Yes, it is funny Germans and Austrians love titles. I see it as a strange magical cult of my alpine tribe. In Austria at least, the "Dr." is part of your name - by law! So - theoretically - if you have this academic title (equivalent to the PhD) but do not sign with "Dr. X", your signature is not valid by law. ;-)
Bernd P.S. In Mozambique, where I live now, I met a funny version of the "Dr. Cult" phenomenon: Everybody who put his feet into a university or its campus seems to be called "Dr.X". So those, who need a differenciation, because they got the academic title, write "Doutor X" On Sat, 17 May 2003 11:03:15 EDT, Julie Denny wrote: Doktor in Germany is a title of honor. When you earn it, you use it. My husband (we are American) and I lived in Germany for 9 years. He got his doctorate in English Literature at Columbia while we were living there. When he came back to his Frankfurt office, where he worked for an advertising agency, after defending his dissertation in New York, they had hung a sign outside his office, Dr. Clark. He hated it and took it down. They put it back up. He took it down. Finally, the only other Doktor in the office took him aside and asked him please to put it back up. He explained that when my husband took the sign down, it diminished the importance of Doktor's Oswald's title. My husband, exceedingly fond of this wonderful gentleman, put it back up. But he was never comfortable with it! Julie Julie Denny President Resolutions for You People talk...people listen...things change. http://www.resolutionsforyou.com 14 Troutbeck Crescent 32 West 40th Street - Ste. 3B Amenia, NY 12501 New York, NY 10018 TEL: 845-373-7448 TEL: 212-944-7271 FAX: 845-373-7092 FAX: 212-944-7271 * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
