New York Times International Weekly and it is in English.

Suddeutsche Zeitung's first issue was published in 1975. (photo by Carson Allwes)

Suddeutsche Zeitung’s first issue was published in 1975.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

In 2000, advertising problems became a concern for the company. Süddeutsche Zeitung Library was created to response to provide revenue, which is a book group that has 50 works in the collection. Consumer can either buy the complete set or the individual book. The library venture was a huge success, Stengl said.

Süddeutsche Zeitung sold 80,000 complete sets and 12 million books total. Now, the company is expanding its medium to CDs and DVDs.

Süddeutsche Zeitung was located in Marienplatz for about six decades until the economy collapsed, Stengl said, and it resulted in a major staff reduction and need for a new direction to survive. A new building was constructed on the outskirts of Munich in 2007, and at the time was the most advanced and ecofriendly building in Germany.

Süddeutsche Zeitung is a unique newspaper because it has its own major production process plant, Stengl said, which is home to a state-of-the-art printing press. It is in charge of printing and packaging enough papers to supply SZ’s massive circulation as well as single copies. Along with Süddeutsche Zeitung’s own audience to satisfy, there are 13 other newspapers in Munich printed at SZ’s plant that exist outside of Süddeutsche Zeitung brand.

Stengl emphasized the quality of the paper and the need to be innovative to keep subscribers and to attract new readers.

“We focus on the quality of the paper,” Stengl said. “[And] on the quality of our products.”

He also said the editor in chief wants to be sure “not to bore” the professor or businessman but also to “educate the common people.”

Several other staff members and editors addressed the group, journalist Viola Schenz and Barbara Vorsamer, subchief editor. They reviewed the online process and the journalistic process the newspaper follows.

Vorsamer noted that the paper’s has “one of the most-read and unique news sites in Germany.” She said, “We were not the first, but we have one the most highly regarded sites in Germany.”

The staff posts all of what’s in the print edition, but some content is exclusively online. The newspaper uses real-time tracking for the site, and she noted that the peak time is noon to 1 p.m., or lunchtime.

Both Vorsamer and Schenz stressed that he most important issue for Süddeutsche Zeitung was the quality of its paper to reflect the brand of all its products for the masses. The paper has worked tirelessly to deliver the best news possible to their subscribers and have been rewarded immensely for their efforts, they said. Their innovation in printing, quality journalism, business and advertising have earned them significant recognition and accolades.

Students remember victims at Dachau

Jewish Memorial at Dachau Concentration Camp

The Jewish Memorial at Dachau casts a light of hope on its visitors.
(photo by Marina Weis)

by Marina Weis

The deceptive words, arbeit macht frei, or, labor makes you free, welcomed thousands of prisoners as they made their way through the entryway into the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

Now weeds grow over the rusted barbed wire that surrounds a large courtyard plagued with an eerie emptiness. Songbirds pierce the silence as small groups of visitors pause to read at information stands about the atrocities that happened here years ago when thousands of people were tortured and killed for the Nazi regime.

“We are walking on the ashes of the people who died here,” said Arnoud Beck, a tour guide for Explorica who was leading the Point Park group of visitors through the camp as part of the International Media class.

“Can we take photos?” asked a student visitor.

“No,” Beck answered. The tourists frowned. “You have to take pictures to show the world so it never happens again.”

Out of many concentration camps in Germany, this was the first set up by the Nazi regime and acted as an example to the rest that followed. It opened in 1933 as a camp for political prisoners – all those who opposed Hitler, such as communists, social democrats and especially the Jews. But in 1938 it became a concentration camp. Originally designed to hold 6,000 prisoners, the Americans who liberated the camp found it overfilled with 32,000.

Although the Americans liberated the camp in 1945, it was still used as a place for immigrants and homeless people. It was only after riots that the camp was closed around 1965. Soon after, the Bavarian government decided to make it an open-air memorial, and it includes three religious installments – Catholic, Jewish and Protestant. Some of the outdoor sculpture depicts those prisoners who ended their lives by running into the electrified barbed wire to end their suffering or attempting to escape by whatever possible means only to be shot by guards atop one of the towers surrounding the perimeter of the concentration camp. The camp now receives more than 1 million annual visitors.

