Einstein 1921 by F Schmutzer - restoration

German inventions and discoveries are ideas, objects, processes or techniques invented, innovated or discovered, partially or entirely, by

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. Often, things discovered for the first time are also called inventions and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Germany has been the home of many famous inventors, discoverers and engineers, including

Carl von Linde Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde (11 June 1842 – 16 November 1934) was a German scientist, engineer, and businessman. He discovered the refrigeration cycle and invented the first industrial-scale air separation and gas liquefaction processes, ...

, who developed the modern

refrigerator A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...

Ottomar Anschütz Ottomar Anschütz (16 May 1846 – 30 May 1907) was a German inventor, photographer, and chronophotographer. He is widely seen as an early pioneer in the history of film technology. At the Postfuhramt in Berlin, Anschütz held the first showi ...

and the Skladanowsky brothers were early pioneers of film technology, while

Paul Nipkow Paul Julius Gottlieb Nipkow (; 22 August 1860 – 24 August 1940) was a German electrical engineer and inventor. He invented the Nipkow disk, which laid the foundation of television, since his disk was a fundamental component in the first televisi ...

and

Karl Ferdinand Braun Karl Ferdinand Braun (; ; 6 June 1850 – 20 April 1918) was a German physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor. Braun contributed significantly to the development of radio with his 2 circuit system, which made long range radio transmiss ...

laid the foundation of the

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

with their

Nipkow disk A Nipkow disk (sometimes Anglicized as Nipkov disk; patented in 1884), also known as scanning disk, is a mechanical, rotating, geometrically operating image scanning device, patented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow in Berlin. This scanning disk was a f ...

and

cathode-ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...

(or Braun tube) respectively.

Hans Geiger Johannes Wilhelm Geiger ( , ; ; 30 September 1882 – 24 September 1945) was a German nuclear physicist. He is known as the inventor of the Geiger counter, a device used to detect ionizing radiation, and for carrying out the Rutherford scatt ...

was the creator of the

Geiger counter A Geiger counter (, ; also known as a Geiger–Müller counter or G-M counter) is an electronic instrument for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation with the use of a Geiger–Müller tube. It is widely used in applications such as radiat ...

and

Konrad Zuse Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse (; ; 22 June 1910 – 18 December 1995) was a German civil engineer, List of pioneers in computer science, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programm ...

built the first fully automatic digital

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

( Z3) and the first commercial computer ( Z4). Such German inventors, engineers and industrialists as Count

Ferdinand von Zeppelin Graf, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a General (Germany), German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name became synonymous with airships and dominated long-distance flight until the ...

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making t ...

Werner von Siemens Ernst Werner Siemens ( von Siemens from 1888; ; ; 13 December 1816 – 6 December 1892) was a German electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Siemens's name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens. He ...

Hans von Ohain Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (14 December 191113 March 1998) was a German physicist, engineer, and the designer of the first aircraft to use a turbojet engine. Together with Frank Whittle and Anselm Franz, he has been described as the co-invent ...

Henrich Focke Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, Fw 61, the first successful, practical, ...

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fue ...

Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (, ; 18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913) was a German inventor and mechanical engineer who invented the Diesel engine, which burns Diesel fuel; both are named after him. Early life and education Diesel was born on 1 ...

Hugo Junkers Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and ...

and

Karl Benz Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automo ...

helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology, while

Karl Drais Karl Freiherr von Drais (full name: Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn; 29 April 1785 – 10 December 1851) was a noble German people, German forest official and significant inventor in the Biedermeier, Biedermeier pe ...

invented the

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

Aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

developed the first space rocket at

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is part of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) of Used ...

and later on was a prominent member of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and developed the

Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...

Moon rocket.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. Biography Heinric ...

's work in the domain of

electromagnetic radiation In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space. It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency or its inverse, wavelength ...

was pivotal to the development of modern

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

. Karl Ferdinand Braun invented the

phased array In antenna (radio), antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled Antenna array, array of antennas which creates a radio beam, beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point ...

antenna in 1905, which led to the development of

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

smart antenna Smart antennas (also known as adaptive array antennas, digital antenna arrays, multiple antennas and, recently, Multiple-input multiple-output communications, MIMO) are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial ...

s and

MIMO In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...

, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegraphy, wireless tel ...

"for their contributions to the development of

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...

Philipp Reis Johann Philipp Reis (; 7 January 1834 – 14 January 1874) was a self-taught German scientist and inventor. In 1861, he constructed the first ''make-and-break'' telephone, today called the Reis telephone. It was the first device to transmi ...

constructed the first device to transmit a voice via electronic signals and for that the first modern

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

, while he also coined the term.

Georgius Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was b ...

gave

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

its modern name. He is generally referred to as the father of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and as the founder of

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

as a scientific discipline, while

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

is considered one of the principal founders of

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and ...

is the father of

radiochemistry Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads t ...

and discovered

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radioactiv ...

, the scientific and technological basis for the utilization of

atomic energy Atomic energy or energy of atoms is energy carried by atoms. The term originated in 1903 when Ernest Rutherford began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy.Isaac Asimov, ''Atom: Journey Across the Sub-Atomic Cosmos'', New York:1992 Plum ...

Emil Behring Emil von Behring (; Emil Adolf von Behring: born Emil Adolf Behring; 15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist who received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery ...

Ferdinand Cohn Ferdinand Julius Cohn (24 January 1828 – 25 June 1898) was a German biologist. He is one of the founders of modern bacteriology and microbiology. Biography Ferdinand Julius Cohn was born in the Jewish quarter of Breslau in the Prussian Pro ...

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure fo ...

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

Friedrich Loeffler Friedrich August Johannes Loeffler (; 24 June 18529 April 1915) was a German bacteriologist at the University of Greifswald. Biography He obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Berlin in 1874. He worked with Robert Koch from 1879 to 188 ...

and

Rudolph Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

were among the key figures in the creation of

modern medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

, while Koch and Cohn were also founders of

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

was one of the founders and fathers of modern

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

, the

scientific method The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and

modern science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Protoscience, early sciences, and natural philosophies such as al ...

Wilhelm Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; 27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Roentgen ( ), was a German physicist who produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. As ...

discovered

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

introduced the

special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between Spacetime, space and time. In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, Annus Mirabilis papers#Special relativity, "On the Ele ...

and

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

theories for light and gravity in 1905 and 1915 respectively. Along with

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial con ...

, he was instrumental in the creation of

modern physics Modern physics is a branch of physics that developed in the early 20th century and onward or branches greatly influenced by early 20th century physics. Notable branches of modern physics include quantum mechanics, special relativity, and genera ...

with the introduction of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

, in which

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

and

Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...

later made major contributions. Einstein, Planck, Heisenberg and Born all received a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for their scientific contributions; from the award's inauguration in 1901 until 1956, Germany led the total Nobel Prize count. Today the country is third with 115 winners. The movable-type

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

was invented by German blacksmith

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who invented the movable type, movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's inven ...

in the 15th century. In 1997,

Time Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and direct marketeer seller ...

magazine picked Gutenberg's invention as the most important of the second millennium. In 1998, the

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

ranked Gutenberg as the most influential person of the second millennium on their "Biographies of the Millennium" countdown. The following is a list of inventions, innovations or discoveries known or generally recognised to be German.

