1.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
2.
Traunstein
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Traunstein is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a government, retail, health services, transportation. The town is situated at the heart of a region called Chiemgau, the name means castle on the Traun, and the domicile of the Lord of de Truna, surrounded by a little settlement, was likely located there. The Wittelsbachers were the first to expand and fortify the settlement, in this way they controlled the passage of the important commercial salt route over the Traun, from Bad Reichenhall to Munich at the border of the Erzstift Salzburg. In the year 1120 the lords of Truna settled in the urban area because of its favourable strategic position. They built the castle at the border of the city plateau, Traunstein has been part of the state of Bavaria since 1275. It was previously a territory of Salzburg, at the beginning of the 14th century, Traunstein was granted the status of a town. By 1493 the town roads were already cobbled, the Church of St. Oswald was rebuilt in 1501. In 1526 the Lindlbrunnen was constructed as a completion of the water supply. In the 17th century, salt production, facilitated by the construction of a wooden, brine pipeline from Bad Reichenhall brought new industry, the pipeline was constructed between 1616 and 1619 by the master builder of the court, Hans Reiffenstuel. Traunstein was spared much of the experienced by nearby towns during the Thirty Years War. On the 25th and 26 July 1704, Austrian troops occupied the town in the course of the Spanish war of succession, a disastrous fire altered the medieval townscape. Despite the occupation by Austrian troops, it was possible for Traunstein to be reconstructed, the saltworks, finished in 1786/87, assured the survival of the salt production in Traunstein. In its history, Traunstein was struck at least twice by significant town fires, In 1704, when Hungarian Panduren set the town on fire in the course of the Spanish War of Succession, and in 1851. However, the first town fire, which is familiar to all real citizens of Traunstein and is still taught at school today. Only archaeological excavations can show whether Traunstein had really suffered a disaster before 1400. Anyway, written documents provide no information about it and they merely report about a fire, which broke out later, in 1851. However, only 10 houses fell victim to the fire and in no case the whole town, thereupon, in 1587, a fire arrangement was enacted for the first time in the town history
3.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
4.
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
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Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich is a public research university located in Munich, Germany. The University of Munich is among Germanys oldest universities, in 1802, the university was officially named Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität by King Maximilian I of Bavaria in his as well as the universitys original founders honour. Among these were Wilhelm Röntgen, Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Otto Hahn, pope Benedict XVI was also a student and professor at the university. The LMU has recently been conferred the title of university under the German Universities Excellence Initiative. LMU is currently the second-largest university in Germany in terms of student population, in the semester of 2015/2016. Of these,8,671 were freshmen while international students totalled 7,812 or almost 15% of the student population, the university was founded with papal approval in 1472 as the University of Ingolstadt, with faculties of philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence and theology. Its first rector was Christopher Mendel of Steinfels, who became bishop of Chiemsee. In the period of German humanism, the universitys academics included names such as Conrad Celtes, the theologian Johann Eck also taught at the university. From 1549 to 1773, the university was influenced by the Jesuits, the Jesuit Petrus Canisius served as rector of the university. At the end of the 18th century, the university was influenced by the Enlightenment, in 1800, the Prince-Elector Maximilianv IV Joseph moved the university to Landshut, due to French aggression that threatened Ingolstadt during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1802, the university was renamed the Ludwig Maximilian University in honour of its two founders, Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. The Minister of Education, Maximilian von Montgelas, initiated a number of reforms sought to modernize the rather conservative. In 1826, it was moved to Munich, the capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the university was situated in the Old Academy until a new building in the Ludwigstraße was completed. The locals were critical of the number of Protestant professors Maximilian. They were dubbed the Nordlichter and especially physician Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis was quite angry about them, in the second half of the 19th century, the university rose to great prominence in the European scientific community, attracting many of the worlds leading scientists. It was also a period of great expansion, from 1903, women were allowed to study at Bavarian universities, and by 1918, the female proportion of students at LMU had reached 18%. In 1918, Adele Hartmann became the first woman in Germany to earn the Habilitation, during the Third Reich, academic freedom was severely curtailed. In 1943 the White Rose group of anti-Nazi students conducted their campaign of opposition to the National Socialists at this university, the university has continued to be one of the leading universities of West Germany during the Cold War and in the post-reunification era
5.
Physics
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Physics is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion and behavior through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. One of the most fundamental disciplines, the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy, Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the mechanisms of other sciences while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics. Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs, the United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics. Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, the stars and planets were often a target of worship, believed to represent their gods. While the explanations for these phenomena were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, according to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy. The most notable innovations were in the field of optics and vision, which came from the works of many scientists like Ibn Sahl, Al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Farisi and Avicenna. The most notable work was The Book of Optics, written by Ibn Al-Haitham, in which he was not only the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea about vision, but also came up with a new theory. In the book, he was also the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera, many later European scholars and fellow polymaths, from Robert Grosseteste and Leonardo da Vinci to René Descartes, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, were in his debt. Indeed, the influence of Ibn al-Haythams Optics ranks alongside that of Newtons work of the same title, the translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the devices as what Ibn al-Haytham did. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, Physics became a separate science when early modern Europeans used experimental and quantitative methods to discover what are now considered to be the laws of physics. Newton also developed calculus, the study of change, which provided new mathematical methods for solving physical problems. The discovery of new laws in thermodynamics, chemistry, and electromagnetics resulted from greater research efforts during the Industrial Revolution as energy needs increased, however, inaccuracies in classical mechanics for very small objects and very high velocities led to the development of modern physics in the 20th century. Modern physics began in the early 20th century with the work of Max Planck in quantum theory, both of these theories came about due to inaccuracies in classical mechanics in certain situations. Quantum mechanics would come to be pioneered by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, from this early work, and work in related fields, the Standard Model of particle physics was derived. Areas of mathematics in general are important to this field, such as the study of probabilities, in many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy
6.
