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Past and Present Prof. Albrecht Classen University of Arizona Slide 2 With some of the greatest contributions to world culture, literature, the arts, technology, medicine, philosophy, and religion Slide 3 Charlemagne and the Rise of Europe First Germanic Empire north of the Alps, after the fall of the Roman Empire (8 th century) Slide 4 German and English English is a Germanic language! Anglo-Saxon as the basis of modern English (with strong Anglo-Norman superstructure since 1066) Slide 5 Gun Powder 14 th century: Berthold Schwartz (perhaps a legend) Radical transformation of all military operations Brought an end to medieval knighthood (ok, the first were the Chinese, then the Arabs, in late antiquity the Byzantines with their Greek Fire, and in the 13 th c. Roger Bacon) Slide 6 Printing Press: Johann Gutenberg Gutenberg invented the movable type in Mainz ca. 1450 Slide 7 Computer Konrad Zuse: first construction in 1936, 1941 the first functioning computer Slide 8 Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther 99 theses, Wittenberg, 1517 September Testament, 1522 Old Testament, 1532 Slide 9 Albrecht Drer Greatest sixteenth-century artist, at least north of the Alps Slide 10 Vacuum Otto von Guericke 1663 (Mayor of Magdeburg), discovers the principle of vacuum Slide 11 Classical and Romantic Literature Goethe and Schiller Heine Hlderlin Heinrich von Kleist Eichendorff Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Slide 12 19 th -21 st Century German literature Theodor Storm Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Theodor von Fontane Thomas Mann Bertolt Brecht Hermann Hesse Nelly Sachs Heinrich Bll Gnter Grass Herta Mller Slide 13 Marxism Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Slide 14 German Music Bach Hndel Telemann Pachelbel Mozart Haydn van Beethoven Hindemith Stockhausen Slide 15 Chemistry: Justus von Liebig 1803-1873 Agricultural and biological chemistry Slide 16 Telephone Philipp Reis 1859 Slide 17 Dynamo Werner von Siemens, 1866 Slide 18 The automobile Daimler Benz Porsche Audi VW Opel Slide 19 Blue Jeans Levi Straus, 1873 Slide 20 Diesel engine 1890 Rudolf Diesel Slide 21 Street Car Werner von Siemens 1881 Slide 22 Tea bag Adolf Rambold, 1929 Slide 23 Nuclear Physics Otto Hahn 1938 Slide 24 Relativity Theory Albert Einstein 1905 Slide 25 X-ray Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen 1895 In modern German we use the verb rntgen for to x- ray Slide 26 Aspirin FELIX HOFFMANN (working for the company Bayer) 1897 Slide 27 Bacteriology and Virology Robert Koch, 1882: discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus Foundation of modern medical and biological research Slide 28 Spark Plug Robert Bosch 1902 Slide 29 Beer Purity Law issued by the Bavarian Dukes on April 23, 1516 Slide 30 Orthopedic leg 1997 Otto Bock introduces the C-Leg Slide 31 Tooth paste OTTOMAR HEINSIUS VON MAYENBURG 1907 Slide 32 Chip card Jrgen Dethloff and Helmut Grttrup: 1968 patent, 1977 micro processing card Since then the world of credit cards and all other kinds of cards based on chip memory Slide 33 Screw Anchor, or raw plug/dowel 1958 Artur Fischer Slide 34 Jet engine Hans von Ohain 1936 Slide 35 Television Manfred von Ardenne, 1930 1935 first regular tv program Slide 36 Gliding plane Otto von Lilienthal 1894 This inspired the Brothers Wright to experiment with their first motorized planes Slide 37 Light bulb Heinrich Gbel 1854 Slide 38 Homeopathic medicine Samuel von Hahnemann, 1797 Slide 39 Helicopter Heinrich Focke, 1936 Slide 40 Coffee filter Melitta Benz, 1908 She was just tired of handling all the waste coffee in her drink and used, as a stop-gap measure, her sons ink-pad paper from school. Voila, the coffee filter was invented. Slide 41 Air bag 1971 Mercedes Benz develops the first effective air bag Slide 42 Modern refrigerator Company Foron 1993: Freon free refrigeration This has revolutionized the global battle against the depletion of the ozone layer Slide 43 Motorcycle Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler 1885 Slide 44 MP3 player 1993; Fraunhofer-Institute Slide 45 Mouth Organ, or chromatic harmonica Christian Friedrich Burschmann, 1821 Slide 46 Wood based paper Friedrich Gottlieb Keller 1843 Slide 47 Birth control pill Schering company, 1961 Slide 48 Record player Emil Berliner 1887 Slide 49 Scanner Rudolf Hell 1951 Slide 50 Lets not forget the countless other inventions from all over the world. Slide 51 has been and continues to be an amazing country and people ! It has contributed to a disproportionate degree to the cultural and technological development of this world! Slide 52 Thank you very much! For further information, contact me at: aclassen@email.arizona.edu 520 621-1395