Anatomy

*17th century: First description of duct of Wirsung by

Johann Georg Wirsung Johann Georg Wirsung (July 3, 1589 Augsburg – August 22, 1643 Padua) was a German anatomist who was a long-time prosector in Padua. He is credited with discovering the pancreatic duct in humans. He was assassinated due to a professional riva ...

*1720: Discovery of the

ampulla of Vater The ampulla of Vater, hepatopancreatic ampulla or hepatopancreatic duct is the common duct that is usually formed by a union of the common bile duct and the pancreatic duct within the wall of the duodenum. This common duct usually features a di ...

Abraham Vater Abraham Vater (9 December 1684 – 18 November 1751) was a German anatomist from Wittenberg. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Wittenberg in 1706, and his medical degree from the University of Leipzig in 1710. Afterw ...

*1745: First description of

crypts of Lieberkühn In histology, an intestinal gland (also crypt of Lieberkühn and intestinal crypt) is a gland found in between villi in the intestinal epithelial lining of the small intestine and large intestine (or colon). The glands and intestinal villi are ...

Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (5 September 1711, in Berlin – 7 October 1756, in Berlin) was a German physician. His middle name is sometimes misspelled ''Nathaniel''. Lieberkühn studied theology initially, and then moved to physics, in particu ...

*19th century: First description of

Auerbach's plexus The myenteric plexus (or Auerbach's plexus) provides motor innervation to both layers of the muscular layer of the gut, having both parasympathetic and sympathetic input (although present ganglion cell bodies belong to parasympathetic innervatio ...

Leopold Auerbach Leopold Auerbach (27 April 1828 – 30 September 1897) was a Jewish German anatomy, anatomist and neuropathology, neuropathologist born in Breslau. He is best known for discovering the myenteric plexus aka Auerbach's plexus, which helps control th ...

*19th century: First description of

Meissner's plexus The submucosal plexus (Meissner's plexus, plexus of the submucosa, plexus submucosus) lies in the submucosa of the intestinal wall. The nerves of this plexus are derived from the myenteric plexus which itself is derived from the plexuses of para ...

Georg Meissner George Meissner (19 November 1829 – 30 March 1905) was a German anatomist and physiologist born in Hanover. He studied medicine at the University of Göttingen, where he worked closely with Rudolf Wagner (1806–1864). In 1851 he accompa ...

*19th century: Discovery of

Schwann cell Schwann cells or neurolemmocytes (named after German physiologist Theodor Schwann) are the principal glia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Glial cells function to support neurons and in the PNS, also include Satellite glial cell, satellite ...

s in the peripheral nervous system by

Theodor Schwann Theodor Schwann (; 7 December 181011 January 1882) was a German physician and physiology, physiologist. His most significant contribution to biology is considered to be the extension of cell theory to animals. Other contributions include the d ...

*1836: Discovery and study of

pepsin Pepsin is an endopeptidase that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids. It is one of the main digestive enzymes in the digestive systems of humans and many other animals, where it helps digest the proteins in food. Pe ...

by Theodor Schwann *1840: First medical report on

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

myelitis (Heine-Medin disease), and the first to recognize the illness as a clinical entity, by

Jakob Heine Jakob (or Jacob) Heine (April 16, 1800, Lauterbach, Black Forest, Holy Roman Empire – November 12, 1879, Cannstatt, Germany) was a German orthopaedist. He is most famous for his 1840 study into poliomyelitis, which was the first medical repo ...

*1852: First description of

tactile corpuscle Tactile corpuscles or Meissner's corpuscles are a type of mechanoreceptor discovered by anatomist Georg Meissner (1829–1905) and Rudolf Wagner. This corpuscle is a type of nerve ending in the skin that is responsible for sensitivity to pressur ...

by Georg Meissner and

Rudolf Wagner Rudolf Friedrich Johann Heinrich Wagner (30 July 1805 – 13 May 1864) was a German anatomist and physiologist and the co-discoverer of the germinal vesicle. He made important investigations on ganglia, nerve-endings, and the sympathetic nerve ...

*1868: Discovery of

Langerhans cell A Langerhans cell (LC) is a tissue-resident macrophage of the skin once thought to be a resident dendritic cell. These cells contain organelles called Birbeck granules. They are present in all layers of the epidermis and are most prominent in t ...

Paul Langerhans Paul Langerhans (25 July 1847 – 20 July 1888) was a German pathologist, physiologist and biologist, credited with the discovery of the cells that secrete insulin, named after him as the islets of Langerhans. Eponymous terms * Islets of Langerh ...

*1869: Discovery of

islets of Langerhans The pancreatic islets or islets of Langerhans are the regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine (hormone-producing) cells, discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans. The pancreatic islets constitute 1–2% o ...

by Paul Langerhans *1875: First description of

Merkel cell Merkel cells, also known as Merkel–Ranvier cells or tactile epithelial cells, are oval-shaped mechanoreceptors essential for light touch sensation and found in the skin of vertebrates. They are abundant in highly sensitive skin like that of th ...

Friedrich Sigmund Merkel Friedrich Sigmund Merkel (5 April 1845 – 28 May 1919) was a leading German anatomist and histopathologist of the late 19th century. In 1875, he provided the first full description of ''Tastzellen'' (touch cells), which occur in the skin of ...

*1882: First successful

cholecystectomy Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is a common treatment of symptomatic gallstones and other gallbladder conditions. In 2011, cholecystectomy was the eighth most common operating room procedure performed i ...

by Carl Langenbuch in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

*1906: Discovery of the

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Alois Alzheimer Alois Alzheimer ( , , ; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a German psychiatrist, neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. He is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin later ide ...

*1909: First description of

Brodmann area A Brodmann area is a region of the cerebral cortex, in the human or other primate brain, defined by its cytoarchitecture, or histological structure and organization of cells. The concept was first introduced by the German anatomist Korbinian B ...

Korbinian Brodmann Korbinian Brodmann (17 November 1868 – 22 August 1918) was a German neuropsychiatrist who is known for mapping the cerebral cortex and defining 52 distinct regions, known as Brodmann areas, based on their cytoarchitectonic (histological) cha ...

*1977:

Plastination Plastination is a technique or process used in anatomy to preserve bodies or body parts, first developed by Gunther von Hagens in 1977. The water and fat are replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that can be touched, do not smell or ...

Gunther von Hagens Gunther von Hagens (born Gunther Gerhard Liebchen; 10 January 1945) is a German anatomist, businessman, and lecturer. He developed the technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination. Von Hagens has organized numerous ...