Munich tour guide Arnoud Beck explains how the Dachau prisoners were crammed into the barrack's sleeping quarters.

Munich tour guide Arnoud Beck explains how the Dachau prisoners were crammed into the barrack’s sleeping quarters.
(photo by Helen Fallon)

All 30 of the original barracks, which each housed more than 2,000 prisoners, were destroyed, but two exact copies were re-created for the memorial. But the gas chamber and crematorium are more or less original, according to Beck.

A native of Holland, Beck said he know many families who lost their relatives in the Holocaust. The first time he visited the camp was 20 years ago, but even after so many years, the terror still resonates with him.

“I’ve been here 100 times, and I’m still getting emotional,” Beck said. “If I go 100 times into wherever – who cares? But if I go into a camp, I still get emotional. It’s unbelievable.”

For Beck, one of the most depressing aspects about the camp is looking at the photos of prisoners who suffered from the medical experiments they were forced to participate in by the Nazis.

One photo array in the visitor center shows a man used as a subject for an aeronautic experiment for research into the possibility of survival at great altitudes. Three photos show him in a high-pressure room, and his facial expressions become progressively pained. Eventually, his brain could not take the pressure, and he died.

Others were subject to being injected with malaria and put in ice-cold water to test equipment, among other tests.

The prisoners who were traveling on a train for a week or two had hardly any food or water, so the Nazis felt they needed to be disinfected. Visitors can walk through the disinfection room that connects to the gas chamber and then eventually the crematorium. The heavy chemicals emitted from the pipes in the narrow, dark disinfection room sometimes killed the prisoners as well.

Dim light cast long, eerie shadows of visitors in the low ceiling room with small, barred windows near the floor of the gas chamber.

“This was the center for potential mass murder,” Beck said. “The room was disguised as showers and equipped with fake shower spouts to mislead the victims and prevent them from refusing to enter the room.”

An art memorial depicting intertwined bones and bodies adorns the exterior of the Dachau Concentration Camp museum.  (photo by Sara Tallerico)

An artistic memorial depicting intertwined bones and bodies adorns the exterior of the Dachau Concentration Camp museum.
(photo by Sara Tallerico)

The prisoners who were not deemed fit were transported to Auschwitz’s gas chambers in many cases instead of this gas chamber here at Dachau because the camp did not have enough fuel to burn the bodies, according to Beck. They had to get rid of the evidence. But some prisoners were forced to strip naked and enter the gas chamber. Death by poison gas could take up to 20 minutes.

The crematorium was erected to serve as both a killing facility and to remove the dead. Following the crematorium is a room with stained walls used to store corpses brought from the camp to be cremated.

Prisoners at the camp faced at 13-hour workday, seven days a week. The barracks had to be kept in pristine condition. If coffee were spilled on the floor, the entire barrack would be punished, Beck said.

Originally, each barrack was meant to 200 prisoners, but as the war waged on, they housed more than 2,000 with no insulation and no heater. Privacy did not exist, as there was one big toilet area and one washing room with two basins for the entire barrack.

Some of the beds, made up of wooden planks, have separators for privacy, but in other rooms, there are no separators. But this was an advantage in the winter as body heat helped to warm the prisoners.

But most people died because of sickness above anything else, according to Beck and the center’s website. At the end of 1944, the number of prisoners staggered over 60,000 and the living conditions were catastrophic due to poor hygiene and food supplies. An epidemic of typhus claimed over 15,000 lives. A serious case of tuberculosis was also discovered in block no. 29, and people were murdered in groups of 20 by injection.

A grave marker pays tribute to the unknown victims. (photo by Michelle Graessle)

A grave marker pays tribute to the unknown victims.
(photo by Michelle Graessle)

Finally the camp was liberated in April of 1945. But the Americans could not believe what they found. A few trucks containing prisoners were never opened because they soldiers forgot, and more than 200 prisoners died.

