Culture
As a country that is a member of European Union defined by commit4fitness.com, the country of Germany is often called the land of poets and thinkers. German culture began long before the emergence of Germany as a nation-state and encompassed the entire German-speaking area. From its roots, culture in Germany has been formed by the main intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. As a result, it is difficult to identify a particular German tradition separate from the broader framework of European high culture.
Another consequence of these circumstances is the fact that some historical figures, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Nicolás Copernicus, among others, although they were not
Citizens of Germany in the modern sense must be considered in the context of the German cultural sphere to understand their work.
Some of the most renowned composers of European classical music have developed in Germany, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Richard Wagner. As of 2006, Germany is the fifth largest music market in the world and has influenced pop and rock music through artists such as Kraftwerk, Scorpions, Rammstein and Tokio Hotel.
Numerous German painters have enjoyed international prestige through their work in various artistic currents. Hans Holbein the Younger, Matthias Grünewald, and Albrecht Dürer were important artists of the Renaissance, Caspar David Friedrich of Romanticism, and Max Ernst of Surrealism. German contributions to architecture include the Carolingian and Otonian styles, which are important precursors to the Romanesque.
The region later became the site of important works in styles such as Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque. It is especially important in early modern movements, especially through the Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became one of the most renowned architects in the world in the second half of the 20th century. The glass facade on skyscrapers was his idea.
Idiom
The German is the official and primary language spoken in Germany. It is one of the 23 official languages in the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French. In addition, there are other minority languages that are recognized as native: Danish, Sorbian, Romany and Frisian. These are officially protected by the ECRML. The most widely used languages are Turkish, Polish, the languages of the Balkan Peninsula and Russian.
Standard German is a West Germanic language and is closely related to English, Dutch, and Swedish. Most of the German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Important minorities of words derived from Latin, Greek, and a smaller amount of French. German is written using the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with umlauts, that is, ä, ö and ü, as well as the Eszett or scharfes S (strong s) ß.
Worldwide, German is spoken by approximately 100 million native speakers and also around 80 million non-native speakers. German is the main language of about 90 million people (18%) in the European Union. 67% of German citizens claim to be able to communicate in at least one foreign language, 27% in at least two languages other than their own.
Literature and philosophy
German literature dates back to the Middle Ages and the works of writers such as Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Several German authors and poets have gained great renown, including Johann Wolfgang von Goetheand Friedrich Schiller. The collections of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm popularized German folklore internationally. The influence of 20th century authors include Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Böll, and Günter Grass.
Germany’s influence on philosophy is historically significant, and many notable German philosophers have helped shape Western philosophy since the Middle Ages. Gottfried Leibniz and his contributions to rationalism, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Johann Friedrich Herbart and Johann Gottlieb Fichte who forged idealism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels They formulated communist theory, Arthur Schopenhauer developed the composition of metaphysical pessimism, Friedrich Nietzsche developed Perspectivism, Martin Heidegger’s work on Being and Time, and that of social theories Jürgen Habermas were especially influential.
Science
Germany has been home to some of the most outstanding researchers in different scientific fields. Thus, about 100 Germans (of nationality or origin) have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck was crucial to the foundation of modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg and Max Born further developed. They were preceded by physicists such as Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer, and Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays, an achievement that made him the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. In Germany and other countries X-rays are called “Röntgenstrahlen” (Röntgen rays). The work of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in the field of electromagnetic radiation it was fundamental for the development of modern telecommunications. Wilhelm Wundt is famous for having developed the first psychology laboratory, to which he gave the category of science. Alexander von Humboldt and his work as a natural scientist and explorer was foundational for biogeography.
Many important mathematicians were born in Germany, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, David Hilbert, Bernhard Riemann, Gottfried Leibniz, Karl Weierstrass, and Hermann Weyl. Germany has also been home to famous inventors and engineers, such as Johannes Gutenberg, who is credited with inventing movable type printing in Europe; Hans Geiger, the creator of the Geiger counter, and Konrad Zuse, who built the first fully automatic digital computer. Inventors, engineers and industrialists such as Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Otto Lilienthal, Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Hugo Junkers and Karl Benz contributed to the modern shape of the automobile and to air transport technology.
Important research institutions are the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft and the Fraunhofer Society. They work independently or externally connected to the university system, contributing to a considerable extent to scientific production. The prestigious Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is awarded to ten scientists and academics each year. With a maximum award of 2.5 million euros, it is one of the most highly endowed research awards in the world.