Animals

*1907: Modern

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

(

Tierpark Hagenbeck The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–1887), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Ca ...

) by

Carl Hagenbeck Carl Hagenbeck (10 June 1844 – 14 April 1913) was a Germans, German merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P. T. Barnum. He created the modern zoo with animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natur ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

*1916:

Guide dog Guide dogs (colloquially known in the US as seeing-eye dogs) are assistance dogs trained to lead people who are blind or visually impaired around obstacles. Although dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are red–green c ...

; the world's first training school, established by Dr. Gerhard Stalling in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

Archaeology and paleontology

*Early 18th century: Founding of

modern archaeology Modern archaeology is the discipline of archaeology which contributes to excavations. Johann Joachim Winckelmann was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the ...

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann ( ; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenism (neoclassicism), Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Ancient Greek art, Greek, Helleni ...

*1825: ''

Rhamphorhynchus ''Rhamphorhynchus'' (, from Ancient Greek ''rhamphos'' meaning "beak" and ''rhynchus'' meaning "snout") is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such ...

'' by

Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (28 January 1755 – 2 March 1830) was a German physician, anatomist, anthropologist, paleontologist and inventor. Sömmerring discovered the macula in the retina of the human eye. His investigations on the bra ...

*1834: ''

Plateosaurus ''Plateosaurus'' (probably meaning "broad lizard", often mistranslated as "flat lizard") is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Eu ...

'' by Johann Friedrich Engelhardt near

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, described in 1837 by

Hermann von Meyer Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer (3 September 1801 – 2 April 1869), known as Hermann von Meyer, was a German palaeontologist. He was awarded the 1858 Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London. Life He was born in Frankfurt am ...

*1856:

Neanderthal 1 Feldhofer 1 or Neanderthal 1 is the scientific name of the 40,000-year-old Type (biology), type specimen fossil of the species Neanderthal, ''Homo neanderthalensis''. The fossil was discovered in August 1856 in the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte cave ...

near

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

*1856–1857: First description of the

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

Johann Carl Fuhlrott Johann Carl Fuhlrott (31 December 1803, Leinefelde, Germany – 17 October 1877, Wuppertal) was an early German paleoanthropologist. He is famous for recognizing the significance of the bones of Neanderthal 1, a Neanderthal specimen discovered ...

and

Hermann Schaaffhausen Hermann Schaaffhausen (19 July 1816, Koblenz – 26 January 1893, Bonn) was a German anatomist, anthropologist, and paleoanthropologist. Biography Hermann Schaaffhausen was the son of Josef Hubert Schaaffhausen and Anna Maria Wachendorf. He st ...

*1860: ''

Teratosaurus ''Teratosaurus'' is a genus of rauisuchians known from the Triassic Stubensandstein ( Löwenstein Formation - Norian stage) of Germany. It is estimated to be 6.2 meters (20.35 ft) long. Discovery In 1860, Sixt Friedrich Jakob von Kapff ...

'' by Sixt Friedrich Jakob von Kapff near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, described in 1861 by Hermann von Meyer *1861: ''Archaeopteryx'' by Hermann von Meyer near Solnhofen *1868–1879: Troy by Heinrich Schliemann *c. 1900: Gordium by Alfred Körte, Alfred and Gustav Körte *1906–1913: Hattusa by Hugo Winckler *1908: ''Homo heidelbergensis'' by Daniel Hartmann and Otto Schoetensack near Heidelberg *1912: The Nefertiti Bust by Ludwig Borchardt *1915: Description of ''Spinosaurus'', the largest known theropod, by Ernst Stromer *1925: ''Stomatosuchus'' by Ernst Stromer *1931: Description of ''Carcharodontosaurus'' by Ernst Stromer *1932: ''Aegyptosaurus'' by Ernst Stromer *1934: ''Bahariasaurus'' by Ernst Stromer *1991: Ötzi by Helmut and Erika Simon from

Arts

*40.000 BC: The oldest confirmed sculptures in the world, the 41,000 to 39,000-year-old Lion-man, Lion Man and the 42,000 to 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels *15th century: Drypoint by the Housebook Master, a south German artist *1525: Ray tracing (graphics), Ray tracing by Albrecht Dürer *1642: Mezzotint by Ludwig von Siegen *1708: Meissen porcelain, the first European hard-paste porcelain, by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus in Meissen *1810: Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang Goethe *1864: Wothlytype uranium-based photographic printing process *Early 1900s: The modernist movement Expressionism *1919: Bauhaus by Walter Gropius

Astronomy

*1450–1550: Copernican heliocentrism, developed by Regiomontanus and Nicolaus Copernicus *1609–1619: Kepler's laws of planetary motion by

*1781: Discovery of Uranus, with two of its major moons (Titania (moon), Titania and Oberon), by William Herschel *1846: Discovery of Neptune by Johann Galle *1902: Discovery of the stratosphere by Richard Assmann *1909: Discovery of cosmic ray by Theodor Wulf *1916: Schwarzschild metric and Schwarzschild radius by Karl Schwarzschild

Biology and genetics

*1759: Description of mesonephros by Caspar Friedrich Wolff *1790s: Recapitulation theory by Johann Friedrich Meckel and Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer *Late 1790s/early 1800s: Humboldtian science by Alexander von Humboldt *1834: Humboldt penguin by Franz Meyen, after its initial discovery by Alexander von Humboldt *1835: Cell division by Hugo von Mohl *1835: Discovery and description of mitosis by Hugo von Mohl *1839: Cell theory by

and Matthias Jakob Schleiden (with contributions from Rudolf Virchow) *1840: Discovery of hemoglobin by Friedrich Ludwig Hünefeld *1845: Odic force by Carl Reichenbach *1851: Discovery of alternation of generations as a general principle in plant life by Wilhelm Hofmeister *1876: Discovery and description of meiosis by Oscar Hertwig *1877: Description of dyslexia by Adolf Kussmaul *1880s: Bacteriology by

*Late 19th century: Isolated the non-protein component of "nuclein", determining the chemical composition of nucleic acids, and later isolated its five primary nucleobases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine and uracil) by Albrecht Kossel *1885: Forgetting curve and learning curve by Hermann Ebbinghaus *1888: Description and naming of the centrosome by Theodor Boveri *1890: Description of mitochondrion by Richard Altmann *1892: Weismann barrier and germ plasm by August Weismann *1908: Hardy–Weinberg principle by Wilhelm Weinberg *1928: First reliable pregnancy test by Selmar Aschheim and Bernhard Zondek *1928: Artificial cloning of organisms by Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold *1932: Urea cycle by Kurt Henseleit and Hans Adolf Krebs *1937: Citric acid cycle by Hans Adolf Krebs *1974: First genetically modified animal (a mouse) by Rudolf Jaenisch *2014: CityTrees, CityTree, a large-scale urban air purifier intended to filter smog in cities, by Green City Solutions

