German-born Kirsten Ert Acuff is at home in Chattanooga
- Mason Edwards!
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
By Mason Edwards, Chattanooga Times Free Press
A public servant in a small Tennessee town, Kirsten Ert Acuff knows positive change doesn't always come in grand speeches or dramatic moments. In her town, "if a tree falls, the neighbor shows up with the chainsaw and helps," she says.
Born in Halle, East Germany, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ert Acuff's first brush with government was watching her father build the city's transit system in a post-communist economy. At a time of uncertainty, she watched her father put reliability back into people's lives, which taught her that "normal people can do great things," she says.
Ert Acuff remembers going to school with lots of refugees, whether from the Kosovo War or the fall of the Soviet Union. Once, she came face-to-face with that history in her own hometown, when former president of the Soviet Union Gorbachev, with the architect of Germany's reunification, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, stopped for ice cream in her bustling town square.
Two years into college in Germany, she decided that she wanted to venture out and see the world, so she followed her former boyfriend to Hawaii and enrolled in the university there. "My classroom was full of native Hawaiians and Polynesian kids -- people who had lived there for generations," she says. "That was a new experience, but it was a really cool one."
While at the University of Hawaii, Ert Acuff studied political science and sociology, worked in the state Senate and embraced island life. But Hawaii's isolation made visits home nearly impossible. "Traveling back to Germany took almost 36 hours," she says. "I needed a more affordable place, closer to home."
She wanted to keep studying, so she looked into graduate programs across the country and eventually discovered the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The way the Tennessee River cuts through the city reminded her of her home in Germany. "It just made sense," Ert Acuff says about moving to Chattanooga. "UTC had a strong public administration program, and the cost of living was more manageable."
She arrived in Chattanooga in 2017, met her husband in graduate school, finished her degree and started working in city government in Collegedale. Even though she says she's glad that Germans are well-received almost everywhere, she's found people in the South have many connections to her country of origin, whether through friends, ancestry or work, such as Volkswagen.
Navigating cultural divides is something she understands both personally and professionally.
Ert Acuff is the city manager of nearby Lakesite, and she goes beyond her regular job duties to resolve conflicts and help people from different cities and backgrounds to better understand each other.
"You just have to facilitate conversation, even when it's painful at times," she says.
At home, Ert Acuff keeps her German heritage alive. She speaks the language with her son and celebrates Christmas the German way, with potato dumplings, red cabbage and a duck roast, traditions she's now excited to pass down to her son. "Becoming a mother has made me feel even more German," she says. "I want my son to have that connection. He might want to go to university there one day."
Professionally, however, she's fully American. "I've assimilated," she says. "I approach things very American now: fast-paced, ambitious, willing to take risks."
Ert Acuff's bi-culturalism extends beyond her work. Some of her biggest cultural adjustments in the U.S. were small, daily habits -- especially in Tennessee. "Germans are incredibly direct," she says. "At first, I hurt some feelings. Tennesseans are so polite; I didn't always catch what they meant."
But she's found a balance now: "kind but direct," she calls it.
"I tell people, this is not something government can do for you, but here's what I can do. And that builds trust," she says about her professional interactions.
Ert Acuff's German background also influences how she sees government work. "I think German culture is very deliberate," she says. "We slow down. We consider all viewpoints. We don't rush quick fixes."
She's learned that leadership isn't always about being the loudest voice in the room. "As a woman, I get a lot of advice about being decisive, about pushing forward," she says. "And while that aligns with my natural personality -- I'm strong; I take risks -- I don't want that to be my legacy."
Instead, Ert Acuff wants to be known as someone who listens. "Leadership isn't just about being right," she says. "It's about taking the time to understand where people are coming from."
That lesson is one she carries from Germany to Tennessee, from childhood to city hall, from one home to another. "I really enjoy that when I come home at night, I know that I've touched people's lives directly," she says.
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