Inventions and innovations
1817: The bicycle - Karl von Drais (1785–1851) was especially taken by the “two-wheeler principle”. The bicycle was soon to become a success story world-wide.
1854: Light bulb - The clockmaker was well ahead of his day. For in 1854, when Heinrich Göbel (1818–1893) caused bamboo fibers to glow in a vacuum, there was still no electrical grid. Today, some 350 million light bulbs are sold each year.
1861: Telephone - The era of revolutionary communications technology commenced with Philipp Reis (1834–1874). A mathematics teacher, he was the first person to transform sounds and words into electric current that could be reproduced elsewhere.
1876: Refrigerator - On March 25, 1876 Carl von Linde (1842–1934) was awarded the patent for the first refrigerator, which used ammonia as a cooling agent. In 1993, German company Foron introduced the world’s first CFC-free “Greenfreeze” refrigerator.
1876: Otto engine - Take in, condense, ignite, work, expel: Nikolaus August Otto (1832–1891) has gone down in the annals of technology as the inventor of the four-stroke engine, accelerating the pace of motorization.
1885: Automobile - They made society mobile: Carl Benz (1844–1929) and Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900). Today, over 46 million automobiles are registered in Germany.
1897: Aspirin - On August 10, 1897 chemist Felix Hoffmann (1868–1946) synthesized a white powder that was soon to prove to be a “miracle treatment”: acetyl salicylic acid.
1905: Theory of relativity - He did not develop a product or invent a process. Instead he created a new idea of time and space. Albert Einstein (1879–1955), who emigrated from Germany in 1933, was the first pop star of science. His formula read: E=mc².
1930/1931: Television - On Christmas Eve, 1930 Manfred von Ardenne (1907–1997) was the first person to succeed with an electrical television broadcast. Today, 95 percent of German households have a TV. Average viewing time per day is about 220 minutes.
1939: Jet engine - As a student Hans von Ohain (1911–1998) was already hunting for a new engine for aircraft. His vision: “thrust” was to be provided by propulsion. In 1939, the first jet airplane took off in Rostock.
1941: Computer - Because he did not like maths tasks, Konrad Zuse (1910- 1995) invented the first binary calculator: the Z3. The first computer managed four basic arithmetic functions in three seconds. It was the beginning of the digital age. Today, 240 million PCs are sold each year, alone eight million of them in Germany.
1957: Rawl plugs - Simple but ingenious: This is the only way to describe the invention of the plastic rawl plug. For “patents world champion” Artur Fischer the patent for his rawl plug was only one of over 5,000 that he has accumulated during his long life as an entrepreneur.
1963: Scanner - The inventor of the precursor to fax machines Rudolf Hell (1901–2002) had first thought of dividing texts and images into dots and lines back in the 1920s. His Hell telegraph system was the first to transfer texts and images over long distances. In 1963, he invented the first scanner for inputting color images.
1969: Chipcard - Under Patent DE 19 45777 C3 Jürgen Dethloff (1924–2002) and Helmut Gröttrup (1916–1981) opened the door wide to the information society. As a check card, phone card or patient card, today, your chipcard is a firm part of everyday life.
1976: Liquid crystal display - The future of monitors is large and flat thanks to modern liquid crystals. Darmstadt-based company Merck was the first to offer them for sale, in 1904. The breakthrough came in 1976 with substances with enhanced optical and chemical display properties.
1979: Magnetic levitation railway - The world’s first maglev ran in Hamburg. Today, the German “Transrapid” travels at 430 kph from Shanghai airport to the CBD. The ingenious idea for magnetic levitation dates back to work in 1933 by engineer Hermann Kemper (1892–1977).
1994: Fuel cell automobile - As early as 1838, Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799–1868) developed the principle of the fuel cell. But not until 1994 did Daimler- Benz AG exploit its potential for the world’s first fuel-cell powered car
1995: MP3 - For millions of kids today, MP3 players are simply the best. This method of audio compression was developed by a team at the Fraunhofer Institute under Karlheinz Brandenburg.
2005: Airbus A 380 - A European success story with a lot of German technology: the Airbus A 380 is the world’s largest airliner. Spring 2005 saw the maiden flight of the giant of the air.
2007: Hard disc revolution - Nine years after the discovery of the giant magnetoresistance effect, Jülich-based physicist Peter Grünberg and Frenchman Albert Fert won the Nobel Prize for Physics.
source: Facts about Germany
