I study modern American and German business history in comparative and transnational perspective. My research focuses on questions of consunption, marketing, consumer credit, and urban & public consumption in transatlantic contexts.  My last book project looked at the role of European emigres in transatlantic market research and design transfers, constructing modern consumer capitalism. Currently I work on "taboo markets" and the global transformation of funeral businesses from the 19th century  to the present. 

I teach at the University of Bonn in the North American Studies Program and I am also affiliated with the Institute for Economic History at the University of Göttingen.