Many prisoners, who ate the chocolate the soldiers brought, died as they did not have any solid food for a long time. Some others, desperate for new clothing, went to the now-abandoned SS barracks. They donned some of the guards’ clothing, and the Americans, suspicious of them, kept them imprisoned. Some, according to a memoir published by a South Tyrol conscientious objector, were sent to a French prisoner of war camp for months after the camp’s liberation.

Others could not leave the camp immediately because they had to go through decontamination due to illness. It took some nine to 10 months before they could leave, as many were also too weak to enter society.

At the end of the visitor center, there is a display explaining what happened to the war criminals involved in national socialist crimes at Dachau. The trials by the Allies were the first of their kind and became models for following trials, but with the beginning of the Cold War, interest in prosecution began to recede. The West German justice system took over, and despite preliminary trials, there were an overwhelming number to deal with and then only a few prosecutions. Most offenses were placed under amnesty and therefore many of the crimes committed remained unpunished.

“You have people that don’t know about the massive executions. You have to think about 26 million people were killed in five years,” Beck said to his group of visitors, cameras peppered among them as he ended the tour. “I hope when you show those pictures to other people, I hope that they got that same effect and start thinking about what they are doing.”

PR shines at the Munich Tourism Office

Isabella Schopp gives a presentation on the Munich Tourism Office (photo by Katie Pflug )

Isabella Schopp gives a presentation on the Munich Tourism Office
(photo by Katie Pflug )

by Katie Pflug

Isabella Schopp, who works in public relations for the Munich Tourism Office, really knows her facts about the third biggest city in Germany and was not shy to share them with Point Park University’s International Media class.

Munich, known as the “all around city,” is home to 1.4 million people.  That number seems like nothing compared to the 12.4 million visitors Munich achieved in 2012, which was a record year.  The United States of America, Italy, Arabia, The United Kingdom and Russia are among the countries with the leading amount of tourists that visit each year, Schopp said.

It also has the second largest number of universities, right after Berlin. Munich has 104,000 students in 15 universities, Schopp said.

Founded in 1158, Munich is now the center of science and economy.  High tech industries like BMW, EADS, and The Linde Groupe all call Munich home. Google, Siemens and Microsoft are also some of the leading I&C companies in Munich.  Munich is now the second largest city for broadcasting companies, right after New York City.

But, Munich has much more to offer than just being a great business hub.  Munich is full of culture, castles, history, churches, shopping, beer gardens, all set in an amazing location.

There are 63 museums in Munich, along with 100 theaters, two operas and three orchestras.  The Nymphenburgh Palace and Royal Residence are some of the castles in the area that are a must see while visiting Munich.  Right outside of Munich there are also the castles Neuschwantstein and Linderhof.  Castles are large part of Bavarian culture and a beautiful way to explore the history of the area.

Munich is a very green city with many parks.  As well as the many parks throughout Munich, 80 percent of locals own a bike, Schopp said.  The beer gardens also make many people want to be outside, she said.  In this particular part of Germany, visitors are able to bring their own food to the beer gardens.  That is something that is not permitted in the northern part of Germany.  Beer gardens have been around 200 years and are some of the main attractions for visitors.

Munich is a very busy city for events.  During February there was the Munich Creative Business Week.  In May there was the Long Night of Music.  Coming in June there will be the City Foundation Festival, celebrating 855 years of Munich.  Later in June, Munich will be hosting the Summer X-Games, Schopp said.  Of course in late September into early October there will be Oktoberfest, which marked its 200th anniversary in 2010.  Then in the end of November all the way until Christmas Eve, the Christmas Market will be available to residents and tourists.

The Munich Tourism Board’s general manager is Geraldine Knudson.  There are five different departments of the Munich Tourism Office: Marketing, Convention Bureau, Tourist Information, International Media and Public Relations.

The International Media is the branch of the office that Schopp is involved with, having previously served as a tour guide. She and her colleagues are responsible for the press kits, online image database, footage, the international newsletter, press trip assistance, film and photo permits, interviews. and research assistance.

Working in the International Travel Media section of the Munich Tourism Office are five colleagues and a trainee.

The Munich Tourism Office has professional photographers on staff, but sometimes it will buy photos from other journalists, Schopp said.  The in-house photographers are responsible for the photo archives.

