From Germany to Fox Chapel: A local attorney's story
Oktoberfest is Arnie von Waldow’s favorite holiday — and for good reason.
The Fox Chapel-based bilingual attorney was born in Germany and continues to embrace his German heritage professionally and personally.
Traveling to participate in Oktoberfest in Munich is one of his favorite ways to dive into his German heritage and he also celebrates by attending American-hosted Oktoberfest celebrations in Pittsburgh and hosts his own Oktoberfest fun at his residence in Fox Chapel.
“I love Oktoberfest because of the costumes, the music and the jovial celebrations,” Von Waldow said.
Von Waldow arrived in America as a youngster, fluent in both German and Portegese, but that proved problematic when his father went to enroll him in elementary school in Hampton Township School District.
At that time, little Arnie didn’t know a word of English.
The principal expressed concern over him learning English but a month later, he called Artie’s father to complain that Artie was talking a bit too much, in English, in class.
“My dad said that was good news,” von Waldow said. “I always worked hard.”
Born Arnd N. von Waldow in Moenchen-Gladdach, Germany, an industrial town northwest of Cologne, he moved to Brazil as a toddler and later to Pittsburgh when he was 9. His college friends nicknamed him Artie and it stuck.
More than 50 years later, Von Waldow, 67, is a partner at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, concentrating on German commercial litigation and domestic and international complex construction and product liability defense litigation.
He travels to Munich on business every six to eight weeks, and found his attorney niche thanks in part to his mastery of the German language and his German culture.
Von Waldow began his legal career in 1983 and is a state and federal litigator in multiple jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia, New York and Michigan.
“The most rewarding part of this is the clients I’ve had — long-term clients for 25 years or more — so it’s not just business, it’s personal. Most of them are German, so I stay in touch with my German culture and heritage. That’s very rewarding and satisfying,” von Waldow said.
Attorney aspirations
His father always urged Arnie to maintain his German language skills as the family settled into American living in Hampton.
Many of Arnie’s friends resided in the Fox Chapel area. The lush, wooded residential borough reminded him of his native Germany.
Playing basketball for four years was a high school highlight and he graduated from Hampton Township High School in 1975, setting his career pursuits on becoming an architect.
College plans were put on hold when Arnie’s father suggested his son complete a gap year and defer attending university and instead, live in Germany.
In Germany, von Waldow began an architecture internship at his uncle’s architectural studio.
But the lure of architecture was soon replaced by a keen interest in politics, with von Waldow considering a future run for Senate.
“It was just a little too boring and I decided this is not really what I want to do,” von Waldow said. “Both of my parents are German and grew up in Nazi Germany so they were both very politically involved; we had lots of discussion about politics. Most of the politicians were senators and lawyers, including Robert Kennedy, who I hold very dear.”
A career in law caught the eye of a well-read, well-traveled, studious and ambitious Arnie.
“I remember watching the Watergate hearings and I remember the questioning of all the lawyers, and I thought maybe that’s something I could do one day,” he said.
Von Waldow earned his undergraduate degree in political science and German from Syracuse University in 1980 and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1983.
Mentor attorney Robert Barkley taught von Waldow “everything I know” about being a trial lawyer in New Orleans, von Waldow’s first job after law school.
“I never left that profession,” von Waldow said.
He married Mary Lee Gannon in 2014 and together the couple share a blended family with five adult children.
“He’s shared a lot about coming to this country from Germany and some of the kids were unkind. My takeaway from him excelling in sports, being a good student and on anything he does is that he’s going to do it the best way possible,” Gannon said.
The couple enjoy trips to Germany together and attend Porsche-related car events.
“I’m a petrolhead. I love cars,” von Waldow said.
Von Waldow is a member of the Fox Chapel Golf Club and Teutonia Maennerchor, a private German social club in Pittsburgh’s Deutschtown neighborhood.
Von Waldow relocated from Upper St. Clair to Fox Chapel more than a decade ago.
“Most of my basketball-playing friends were in Fox Chapel so I got to know Fox Chapel very well. I was familiar with Fox Chapel and it’s very cultured and well-planned. I find it to be unique and the people are unique and the area resembles the old homes that remind me of Germany,” he said.
Gannon encourages her husband’s love of German cars.
The family car fleet includes five Porsche’s and a Honda CRV.
“I’m happy to drive the Honda,” Gannon quipped. “It’s his hobby and I tell him “You’ve worked your whole life, if you want to enjoy your cars, you deserve it.”
Von Waldow said his love of all things Porsche is also practical.
“They’re not garage queens,” he said of his sports cars.
Gannon touted her husband’s enthusiasm for German soccer.
“My husband gets up on the weekends and watches German soccer and most of his clients are German,” Gannon said. “He’s so happy when he goes to Germany. They know him. He has all these nice people that know him there. We celebrate the German holidays and the American ones too. I think he’s focused, intelligent, European and in his profession, no one can believe how prepared he is.”
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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