Chemistry

*1625: Glauber's salt by Johann Rudolf Glauber *1669: Discovery of phosphorus by Hennig Brand in

*1706: Prussian blue by Heinrich Diesbach in

*1717: Johann Heinrich Schulze used a light-sensitive slurry to capture images of cut-out letters on a bottle, sometimes seen as the start of photography *1724: Temperature scale Fahrenheit by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit *1746: Basic theory of isolating zinc by Andreas Sigismund Marggraf *c. 1770 – c. 1785: Identification of molybdenum, tungsten, barium and chlorine by Carl Wilhelm Scheele *1773 or earlier: discovery of oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first) by Carl Wilhelm Scheele *1789: Discovery of the elements uranium and zirconium by Martin Heinrich Klaproth *1799: Production of sugar from sugar beets, the beginning of the modern sugar Sugar industry, industry, by Franz Karl Achard, after foundations were laid by Andreas Sigismund Marggraf *19th century: Eupione by Carl Reichenbach *1817: Discovery of cadmium by Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann and Friedrich Stromeyer *1820s: Oechsle scale by Ferdinand Oechsle *1823: Döbereiner's lamp, often hailed as the first lighter, by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner *1828: Discovery of creosote by Carl Reichenbach *1828, 1893: Isolation (1828) of nicotine by Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt and Karl Ludwig Reimann. The structure (1893) of nicotine was later discovered by Adolf Pinner and Richard Wolffenstein (chemist), Richard Wolffenstein *1828: Synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler (Wöhler synthesis) *1830: Creation of paraffin wax by Carl Reichenbach *1832: Discovery of pittacal by Carl Reichenbach *1834: Melamine by

*1834: Discovery of phenol by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge *1836 (or 1837): Discovery of diatomaceous earth (''Kieselgur'' in German) by Peter Kasten on the northern slopes of the Haußelberg hill, in the Lüneburg Heath in North German Plain, North Germany *1838: Fuel cell by Christian Friedrich Schönbein *1839: Discovery of ozone by Christian Friedrich Schönbein *1839, 1930: Discovery of polystyrene by Eduard Simon, was made a commercial product by IG Farben in 1930 *c. 1840: Nitrogen-based fertilizer, fertiliser by Justus von Liebig, important innovations were later made by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (Haber process) in the 1900s *1846: Discovery of Nitrocellulose, guncotton by Christian Friedrich Schönbein *1850s: Open hearth furnace, Siemens-Martin process by Carl Wilhelm Siemens *c. 1855: Bunsen burner by Robert Bunsen and Peter Desaga *1857: Siemens cycle by Carl Wilhelm Siemens *1859: Pinacol coupling reaction by Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig *1860–61: Discovery of caesium and rubidium by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff *1860: Erlenmeyer flask by Emil Erlenmeyer *1863–64: Discovery of indium by Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter *1863: First synthesis of TNT, trinitrotoluene (TNT) by Julius Wilbrand *1864: First synthesis of barbiturate by Adolf von Baeyer, first marketed by Bayer under the name "Barbital, ''Veronal''" in 1903 *1864: Wothlytype uranium-based photographic printing process patented *1865: Synthetic indigo dye by Adolf von Baeyer, first marketed by BASF in 1897 *c. 1870: Brix unit by Adolf Ferdinand Wenceslaus Brix, Adolf Brix *1872: Synthesis of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by Eugen Baumann *1877: Poly(methyl methacrylate) by Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig, was made a commercial product (''Plexiglas'') by Otto Röhm in 1933 *1882: Tollens' reagent by Bernhard Tollens *1883: Claus process by Carl Friedrich Claus *1884: Paal–Knorr synthesis by Carl Paal and Ludwig Knorr *1885–1886: Discovery of germanium by Clemens Winkler *1887: Petri dish by Julius Richard Petri *1888: Büchner flask and Büchner funnel by Ernst Büchner *1895: Hampson–Linde cycle by

*1897: Galalith by Wilhelm Krische *1898: Polycarbonate by Alfred Einhorn, was made an commercial product by Hermann Josef Schnell, Hermann Schnell at Bayer in 1953 in Uerdingen *1898: Synthesis of polyethylene, the most common plastic, by Hans von Pechmann *1898: First synthesis of purine by Emil Fischer. He had also coined the word in 1884. *Early 20th century: Schlenk flask by Wilhelm Schlenk *1900s: Haber process by Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber *1902: Ostwald process by Wilhelm Ostwald *1903: First commercially decaffeination process by Ludwig Roselius *1907: Thiele tube by Johannes Thiele (chemist), Johannes Thiele *1913: Coal liquefaction (Bergius process) by Friedrich Bergius *1913: Identification of protactinium by Oswald Helmuth Göhring *1925: Discovery of rhenium by Otto Berg (scientist), Otto Berg, Ida Tacke, Ida Noddack and Walter Noddack *1928: Diels–Alder reaction by Kurt Alder and Otto Diels *1929: Discovery of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by Karl Lohmann *1929: Styrene-butadiene (synthetic rubber) by Walter Bock *1935: Karl Fischer titration by Karl Fischer (chemist), Karl Fischer *1937: Creation of polyurethane by Otto Bayer at IG Farben in Leverkusen *1953: Ziegler–Natta catalyst by Karl Ziegler *1954: Wittig reaction by Georg Wittig *1981–1996: Discovery and creation of bohrium by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt *1982: Discovery and creation of meitnerium at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research *1984: Discovery and creation of hassium at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research *1994: Discovery and creation of darmstadtium at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research *1994: Discovery and creation of roentgenium at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research *1996: Discovery and creation of copernicium at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research

Clothing and cosmetics

*13th century: Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes *1709: Eau de Cologne by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in Cologne *1905: Perm (hairstyle), Permanent wave that was suitable for use on people, by Karl Nessler *1911: Nivea, the first modern Cream (pharmacy), cream, by Beiersdorf AG *1960s: BB cream by Christine Schrammek

Computing

*Late 17th century: Modern binary numeral system by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz *1918–1923: Enigma machine by Arthur Scherbius *1920s: Hellschreiber (precursor of the impact dot matrix printers and faxes) by Rudolf Hell *1941: First programmable, fully automatic digital

( Z3) by

*1942–1945: Programming language Plankalkül, the first High-level programming language, high-level programming language to be designed for a computer, by Konrad Zuse *1945: The world's first commercial digital computer ( Z4) by Konrad Zuse *1957: Stack (abstract data type) by Klaus Samelson and Friedrich L. Bauer of Technical University Munich *1960s: Smart card by Jürgen Dethloff and Helmut Gröttrup

Construction, architecture and shops

*1831–1834: Wire rope by Wilhelm Albert (engineer), Wilhelm Albert *1858: Hoffmann kiln by Friedrich Hoffmann *1880: The world's first electric elevator by

