Author: Dan Vanden Berge

Today we had another company visit, this time was with another familiar company for us Grand Rapids folks. This Steelcase location is located right in downtown Munich and it’s facilities are very modern (as you would expect).

We were led around by the customer experience manager, Klaus. Klaus was very accustomed to showing groups around their building and was very enthusiastic.

This facility was not a manufacturing plant for furniture like their Grand Rapids location, but rather what they called a learning and innovation center. Between the 3 connected buildings that Steelcase occupied, 2 of them were off-limits for us as memebers of the public because they were primarily devoted to Research and Development for new products.

The third building that we saw, in some ways doubled as both a show room and an office for employees. Klaus mentioned that they get around 100 visitors a day (usually current or prospective customers). This third building is all about building company values through the floor plan. This is a big selling point to customers which goes beyond the furniture itself. Part of what Steelcase provides, is consulting to the customer to see how the customer can make best use of its space.

As we were visiting Heidelberg (where the famous Catechism was written) we learned a little bit about how religion in Germany is different than in the United States.

We had a tour guide through part of the city named Roland, and he told us about how all citizens fill out a form relating to their taxes which declare their religion. So if I were to declare as Protestant, an additional percentage of my income tax would be taken and given to the Protestant church. So, our guide mentioned that some people will declare as atheists just to avoid that additional tax. This cooperation between church and state seemed strange to me because the US was founded upon the idea that those to should remain separate.

Along the same lines, Roland mentioned that someone’s religion is no secret in Germany. Often times, religion is one of the first things that is asked when you meet someone new. While in the US, you’d be looked at a little funny if you asked someone that upon meeting them. Americans see religion as a very private thing, while Germans wear their religion on the sleeves. This is not a big deal for the Germans because Roland stated that they tend to be more welcoming to minorities (both religious and otherwise).

This morning, after the Aalsmeer flower auction, the group took a short bus drive to The Hague.

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, so we got to see their parliament building where their Senate and Prime Minister do their work. A surprising thing to us Americans was the relatively relaxed security around these buildings. There were a few armed guards but not what I expected given the level of security at many places in Washington DC. Additionally, most countries have their embassies located here in The Hague.

In the middle of the government buildings located here is the Ridderzaal or the Knight’s Hall. It was built all the way back in the 13th century, and is still a prominent building for ceremonies and other events.

Another point of note about The Hague, is that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is based here. These proceedings sometimes take place at the Peace Palace which we got to see.