The Munich Tourism Office plays a big role in educating journalists and others about what Munich has to offer, she explained.  And although Schopp will visit London and Paris to meet some of them and pitch Munich travel stories,  “The journalists come to us for stories, not vice versa.” It also plays a huge role in organizing events such as Oktoberfest and the Christmas Market in Marienplatz.

The Munich Tourism Office works with the Germany National Tourist Board, which she said is its most important partner, the Bavaria Tourism Marketing GmbH, Magic Cities Germany and the Munich Airport to do its support work.

Journalists from Toronto Star, Budget Star, and Irish Times have all used the Munich Tourism Office for their resources.  When the journalists check into the hotels they have a press kit waiting for them, Schopp said, and the Point Park students each received a scaled-down one as a sample. The press kit includes Munich Facts and Figures, a city map, a Munich City Guide, Munich Events, and Photo Services papers.

The press kits the Point Park group also had paperwork giving students and faculty permission to write, photograph and film within the city, something that is standard procedure for the Tourism Board to do for groups.

There are many different types of journalists that would find writing about Munich exciting as well as on-topic with their publication.  Munich’s target market is really anyone because of the vast amount of things to do and a lot of families find that Munich is the perfect place to go because of that.

Visitors looking to stay in Munich will find no shortage of hotel rooms.  There are around 300,000 hotel rooms in the city of Munich itself.

Schopp has been working at the Munich Tourism Office for three years and said she loves being in direct contact with the journalists.

More information is available on the city at the Munich Tourism Office’s website at www.meuchen.de or via email at travel.media@muenchen.de.

Advertising and the presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Printing Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Printing presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung
(photo by Alexa Blanchard)

by Alexa Blanchard

In the world of advertising, he who generates the most profit is king. But for Süddeutsche Zeitung, a quality national newspaper located in southern Germany, innovation is the key to success.

Generating revenue through ad space is extremely important for a print newspaper, as the only other source for money-making relies on subscriptions. But with the universal decline in print, how do papers like Süddeutsche Zeitung keep their advertisers buying space? How do they keep their readers coming back for more?

Michael  Stengl, the product manager of advertisements, was eager to showcase Süddeutsche Zeitung’s unique advertising methods to Point Park University’s International Media class. The group of Pittsburgh students was comprised of communications majors of all varieties, including advertising and journalism majors. For most, this exclusive inside look at the functionality of a newspaper and their advertisements is especially relevant.

BMW, or Bavarian Motor Works, purchases a lot of ad space from Süddeutsche Zeitung. Stengl demonstrated some of the work that has put together to show of BMW’s luxury vehicles.

“We wondered, ‘how can we reach our audience with bigger, poster-sized images?’” Stengl inquired, citing the effectiveness of large billboard images that are exposed to the public.

He ended his rhetorical question by turning a page in his demonstration newspaper and revealing a true poster-sized image of a new BMW model, an ad that spanned across two newspaper pages. It was truly larger than life, compared to the commonplace ads that typically take up one quarter of a page to one half to a full page at most. Two entire pages for one ad are brilliant and unheard of in most U.S. newspapers except for the largest, such as The New York Times.

Alexa Blanchard and Johnie Freiwald check out a special advertisement in the pages of Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung. (Helen Fallon photograph)

Alexa Blanchard and Johnie Freiwald check out a special advertisement in the pages of Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
(photo by Helen Fallon)

Stengl passed around several other innovative advertising techniques that Süddeutsche Zeitung has employed, including a scented ad and a multi-sensory ad.

“We published this [multi-sensory] ad for BMW and our competitors called us and said ‘What have you done? This is brililiant,’” Stengl added.

The multi-sensory ad in question details driving a BMW from a chauffer’s perspective. The open road ahead is glossed with UV detailing, and the dashboard of the car actually feels like how a real dashboard would. Readers can touch the steering wheel and feel the texture of leather underneath their fingers, and the sleeves of the chauffer are outlined with cloth. This ad is multi-sensory because readers use not only their eyes, but also their sense of touch. Perhaps they even have a smell.