*1895: Electrically driven hand drill by Carl and Wilhelm Emil Fein, Wilhelm Fein in

*1895: Exothermic welding process by Hans Goldschmidt *1926–1927: Portable electric (by Andreas Stihl in 1926 in Cannstatt) and the first petrol chainsaw (by Emil Lerp in 1927). A precursor of chainsaws was made around 1830 by Bernhard Heine (osteotome) *1927: Concrete pump by Max Giese and Fritz Hull *1930s: Particle board by Max Himmelheber *1954: Angle grinder by Ackermann + Schmitt (Flex-Elektrowerkzeuge, FLEX-Elektrowerkzeuge) in Steinheim an der Murr *1958: Modern (plastic) wall plug (Fischer Wall Plug) by Artur Fischer *1962: The world's first sex shop by Beate Uhse AG in Flensburg *1963–1967: First Breaker (hydraulic), hydraulic breaker by Krupp in Essen *1988–1990: The concept of the passive house by Wolfgang Feist in Darmstadt

Cuisine

*Altbier *Angostura bitters by Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert in Venezuela, 1824 *First automat restaurant (Quisisana) in

, 1895 *Baumkuchen *Berliner (doughnut) *Bethmännchen *Berliner Weisse *Bienenstich *Black Forest cake *Bock *Bratwurst *Braunschweiger (sausage), Braunschweiger *Currywurst by Herta Heuwer *Dominostein by Herbert Wendler *Donauwelle *Modern doner kebab sandwich in Berlin, 1972 *Dortmunder Export *Fanta *Frankfurter Kranz *Frankfurter Würstchen *Gummy bear *Hamburger (the "founder" is unknown, but it has German origins) *Hamburg steak *Hedgehog slice (''Kalter Hund'') *Helles *Hot dog, Hot Dog *Jägermeister *Kölsch (beer), Kölsch *Lager *Lebkuchen *Marmite by

*Märzen *Meat extract by Justus von Liebig *Obatzda *Parboiled rice (Huzenlaub Process) by Erich Huzenlaub *Pilsner, Pilsener by Josef Groll *Pinkel *Pretzel (the origin is disputed, but the earliest recorded evidence of pretzels appeared in Germany) *Prinzregententorte *Pumpernickel *Shandy, Radler *Riesling wine *Rye beer *Saumagen *Schwarzbier *Sprite (drink), Sprite *Strammer Max *Stollen *Streuselkuchen *Teewurst *Thuringian sausage *Toast Hawaii *Vienna sausage by in 1805 *Welf pudding *Wheat beer *Zwieback *Zwiebelkuchen

Education, language and printing

*12th century: Lingua Ignota, the first entirely Constructed language, artificial language, by Hildegard of Bingen, St. Hildegard of Bingen, OSB *c. 1440: Printing press with movable type by

, starting the global spread of the printing press *1605: First newspaper (''Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien'') by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) *1774: The process of deinking by Justus Claproth *1796: Lithography by Alois Senefelder *Early 19th century: Humboldtian model of higher education by Wilhelm von Humboldt, which led to the creation of the first modern university (Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Berlin) in 1810, although the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, University of Halle is also regarded as "the first truly modern university" *1812–1858: Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm *1830s: Kindergarten concept by Friedrich Fröbel *1844: Pulp (paper), Wood pulp process for use in papermaking by Friedrich Gottlob Keller *1879: The constructed language Volapük by Johann Martin Schleyer *1884–1886: Linotype machine by Ottmar Mergenthaler *1905: The Morse code distress signal () *1919: Waldorf education by Emil Molt and Rudolf Steiner in

Entertainment, electronics and media

*c. 1150: The earliest known morality play (''Ordo Virtutum'') by Hildegard of Bingen, St. Hildegard of Bingen, OSB *c. 1505: The world's first (pocket) watch (Watch 1505) by Peter Henlein *1663: First magazine (''Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen'') *1885:

(fundamental component in the earliest

s) by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow *1897: Cathode-ray tube (CRT) and the oscilloscope by Ferdinand Braun *1903: Printed circuit board by Albert Hanson of

*1907: Earplug by Max Negwer (Ohropax) *1907: Pigeon photography by Julius Neubronner *1920s: Leica Camera, Small format camera (35mm format) by Oskar Barnack *1928: Magnetic tape in Dresden, later developed and commercialized by AEG (German company), AEG *1930s: (Modern) tape recorder by BASF (then part of the chemical giant IG Farben) and AEG (German company), AEG in cooperation with the state radio Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, RRG *1934: Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow (TV Station Paul Nipkow) in

, first public television station in the world *1949: Integrated circuit by Werner Jacobi (Siemens AG) *1961: PAL, Phase Alternating Line (PAL), a colour encoding system for analogue television, by Walter Bruch of Telefunken in Hanover *1970: Twisted nematic field effect by Wolfgang Helfrich (with Swiss physicist Martin Schadt) *1983: CAN bus, Controller Area Network (CAN bus) by Robert Bosch GmbH *1984: Short Message Service (SMS) concept by Friedhelm Hillebrand *1990s: MP3 format by Karlheinz Brandenburg and others at the Fraunhofer Society *1990–1991: Junghans Mega: first Radio control, radio-controlled digital wristwatch and later first radio-controlled wristwatch with hands by Junghans *1991: SIM card by Giesecke & Devrient in Munich *2005: YouTube, co-founded by Jawed Karim *c. 2011: Li-Fi by Harald Haas (engineer), Harald Haas

Geography, geology and mining

*1507: Martin Waldseemüller and his collaborator Matthias Ringmann have been credited with the first recorded usage of the word ''Naming of the Americas, America'', to name a portion of the New World in honour of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. *1812: Mohs scale of mineral hardness by Friedrich Mohs *1855: Stauroscope by Wolfgang Franz von Kobell *1884: Köppen climate classification by Wladimir Köppen. Changes were later made by Rudolf Geiger (it is thus sometimes hailed as the "Köppen–Geiger climate classification system"). *1912: Theory of continental drift and the postulation of the existence of Pangaea by Alfred Wegener *1933: Central place theory by Walter Christaller *1935: Richter magnitude scale by Beno Gutenberg (together with Charles Francis Richter)

Household and office appliance

*1835: Modern (Silvering, silvered-glass) mirror by

*1864: Ingrain wallpaper by Hugo Erfurt *1870–1895: Modern

and modern refrigeration by

*1871: Modern mattress (the innerspring mattress) by Heinrich Westphal in Berlin *1886: Hole punch and ring binder by Friedrich Soennecken in Bonn *1886: Folding ruler by Anton Ullrich in Maikammer *1901: Adhesive tape by company Beiersdorf, Beiersdorf AG *1907: (Modern) Laundry detergent (Persil) by Henkel *1908: Paper coffee filter by Melitta Bentz *1909: Egg slicer by Willy Abel in

