Frankfurt Buchmesse

October 16. Friday. Cool, drizzling, dark. Early bus into town to Bonn Hauptbahnhof. Then an IC (Inter-City) to Frankfurt. Not the super modern, super fast ICE (Inter-City Express) via Siegburg rechtsrheinisch (right or east of the Rhine River), but the slower, more relaxed linksrheinisch, hugging the left bank of Germany‘s greatest river, snaking in and out of the scenic towns of Andernach, Koblenz, Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Mainz. The sun rising over the hills mid-trip. Twenty-one years in Germany. I know this trip well, can reflect on previous trips and their phases of my life here, need only close my eyes and concentrate, am then there at a certain time, with certain notions and expectations in my mind. I see faces, recall events. Five years ago. Ten. Fourteen. Nineteen.

My destination, the Frankfurt Buchmesse. The Book Fair. Books and printing. 1440. Johannes Gutenberg, born and raised in Mainz, invents movable type. For over two hundred years Frankfurt is the leading Buchmesse in Europe. Leipzig, another German city, then supplants it. 1949. Frankfurt makes a comeback. Leipzig is in the Eastern Zone. Soviets and Communist East Germans have the say there. Not for long, however. 40 years, to be exact.

My first-ever visit to the Buchmesse, despite living in Bonn since 1991. Odd. No real reason. Why this time? My first book. Meet with my publisher. Other publishers, too. Discuss. Perhaps a second book I‘ll write. For Americans. About Germans and Americans. Mostly about us Americans.

China. Looms large. This year‘s honorary guest at the Buchmesse. Many Chinese books, many Chinese publishers, many Chinese in Frankfurt. And, many critics. Of the Chinese government. How can Germany honor a country with such an undemocratic and repressive regime, folks ask? What signal does this send? No free speech in the Middle Kingdom? Middle of what? I spend no time on the subject, am too curious about the Chinese, want also to pick up something for my Daniel, 11 years old, and even more curious about China, its history.

China. Looms large. Rapidly growing economy. Foreign investment flowing into China. Chinese investment now finding targets. In the U.S. In Germany. Where not? Our mony coming back. To own us? Ominous. Or just trade? I don‘t know. China-mania continues, either way. As if every half-serious Konzern had to have a presence in China. China and Asia as the future! Really? What about Germans and Americans? It‘s worth a brief glance at some of the numbers.

Nearly 675,000 Americans work for one of 3,000 German affiliates in the U.S. Almost one in every 200. Nearly 800,000 Germans work for an American company, 3,000 of them in Germany. One out of 35. Since German unification in October 1990 U.S. foreign direct investment in Germany is up fourfold. And in the other direction? Sevenfold. American assets in Germany total more than $400 billion (more than in all of South America). Germans own $600 billion in assets in the U.S. German investment in the American southeast alone is greater than all European investment in China. Wait. Stop. Say what? More than all European investment in China. German investment. In southeast U.S.

„Mania.“ See Merriam-webster.com. 1. excitement manifested by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganization of behavior, and elevation of mood; 2. excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm. China. Looms large? Not that large. It‘s Americans and Europeans (especially Germans) that keep things moving. We‘re big, dynamic, determined. Even more important. We‘re free and we‘re family. Let‘s stay focused.

The German-American Partnership: Benchmarking Success.