It encourages the reader to stop and take a moment to interact with an advertisement, something that had never been done before. More than anything, it makes the reader remember. Many will never forget that this two-page spread with a tangible leather steering wheel was an ad for BMW, and that they saw it – felt it – in Süddeutsche Zeitung. This is the kind of interactivity, innovation and notoriety that the paper is going for, Stengl said.

Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung
(photo by Alexa Blanchard)

Still reeling from the never-before-seen advertising, the Point Park students were then treated to yet another inside look across the street at Süddeutsche Zeitung’s printing presses. The printing process, which begins at 6 o’clock each evening, is a mammoth undertaking with an innumerable amount of moving parts, employees and equipment working around the clock to get the job right and ready for delivery.

The presses, spanning multiples floors and reaching far and wide, print the broadsheet newspaper at breakneck speed and push their respective paper sections onto conveyor belts where they are mechanically assembled and frequently checked for color. If the color, layout, or printing angle is incorrect then those batches of papers will be trashed and the process corrected. Advertising inserts – a huge source of revenue for the paper – are automatically inserted. The presses are so automated that mailers and inserters are no longer employed, and a small staff of printers is needed, which saves the company money.

All of this must be done in a matter of hours to satisfy the demand of the paper, which has one of the highest circulations in Germany with over 1.1 million daily readers, not including its international demand. The presses generate about 36,000 papers per hour, according to Stengl, and run all night until pickup in the morning.

All of this combined for what Stengl sees as a bright future for Süddeutsche Zeitung, which experienced extreme financial difficulty in the economic fallout in 2007-2008 and placed it on the brink of bankruptcy. Printing a quality newspaper and publishing books and other projects have set the paper on a sound financial course, as well as reaching out with new technological ventures.

And the paper remembers its near collapse as it moves forward. “Print has a future,” Stengl said. “But it must be interesting [to current and future readers].”

Ketchum-Pleon’s full-service agency aims to please

ketchum1by Andrea Karsesnick

Exactly 90 years ago, Ketchum was founded in Pittsburgh. Today, Ketchum, which is now is a subsidiary of the Omnicom Group, is one of the world’s leading PR agencies with offices across the globe, including Germany.

It joined Omnicom in 1996 and then merged with Pleon in 2009, which is based in Dusseldorf. Ketchum covers five global practice areas: brand marketing, corporate communications, healthcare, food and nutrition, and technology, according to its website. Pleon is the largest PR agency in Europe with 39 offices; it is also the third largest company in Germany.

Ketchum Pleon in Germany as a whole has 335 consultants, marketers and creative staff members. There are 37 media relations experts, 30 editors, 20 social media experts and one research center. There are more than 3,400 Ketchum employees worldwide.

According to the staff members who met with Point Park students, Ketchum Pleon Munich is a full-service agency. It is comprised of 60 people: Fifteen people handle health care, with clients such as Bayer; 15 associates handle change, with clients such as Zeiss and Siemens; and 20 people on the corporate team handle BMW, Kodak and Dell. All together Ketchum Pleon Munich has 42 clients.

Ketchum works with a number of well-known brands such as Snapple, Barbie, Special Olympics, and Häagen-Dazs.

Ketchum works with a number of well-known brands such as Snapple, Barbie, Special Olympics, and Häagen-Dazs.

Ketchum Pleon employs many research methods, according to Diana Dorenbeck, a consultant and media relations expert and Markus Ruether, business director and expert in corporate and financial communications. The agency enlists different research companies to perform market research. Methods include internal research by conducting questionnaires within the agency, street questionnaires and additional market research by calling random phone numbers and polling citizens. Phone calls are also made to journalists to find out what they think of different companies, they told the students. Ketchum Pleon Munich seldom uses focus groups.

Ketchum Pleon Munich puts a heavy focus social media. Of the Internet users in Germany, 76 percent are registered on social media. Social media in Germany is mostly Facebook, as Twitter is not that important, according to

Christopher Langner, director of digital and media communications.