*1929, 1949: First tea bag packing machine (1929) and the modern tea bag (1949) by Adolf Rambold of Teekanne *1941: Chemex Coffeemaker by Peter Schlumbohm *1954: Wigomat, the first Drip coffee, electric drip coffee maker *1969: Glue stick by Henkel

Mathematics

*1489: The Plus and minus signs, + and - symbols first appeared in print in Johannes Widmann's book ''Behende und hüpsche Rechenung auff allen Kauffmanschafft'', published in Leipzig in 1489, in reference to surpluses and deficits in business problems *1490: Prosthaphaeresis, invented by Johannes Werner *1525: Square root, The "√" symbol, first published by Christoph Rudolff *1611: Kepler conjecture by

*1623: Mechanical calculator by Wilhelm Schickard *Late 17th century: Calculus and Leibniz's notation by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz *1673–1676: Leibniz formula for π by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz *1675: Integral symbol by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz *1795: Least squares by Carl Friedrich Gauss *c. 1810: Gaussian elimination by Carl Friedrich Gauss *1824: Generalization of the Bessel function by Friedrich Bessel *1827: Gauss map and Gaussian curvature by Carl Friedrich Gauss *1837: Analytic number theory by Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet *c. 1850: Riemann geometry by Bernhard Riemann *1859: Riemann hypothesis by Bernhard Riemann *1874: Cantor's first uncountability proof and set theory by Georg Cantor *1882: Klein bottle by Felix Klein *1891: Cantor's diagonal argument and Cantor's theorem by Georg Cantor *1897: Cantor–Bernstein–Schroeder theorem by Felix Bernstein (mathematician), Felix Bernstein and Ernst Schröder (mathematician), Ernst Schröder *c. 1900: Runge–Kutta methods by Wilhelm Kutta and Carl Runge *1900s: Hilbert space by David Hilbert *Early 20th century: Weyl tensor by Hermann Weyl

Medicine and drugs

*1796: Homeopathy by Samuel Hahnemann *1803–1827: First isolation of morphine by Friedrich Sertürner in Paderborn; first marketed to the general public by Sertürner and Company in 1817 as a Analgesic, pain medication; and the first commercial production began in 1827 in Darmstadt by Merck Group, Merck. *1832: First synthesis of chloral hydrate, the first Hypnotic, hypnotic drug, by

at the University of Giessen; Oscar Liebreich introduced the drug into medicine in 1869 and discovered its hypnotic and sedative qualities. *1840: Discovery and description of Graves-Basedow disease by Karl Adolph von Basedow *1847: Kymograph by Carl Ludwig *1850s: Microscopic pathology by Rudolf Virchow *1850–51: Ophthalmoscopy, Ophthalmoscope by Hermann von Helmholtz *1852: First complete blood count by Karl von Vierordt *1854: Sphygmograph by Karl von Vierordt *1855: First synthesis of the cocaine alkaloid by Friedrich Gaedcke; development of an improved purification process by Albert Niemann (chemist), Albert Niemann in 1859–1860, who also coined the name "cocaine". First commercial production of cocaine began in 1862 in Darmstadt by Merck. *1881: First modern caesarean section performed by Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer (introduction of the transverse incision technique) *1882: Adhesive bandage (''Guttaperchapflastermulle'') by Paul Carl Beiersdorf *1882: Discovery of the ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria which causes tuberculosis, by

*1884: Discovery of the pathogenic bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae'' which causes diphtheria, by Edwin Klebs and Friedrich Löffler *1884: Koch's postulates by Robert Koch and Friedrich Loeffler, based on earlier concepts described by Jakob Henle *1884: Discovery of the ''vibrio cholerae'' bacteria which causes cholera, by Robert Koch *1887: Amphetamine by Romanian-born Lazăr Edeleanu in

*1887: Löffler's medium by Friedrich Loeffler *1888: First successful Afocal system, afocal Scleral lens, scleral glass contact lenses by Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick *1890: Diphtheria antitoxin by Emil von Behring *1890s-1910s: modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics by Emil Kraepelin *1897–1899: Aspirin by Felix Hoffmann or Arthur Eichengrün at Bayer in Elberfeld *1897: Heroin by Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in Elberfeld *1897: Silver proteinate, Protargol by Arthur Eichengrün. *1897: Discovery of the cause of foot-and-mouth disease (''Aphthovirus'') by Friedrich Loeffler *1907–1910: First synthesis of arsphenamine, the first antibiotic, by

and Alfred Bertheim. In 1910 marketed by Hoechst AG, Hoechst under the name ''Salvarsan''. *1908–1911: Creation of dihydrocodeine *1909, 1929: First intrauterine device (IUD) by Richard Richter (of Wałbrzych, Waldenburg, in 1909), and the first ring (Gräfenberg's ring, 1929) used by a significant number of women by Ernst Gräfenberg. *1912: MDMA by Merck Group, Merck chemist Anton Köllisch *1914: Creation of oxymorphone *1916: Creation of oxycodone by Martin Freund and Edmund Speyer at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, University of Frankfurt *1920–1924: First synthesis of hydrocodone by Carl Mannich and Helene Löwenheim in 1920, first marketed by former German drug development company Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Knoll as ''Dicodid'' in 1924. *1922: Discovery and creation of desomorphine by Knoll *1923: Creation of hydromorphone (''Dilaudid'') by Knoll *1924: Electroencephalography (EEG) by Hans Berger. He also invented the electroencephalogram and discovered alpha waves. *1929: Cardiac catheterization by Werner Forssmann *1932: Prontosil by Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch at Bayer *1934: Synthesis of Chloroquine by Italian-born Hans Andersag working for Bayer AG *1937–1939: Creation of methadone by Max Bockmühl and Gustav Ehrhart of IG Farben *1939: Intramedullary rod by Gerhard Küntscher *1943: Luria–Delbrück experiment by Max Delbrück *1953: Echocardiography by Carl Hellmuth Hertz (with Swedish physician Inge Edler) *1969: Articaine (Ultracain), a dental local anesthetic first synthesized by pharmacologist Roman Muschaweck and chemist Robert Rippel (former Hoechst AG) *1997: C-Leg by Ottobock *2007: Small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) by Walter Sekundo and Marcus Blum *2020: MRNA vaccine, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2) based on research by Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci

Military and weapons

*1498: Barrel rifling in Augsburg *1836: Dreyse needle gun by Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse *1901: Modern flamethrower by Richard Fiedler *1916: First anti-tank grenade *1918: First anti-tank rifle (Mauser Tankgewehr M1918) by Mauser *1918: First practical submachine gun (MP 18) by Theodor Bergmann *1920s: Creation of Zyklon B by Walter Heerdt and Bruno Tesch at Degesch *1935: ''Flecktarn'' by Johann Georg Otto Schick *1936: The first ever nerve agent, Tabun (nerve agent), tabun, by Gerhard Schrader (IG Farben) in Leverkusen *1937: Jerrycan by Eisenwerke Müller & Co. in Schwelm *1938: The nerve agent sarin by IG Farben in Wuppertal-Elberfeld *1939: Warfare method of blitzkrieg by i.a. Heinz Guderian *1941: The only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1000 km/h (621 mph) in level flight, the Messerschmitt Me 163, by Alexander Lippisch. *1942: First modern assault rifle (StG 44) by Hugo Schmeisser *1943: First aviation unit (''Kampfgeschwader 100'') to use precision-guided munition *1944: First operational cruise missile (V-1 flying bomb) by Robert Lusser at Fieseler *1944: The world's first long-range guided ballistic missile (V-2 rocket), created under the direction of

*1944: The nerve agent soman by Konrad Henkel in Heidelberg

Musical instruments

*c. 1690: Clarinet by Johann Christoph Denner in

*1805: Panharmonicon by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel *1814–1816: Metronome by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel and Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel *c. 1815: (Modern) French horn by Heinrich Stölzel and Friedrich Blühmel *1821: Harmonica by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann in

*1828: Flugelhorn by Heinrich Stölzel in

*c. 1815: Oldest found accordion, from

*1835: Tuba by Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz in Berlin *1850s: Wagner tuba by Richard Wagner *1854: Bandoneon by Heinrich Band *1877: Microphone by Emile Berliner *1887: Gramophone record by Emile Berliner *1914: Hornbostel–Sachs, the most used system in musical instrument classification, by Curt Sachs (together with Erich Moritz von Hornbostel)

Physics and scientific instruments

Ernst Ruska Electron Microscope - Deutsches Museum - Munich-edit

*1512, 1576: Theodolite by Gregorius Reisch and Martin Waldseemüller (1512), although the first "true" version was created by Erasmus Habermehl (1576) *1650: First vacuum pump by Otto von Guericke *1654: Magdeburg hemispheres by Otto von Guericke *1663: First electrostatic generator by Otto von Guericke *1745: Leyden jar (''Kleistian jar'') by Ewald Georg von Kleist *1777: Discovery of Lichtenberg figures by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg *1801: Discovery of ultraviolet by Johann Wilhelm Ritter *1813: Gauss's law by Carl Friedrich Gauss *1814: Discovery of Fraunhofer lines by Joseph von Fraunhofer *1817: Ackermann steering geometry by Georg Lankensperger in Munich *1817 or earlier: Gyroscope by Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger in Tübingen *1820: Galvanometer by Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger, Johann Schweigger in Halle (Saale), Halle *1827: Ohm's law by Georg Ohm *1833: Magnetometer by Carl Friedrich Gauss *1845: Kirchhoff's circuit laws by Gustav Kirchhoff *1850: Formulation of the First law of thermodynamics, first and second law of thermodynamics by Rudolf Clausius *1852: First experimental investigation of the Magnus effect by Heinrich Gustav Magnus *1857: Geissler tube by Heinrich Geißler *1857: Helmholtz resonance by Hermann von Helmholtz *1859: Spectrometer by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff *1861: First telephone, telephone transmitter by Johann Philipp Reis; he also coined the term "

" *1864–1875: Centrifuge by brothers Alexander and Antonin Prandtl from Munich *1865: Concept of entropy by Rudolf Clausius *1869: First observation of cathode rays by Johann Wilhelm Hittorf and Julius Plücker *1870: Virial theorem by Rudolf Clausius *1874: Refractometer by Ernst Abbe *1883: First accurate electricity meter (''Pendelzähler'') by Hermann Aron *1886: Discovery of anode rays by Eugen Goldstein *1887: Discoveries of

, photoelectric effect and radio waves by Heinrich Hertz *1887: First parabolic antenna by Heinrich Hertz *1893–1896: Wien approximation (1896) and Wien's displacement law (1893) by Wilhelm Wien *1895: Discovery of

s by

in Würzburg *1897: Nernst lamp by Walther Nernst *1900: Drude model by Paul Karl Ludwig Drude, Paul Drude *1900: Planck constant and Planck's law by

*1900–1930: Quantum mechanics by i.a. Max Planck and

*1901: Modern pyrometer by Ludwig Holborn and Ferdinand Kurlbaum *1904: Boundary layer theory by Ludwig Prandtl *1904: First

system by Christian Hülsmeyer (''Telemobiloscope'') *1905: Mass–energy equivalence (''E'' = ''mc''²) and

*1905: Rubens tube by Heinrich Rubens *1906–1912: Third law of thermodynamics (Nernst's theorem) by Walther Nernst *1913: Echo sounding by Alexander Behm *1913: Discovery of the Stark effect by Johannes Stark *1915: Noether's theorem by Emmy Noether *1916: General relativity by Albert Einstein *1917: Laser's theoretical foundation by Albert Einstein *1919: Discovery of the Barkhausen effect by Heinrich Barkhausen *1919: Betz's law by Albert Betz *1920s: (Modern) hand-held metal detector by Gerhard Fischer (inventor), Gerhard Fischer *1921: Discovery of nuclear isomerism by

*1921–22: Stern–Gerlach experiment by Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach *1924: Description of Coincidence circuit, coincidence method by Walther Bothe *1924–25: Bose–Einstein statistics, Bose–Einstein condensate and Boson by Albert Einstein *1927: Free electron model by Arnold Sommerfeld *1927: Uncertainty principle by Werner Heisenberg *1928: Geiger–Müller counter by

and Walther Müller *1931: Electron microscope by Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll *1933: Discovery of the Meissner effect by Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld *1937–39: CNO cycle (Bethe–Weizsäcker process) by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Carl von Weizsäcker and Hans Bethe *1937: Scanning electron microscope (SEM) by Manfred von Ardenne *1938: Discovery of

by Otto Hahn and Fritz Straßmann in

*1949: Development of the nuclear shell model by Maria Goeppert-Mayer and J. Hans D. Jensen *1950s: Quadrupole ion trap by Wolfgang Paul *1958: Discovery of the Mössbauer effect by Rudolf Mössbauer *1959: Penning trap by Hans Georg Dehmelt *1961: Bark scale by Eberhard Zwicker *1963: Proposition of heterojunction by Herbert Kroemer *1980: Quantum Hall effect by Klaus von Klitzing *1980s: Atomic force microscope and the scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig *1988: Discovery of giant magnetoresistance by Peter Grünberg *1994: STED microscopy by Stefan Hell and Jan Wichmann *1998: Frequency comb by Theodor W. Hänsch

