Marcus Schütz

Hockey, doughnuts and death

Hockey, doughnuts and death

Tim Hortens is more than just a doughnut place for every Canadian. It is a community center and has a place in Canadian identity. The first “restaurant” being started in May 1964 Hamilton (Ontario) at the crossing Ottawa Street North and Dunsmure Road by the the ice hockey player Miles Gilbert “Tim” Hortens, playing for the Toronto Maple Leaves, and his partner Jim Charade to provide an income in off season. Hortens later played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, …

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Toronto Spring 2025

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Toronto Spring 2025

Arriving in Toronto at the beginning of the week, spring wasn’t that advanced. But also here the snow melted away within a week and I took the chance catching up with my favorite hangouts: the Norma Ridley Lounge at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Toronto Reference Library. The Lounge is in The Grange, which was the first home of the gallery, in a Georgian manor. It also has also a small and cosy library. The reference library of Toronto though, …

The cradle of Teletubbies

The cradle of Teletubbies

When Wilhelm Kattwinkel visites the Olduvai Gorge in 1911 to research sleeping sickness , he observed humanoid archeological remains, in 1913 identified by the German Geologist to be probably the “cradle of mankind”. I visited Germany, also for a different purpose, but now sitting at Frankfurt Airport waiting for my flight out, I am convinced, I discovered “the cradle of Teletubbies” …

Fast and furious

Fast and furious

My last means of transportation in Germany is running on fossile fuel. It’s a red Vespa Primavera, and it’s a fast and furious little machine. I had an intense week in Germany, which ended with a scenic ride along the Rhine River and crossing it eventually by ferry. Among other things to manage, I have sent personal effects and furniture by sea freight, first forwarded to Frankfurt, further to Berlin and from there to some exit port. There is only an estimate, when they will arrive. It highly depends on how smooth the land transport to the port will go …

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A Streetcar named 501 QUEEN

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A Streetcar named 501 QUEEN

Toronto’s Streetcar 501 QUEEN is the world’s longest streetcar line. It spans Toronto’s East and West by reaching from Neville Park Loop to Humber Loop, and taking the 24.8 km (15.4 miles) ride along Queen Street is a good way to get an impression of the city along this profile. Today I did it, starting from the East, passing through The Beaches first, which is the nice and lively residential area we live. From Leslieville …

À la recherche du temps perdu

À la recherche du temps perdu

As you may have read in the news, the German automotive industry is under unprecedented pressure. It is the result of a mix of internal factors, changing geopolitics, new technologies, new competitors and last but not least a dysfunctional German government. Volkswagen Group, the company I have been associated with for decades, has been hit exceptionally hard. It is not the first crisis we see in the company, …

Toronto and Ottawa

Toronto and Ottawa

Since returning to Toronto, I have experienced some highlights. For instance, we celebrated a birthday dinner at the 360 Degree Restaurant in the CN Tower. We were advised to go early to enjoy the view starting in daylight, and it was a fantastic recommendation. The most impressive sight was the view of Billy Bishop Airport from the top. This regional airport serves routes to Canadian destinations as well as cities like Boston and New York …

Via the North Pole to Hong Kong

Via the North Pole to Hong Kong

Luckily Chinese Airlines continue flying over Russia, and so I was able to take the short cut from Toronto over the North Pole to Hong Kong. It is interesting watching the flight map, diving into Asia from that perspective. Still the 12 hour time difference, made me a little trouble this time. Then I also caught a fever and still had to flag pole over Macao due to a delayed visa process ...

The Day that Google died

The Day that Google died

The original Google search algorithm, PageRank, assigned a weight to websites to determine their importance. The more frequently a page was viewed, the more likely it was to appear in a Google search. Over time, this method has evolved into a more complex system, likely influenced by financial incentives and amplified by techniques ranging from search engine optimization to the amplification of semantic clusters through clickbait. Despite these changes, the algorithm worked well for me until I moved to North America ...

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Aga Khan Museum Toronto

Aga Khan Museum Toronto

In 1979/’80 I was thrown out of Catholic religious studies in my high school for the offense of marking major oil and gas fields in the back part of the school bible, where there were maps of the holy land. Soon kids joined me in the school library during these hours. Their offence was, that they had been displaced by terror from a cradle of civilization into a run down 5th tier city in Germany called Neuwied ...

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Re-surfacing on the other side of the Atlantic

Re-surfacing on the other side of the Atlantic

After some time packed with logistics in Europe, I am resurfacing in Toronto. Nothing against Europe. I really cherish the cultural richness and complexity, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. But no place there is as relaxed and friendly as Canada. It appears to be hard wired, somehow. Recently, I was downtown Toronto, waiting for the streetcar (tramway) at Church station …

Alternative Housing

Alternative Housing

In 2021 I decided to spend more time in the Netherlands and took a part time teaching position at Tilburg University. Immediately the question of housing came up. Tilburg in itself is a small university town and it is fair to say it has a housing crisis, which I did not want to add to. So when thinking through options, I started to look for boats. And this is how a three year semi-holiday in the Netherlands started …

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Toronto’s Palace of Purification

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Toronto’s Palace of Purification

Toronto offers once a year the opportunity to enter a large number of sites and buildings in Doors Open Toronto. This time it was the weekend of May 25th-26th. The sheer number of buildings listed is overwhelming. But there was one I had in focus, because I caught myself already a few times pressing my nose to the windows …

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Which National Elites are creating or extracting value?

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Which National Elites are creating or extracting value?

After a stop over Stuttgart, I continued to Switzerland for the launch of the Elite Quality Index 2024 launch (EQx 2024) at St. Gallen University. We contributed this year two indicators on Housing Affordability and the Construction Supply Gap …

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The Bay of Broken Promises

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The Bay of Broken Promises

On December 2nd and 3rd 1989 Michael Gorbatchev and George H.W. Bush met on the Soviet ship TS Maksim Gorkiy south of Malta, mooring in the Bay of Marsaxlokk. The sea was choppy, which brought the meeting the name “Seasickness Summit”. It is often described as one of the most important summits since the Yalta Conference in 1945, …

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"Feldpost" from de-industrializing Germany

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"Feldpost" from de-industrializing Germany

Last week, I had the chance to present the industrial and economic facets of Germany to MBA students from The University of Hong Kong. Our journey began in Berlin, then proceeded to Wolfsburg, Dortmund, Duisburg, Hannover, and concluded back in Berlin. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our hosts …

Boat on Land

Boat on Land

Moving to Canada on relatively short notice made me lift my boat out of the water in the Netherlands. This will allow me to do some maintenance work, which is more difficult in the water. Moving the vessel to New Orleans and going up the Mississippi may be an option. So far, this is only an idea…

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