Literature, Schooling, and Science in Germany

    When we talk about literature, we should first consider the language that is being written. German language is a major language bracket, called Germanic. From Germanic languages descends many other languages, including Gothic, Deutsch, and English! It is very amazing to think that English, the second most spoken language in the world, descended from German.  Here is a fun fact for you: During the start of our country, our founding fathers wanted to decide a national language. It turns out, we were one vote away from being a German-speaking nation. It was Benjamin Franklin who helped decide that America did not have a national language.
      One of the most famous pieces of German literature is Tristan and Isolde. This was eventually made into an opera by Richard Wagner, and then a movie in the modern era. Another famous story was written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) called Faust.  This is a story about a man who makes a deal with the devil, Mephistopheles, in order to gain knowledge and power.
      There are many famous writers in German history, such as: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) became a professor at the age of 23; Richard Wagner (1813-1883) mostly wrote and composer operas; Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was a poet who said, “We are bees of the invisible,” in regard to poets because they make and describe things that do not exist; Franz Kafka (1883-1924) wrote Metamorphosis; Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) started epic theater;  and Thomas Mann (1875-1955) won a Noble Prize at the age of 26 for his novel.
      Germany’s education system is far superior to ours, which is one of the contributing factors to why they have many brilliant scientists. Their teachers have the equivalent to the American doctoral degree, and they also earn a great deal more money than American teachers. Their elementary schools are very similar to ours; you attend from ages 6 to 10. Upon the completion of elementary school, you are required to take an exam that determines your “high school” placement; you must perform extraordinarily to attend college after school.  You may either be placed in “Hauptschule” which is the least academic (for students who are not necessarily college-bound), “Realschule” which is like our vocational schools, and “Gymnasium” which is the hardest school that prepares you for college. There are also several high schools geared towards the arts as well.  Their college degree is almost equivalent to our masters degree. For a science degree, you are required to do a great deal of research. They are however, moving towards the American bachelor’s/master’s degree systems.
       Heinrich Hertz discovered the source of electromagnetic radiation in 1885 (the waves that come out of microwaves, televisions, telephones, etc.). Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays in 1895. The most famous German scientist, and scientist of all time, is Albert Einstein. In 1905 he announced all of his discoveries into one journal. He discovered the Theory of Relativity, the Photoelectric Effect, and the Theory of Random Walk. E=mc²! Einstein worked in Berlin for some time, and then moved to the United States and worked at Princeton University in New Jersey!