Sociology, philosophy and politics

*Late 18th century: German idealism by Immanuel Kant *Mid-19th century: Marxism by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels *1852: Credit union by Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch in Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony, later further developed by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen *1879: Psychology by Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig *1880s: The German Empire (1871–1918) became the first modern welfare state in the world under statesman Otto von Bismarck, when he e.g. innovatively implemented the following: **Health insurance (''Krankenversicherung'') in 1883 **Accident insurance (''Unfallversicherung'') in 1884 **Pension, Pension insurance (''Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung'') in 1889 *1897: Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, the List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender firsts by year, first LGBT rights organization in history, founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in

*1916: The German Empire became the first country in the world to implement Daylight saving time, daylight saving time (DST) *1930s: Critical theory by the Frankfurt School *1966: Private copying levy (also known as blank media tax or levy) *1978: Blue Angel (certification), Blue Angel certification, the world's first ecolabel

Religion, ethics and festivities

*1434: The world's first genuine christmas market (Striezelmarkt) in Dresden *1517: Protestantism and Lutheranism by Martin Luther *16th century: Modern Christmas tree *17th century: Easter Bunny *c. 1610: Tinsel in

*1776: Illuminati by Adam Weishaupt *1810: ''Oktoberfest'', the world's largest ''Volksfest'', in Munich *1839: Advent wreath by Johann Hinrich Wichern *c. 1850: Advent calendar by German Lutherans; the modern version was created by Gerhard Lang (1881–1974) from Munich

Sport

DPAG 2011 Turnplatz Hasenheide Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

*c. 1790: Balance beam by Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths *c. 1810: Horizontal bar, parallel bars, Rings (gymnastics), rings and the Vault (gymnastics), vault apparatus by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who is often hailed as the "father of modern gymnastics" *1901: Modern bodybuilding by Eugen Sandow *1906: Schutzhund, a List of dog sports, dog sport that tests a dog's Tracking (dog), tracking *c. 1910: Loop jump in figure skating by Werner Rittberger *1917–1919: Handball by Max Heiser and Karl Schelenz *1920: Gliding by Oskar Ursinus *1925: Wheel gymnastics by Otto Feick in Schönau an der Brend *1936: The tradition of the Olympic Flame, Olympic torch relay by Carl Diem and Alfred Schiff in Berlin *1946: Goalball by Sepp Reindle *1948: Paralympic Games by German-born Ludwig Guttmann *1954: Modern football boots with screw-in studs by Adolf Dassler, Adolf (Adidas) or Rudolf Dassler (Puma (brand), Puma) *1963: Grass skiing by Josef Kaiser *1964: Underwater rugby in Mülheim *1989: International Paralympic Committee in

*1993: Jugger in Heidelberg *2001: Speed badminton by Bill Brandes in Berlin

Tourism and recreation

*1505: The first version of a carabiner *1882: Strandkorb by Wilhelm Bartelmann in Rostock *1891–1900: First purpose-built cruise ship (''Prinzessin Victoria Luise'') by Albert Ballin *Early 20th century: Pilates by Joseph Pilates *1915 or earlier: Modern parachute (the first collapsible parachute) by Katharina Paulus *1920s: Autogenic training by Johannes Heinrich Schultz

Toys and games

*c. 1780: Schafkopf card game *c. 1810: Skat (card game), Skat card game in Altenburg *1890: Modelling clay, Plastilin by Franz Kolb *1892: Chinese checkers by Ravensburger *1902: Teddy bear by Richard Steiff *1907–08: ''Mensch ärgere Dich nicht'' board game by Josef Friedrich Schmidt *1964: fischertechnik by Artur Fischer *1972: First Video game console, home video console (Magnavox Odyssey) by German-born Ralph H. Baer *1974: Playmobil by Hans Beck *1995: ''Catan'' by Klaus Teuber

Transportation

*1655: First self-propelled wheelchair by Stephan Farffler *1817: The first

(dandy horse) by Freiherr, Baron Karl Drais, Karl von Drais *1817: Tachometer by Diedrich Uhlhorn *1834: First practical rotary electric motor by Moritz von Jacobi *1839: First electric boat by Moritz von Jacobi *1876: Otto engine by Nicolaus Otto *1879–1881: First electric locomotive and Tram, electric tramway (Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway) by Siemens & Halske *1882: Trolleybus (Electromote) by

*1885: First Car, automobile (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) by

in Mannheim *1885, 1894: First motorcycle (Daimler Reitwagen) by

and Wilhelm Maybach. The motorcycle of Hildebrand & Wolfmüller from 1894 (created by Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand, and Alois Wolfmüller) was the first machine to be called a "motorcycle" and the world's first production motorcycle. *1885: First modern internal combustion engine by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach *1886: First automobile on four wheels, by Gottlieb Daimler *1886: Motorboat by Lürssen, in commission of Gottlieb Daimler *1888: Driver's license by Karl Benz *1888: The world's first filling station was the city pharmacy in Wiesloch *1888: Flocken Elektrowagen, regarded by some as the first real electric car, by Andreas Flocken in Coburg *1889: V engine by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach *1891: Taximeter by Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn *1893: Diesel engine, diesel fuel and biodiesel by

in Augsburg *1893: Zeppelin, the first rigid airship, by

*1894: Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat, the first Airplane, aeroplane to be serially produced, by

*1895: Internal combustion engine bus by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, Daimler *1896: First truck (Daimler Motor Lastwagen) by Gottlieb Daimler *1897: Flat engine by Karl Benz *1897: Internal combustion engine taxicab by Gottlieb Daimler *1901: Mercedes 35 hp, regarded by some as the first real modern automobile, by Paul Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The car also had the world's first drum brakes. *1902, 1934: Concept of maglev by Alfred Zehden (1902) and Hermann Kemper (1934). *1902: First high voltage spark plug by Gottlob Honold *1902: First practical speedometer by Otto Schultze *1906: Gyrocompass by Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe *1909: The world's first airline; DELAG. The company also employed the first flight attendant, Heinrich Kubis, in 1912. *1912: The world's first diesel locomotive by Gesellschaft für Thermo-Lokomotiven Diesel-Adolf Klose, Klose-Sulzer (manufacturer), Sulzer GmbH from Munich and Borsig from Berlin *1915: The world's first all-metal aircraft (Junkers J 1) by Junkers *1916: Gasoline direct injection, Gasoline direct injection (GDI) by Junkers *1928: First rocket-powered aircraft (Lippisch Ente) by Alexander Lippisch *1935: Swept wing by Adolf Busemann *1936: The first successful and practical helicopter (Focke-Wulf Fw 61), by Focke-Achgelis *1939: First Jet aircraft, jet-powered aircraft (Heinkel He 178), by

*1943: Krueger flap by Werner Krüger *1951: Airbag by Walter Linderer *1957: Wankel engine by Felix Wankel *1960s: Defogger by Heinz Kunert *Late 1960s: Oxygen sensor by Bosch (company), Robert Bosch *1995: Electronic stability control (ESC) by Robert Bosch and Mercedes-Benz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German Inventions And Discoveries German inventions, * Germany history-related lists, Inventions And Discoveries Lists of inventions or discoveries