That doesn’t mean that the agency doesn’t try some Web-based creative methods to help clients. He showed the students an example of an animated video for Lefax, an anti-flatulence drug produced in Germany that needed to reach a younger demographic, consumers 30-49. Check out the link: http://www.ketchumperspectives.com/issues/digital-social-media/case-studies/farting-to-stardom-germany.

According to Ketchum’s online magazine Perspectives, the video went viral, attracting 32,000 views on YouTube and capturing the attention of the mainstream media, which inspired thousands of consumes to actually begin engaging in conversation about flatulence online and reaching Lefax’s goal of generating buzz about the product.

The Ketchum staff members also shared their media tips for success in Germany. The top tip: “We’re the home to the Brothers Grimm. Pitch a story, not a product.” Following any PR campaign, Ketchum Pleon Munich must analyze and evaluate the results.  Analytics and metrics are very expensive and more often than not, clients do not want to pay for that, Langner said. Ketchum can easily measure how many media mentions a campaign received in comparison to competitors. Analytics on social media are done by Facebook, which can be seen by the administrator of a brand page. This is vital to measuring the impact a company has on the public through the use of social media. With this, a company can tailor the messages it sends to target audiences.

A castle fit for a King

Neuschwanstein is nestled in the hills of Hohenschwangau, Bavaria (photo by Katie Pflug)

Neuschwanstein is nestled in the hills of Hohenschwangau, Bavaria
(photo by Katie Pflug)

by Andrea Karsesnick

One hundred and seventy-two days.

That’s how long King Ludwig II lived in Neuschwanstein Castle, a tall, white picturesque structure sitting high in the mountains of Hohenschwangau, Bavaria, Germany. The castle was the inspiration of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle, and it has been featured prominently in many films and German tourism videos.

King Ludwig was born on Aug. 25, 1845, in Bavaria in Schloss Nymphenburg. He began his reign as king in 1864 at the age of 18. He claimed to have accepted the throne too quickly and regretted it.

Ludwig II lived in a fantasy world. He wanted to believe in a “holy kingdom,” where each ruler was chosen by the divine right theory of kingship. In reality, Ludwig II was a constitutional monarch with duties.

He was a recluse, who secluded himself in his castle away from everyone and did not tend to his duties as king. The castle was never completed, although he moved into in 1884. In 1885, banks threatened to take away his property, and Ludwig II developed political enemies. He was arrested and interned in the Berg Castle in 1886. Ludwig II died of mysterious circumstances, an apparent drowning, on June 13 that year in Lake Starnberg. He died alongside his psychiatrist who had diagnosed him as insane.

He started to build it on the ruins of another castle.  The construction of Neuschwanstein started in the summer of 1868 and was ready for Ludwig II to move in in the end of 1884, according to the castle’s official website. He only lived in the castle for a short period before his death. He only saw this home as a construction site.

Neuschwanstein was Ludwig II’s escape from reality. It was his dream world modeled on the Middle Ages. The paintings on the walls were done by seven different unknown artists from the academy in Munich. Famous artists did not want to work for Ludwig II because there would be little room for creativity in the artwork as Ludwig II had all of the ideas. Nonetheless, the paintings are extremely intricate and ornate.

The castle from ground level.

The castle is a 30-minute uphill walk.
(photo by Johnie Freiwald)

Ludwig II did not want anybody to share his luxurious castle with anyone. However, the castle was open to the public seven weeks after his death. Today, roughly 1.4 million people visit the castle each year and there are nearly 8,000 visitors each day.

The Point Park University group’s tour guide cited her favorite part of the elaborate castle.  Saura Samgabote, who has led tours there for seven years, says, “I love the details in the paintings. Every day I notice something I did not the day before.”

The decorated walls of Neuschwanstein were based on and inspired by the works of Richard Wagner, who was a good friend of Ludwig II. The paintings were inspired by his operas and medieval legends. There were three main figures on the walls of Neuschwanstein: Tannhaeuser, the swan knight Lohengrin and the Grail King Parzival.

Another theme used throughout the interior walls was religion. Ludwig II’s throne room was overseen by whom he saw as the highest king, Jesus. Ludwig II believed kingship to be “by the grace of God.”

