Writers of some ability love those German words that embody some socio-political concept: zeitgeist, Kultursmog (sp), now Weltanshauung.
They're good one word packages symbolizing somewhat complex concepts. That must be a German language quirk.
Popular French phrases are two words and usually can be translated in two English words but it shows one to be insufferably urbane and to be avoided in social settings.
Often those compound German words carry strong associations, depending on who most used them. I associate Zeitgeist with Hegel, and Weltanschauung with Hitler.