The swan is also seen many times within the castle. Ludwig had a large swan statue and even door handles were modeled to form swan necks. The swan followed the religious theme as they are the Christian symbol of purity.

A basic ticket to the castle costs 12 euros. The visiting hours of the castle are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April to 15 October. From Oct. 16 to March, the hours are shortened to 10 a.m-4 p.m. Tickets need to be purchased in advance, and visitors can only enter the castle’s rooms by guided tour. The castle is closed Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1.

Visitors have to purchase tickets at the Ticketcenter Hohenschwangau in the village of Hohenschwangau below the castle. From Munich, tourists need to take a train and then a bus to the castle; it’s a very steep 30-minute walk to the castle from the village, although a bus and horse carriages are available.

Alexa’s Blog – Day 10

The following events transpired on 5/21/13.

The day was exciting before it truly began. I went to breakfast early so I could get a quicker start to my day, as I finally had the chance to change my US dollars to euros. We were going to BMW that day and I knew that the only time I could shop for souvenirs would be in the afternoon after we got back. I was very frustrated with the exchange rate, which I knew would be tough. But, I was sickened to learn that my $300 only came out to 200 euros. I will never come to Europe with American cash again.

On our way to BMW, I pushed Carson to the train station in her wheelchair. I gave her my purse to hold because I did not want someone to steal it off of me while I was distracted and using both of my hands to push her. This seemed like a smart idea at the time.

Then it happened. As the train arrived at the station, Arnoud took the reins and pushed Carson’s wheelchair into the train car. But, her wheel got stuck in the gap between the train and the platform and my bag flew out of her lap and down into the abyss. We all looked down in horror to see my poor bag, out of my own hands for safety reasons, nestled on the grown next to the tracks. The door began to close but we managed to pry them open and I jumped inside.

I forced myself to be calm. No need to freak out yet. We took the train up one stop and the rest of the group stayed put while Arnoud and I went back to the previous stop to see if we could save my bag. On the train, we agreed that I would locate where my bag had fallen and he would go look for an attendant to see if we could get an apparatus to retrieve it.

However, as soon as I found my unharmed bag, Arnoud had a different idea. He checked both ways for oncoming trains and dove down onto the tracks, snatched the bag up, and climbed back onto the platform. The other train stationers and I stared in amazement. Arnoud seems to have a particular set of skills. Skills that make him a nightmare for accidents like this.

We got on the next train to head to the next stop where the rest of our group was patiently waiting. Arnoud signaled for them to join us and I relayed the story of how our guide had just gone rogue and nearly sacrificed himself. He explained that it would have taken too long to find an attendant. Despite this adventure, we still managed to make it to BMW on time.

After we arrived at Bavarian Motor Works, we listened to a lecture on their innovative tactics with social media, apps, and their new electric car models. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did. I thought that it would boring and irrelevant to me since I’m a girl. I don’t know a thing about cars, but I was happily surprised to find everything we talked about to be quite interesting. I loved the variety of apps that they had for finding parking in various cities, finding transportation, booking parking places, etc. It’s so different and effective. It makes me wonder if any American car companies are on their way to be as groundbreaking as BMW.

After enjoying a great (free) lunch we moved on to take a tour of BMW and admire all of the beautiful cars and the rich history starting with manufacturing airplane parts, and eventually motorcycles and automobiles. They even had a model of the electric car concept that they were working on. Unfortunately, it was one of those days where it would rain at the most inconvenient times, i.e. every time we went outside.

We arrived back at our hotel in the afternoon. The train ride back from BMW was much less adrenalized than the morning commute.

I took advantage of my free time and walked down to Marienplatz to do some shopping for my family, and then a group of us took a trip to the Hofbrauhaus in honor of Johnie’s birthday. We drank liters of beer and had a jolly time eating pretzels and staring at strangers. At the Hofbrauhaus, I ended up running into a friend of mine from Pitt who is studying in Munich for a few weeks. Small world!

We came back to the hotel and planned to up to go out somewhere, but I sat on my bed in the room and just crashed. There was no way I was moving. I’m a little annoyed at myself for not going out during our last truly free night in Munich, but I knew my fresh body and mind would thank me in the morning.