University of Hanover
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The University of Hannover, officially the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, short Leibniz Universität Hannover, is a public university located in Hannover, Germany. Founded in 1831, it is one of the largest and oldest science, in the 2014/15 school year it enrolled 25,688 students, of which 2,121 were from foreign countries. It has nine faculties which offer 190 full and part degree programs in 38 fields of study, the University is named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the 18th century mathematician and philosopher. Leibniz Universität Hannover is a member of TU9, an association of the nine leading Institutes of Technology in Germany and it is also a member of the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research, a non-profit association of leading engineering universities in Europe. The university sponsors the German National Library of Science and Technology, the roots of the University of Hanover begin in the Higher Vocational College/Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1831. In 1879 the Higher Vocational School moved into the historic Guelph Palace, the Welfenschloss, later, the Higher Vocational School became the Royal College of Technology. In 1899 Kaiser Wilhelm II granted the College of Technology a status equal to that of universities, the College was reconstructed in 1921 with the financial support of the College Patrons’ Association. There were three faculties, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, in 1968 the Faculty of Humanities and Political Science were founded and the College of Technology became the Technische Hochschule. Student numbers exceeded 30,000 for the first time in 1991, on the 175th anniversary of the institution in 2006, the University of Hannover was given the name Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover. While 64 pupils first attended the Vocational School, today the university now has around 25.700 students, more than 2.900 academics and scientists, the Senate of the University voted in April 2006 to rename the University of Hannover to Leibniz Universität Hannover. Following agreement by the Leibniz Academy on the use of the name, the brand of the university is Leibniz Universität Hannover. The old logo of the University was inspired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the current logo is a stylized excerpt from a letter to Duke Rudolf August of Wolfenbüttel, in which Leibniz presented binary numbers for the first time. Nine faculties with more than 190 first-degree full-time and part-time degree courses make the university the second-largest institution of education in Lower Saxony. The university staff comprises 2930 research and teaching staff, of whom 321 are professors and it has 1810 additional employees in administrative functions,90 apprentices and some 1400 staff funded by third parties. It expanded into an important collection as the institution evolved from a college into the full University. The removal of the books into storage during the Second World War secured valuable old stocks that became a national collection of scientific. This was the basis on which the library of the Institute of Technology was established in 1959, today the collection forms the heart of the German National Library of Science and Technology, which is the largest institution of its kind in the world. GISMA Business School in Hannover, Germany, was launched in 1999 as a joint initiative by the state of Lower Saxony, GISMA is a privately funded, self-administering institution of higher education
7.
RWTH Aachen University
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RWTH Aachen University or Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 42,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, the university maintains close links to industry and accounts for the highest amount of third-party funds of all German universities in both absolute and relative terms per faculty member. RWTH Aachen is a member of IDEA League, a strategic alliance of four leading universities of technology in Europe. The university is also a member of TU9, DFG and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network, in March, the prince chose to use the donation to found the first Prussian institute of technology somewhere in the Rhine province. Aachen finally won with a financing concept backed by the insurance company, groundbreaking for the new Polytechnikum took place on 15 May 1865 and lectures started during the Franco-Prussian War on 10 October 1870 with 223 students and 32 teachers. The unclear position of the new Prussian polytechnika affected the first years, polytechnics lacked prestige in society and the number of students decreased. In the same year, over 800 male students enrolled, World War I, however, proved a serious setback for the university. Many students voluntarily joined up and died in the war, the Third Reichs Gleichschaltung of the TH in 1933 met with relatively low resistance from both students and faculty. Beginning in September 1933, Jewish and Communist professors were systematically persecuted and excluded from the university, vacant Chairs were increasingly given to NSDAP party-members or sympathizers. The freedom of research and teaching became severely limited, and institutes important for the plans were systematically established. Briefly closed in 1939, the TH continued courses in 1940, on 21 October 1944, when Aachen capitulated, more than 70% of all buildings of the university were destroyed or heavily damaged. After World War II ended in 1945 the university recovered and expanded quickly, in the 1950s, many professors who had been removed because of their alleged affiliation with the Nazi party were allowed to return and a multitude of new institutes were founded. By the late 1960s, the TH had 10,000 students, with the foundation of philosophical and medical faculties in 1965 and 1966, respectively, the university became more universal. The newly founded faculties in particular began attracting new students, now, the average number of students is around 42,000, with about one third of all students being women. By relative terms, the most popular study-programs are engineering, natural science, economics and humanities, in December 2006, RWTH Aachen and the Sultanate of Oman signed an agreement to establish a private German University of Technology in Muscat. Professors from Aachen aided in developing the curricula for the currently five study-programs, in 2007, RWTH Aachen was chosen as one of nine German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH2020, Meeting Global Challenges, earning it the connotation of being an elite university. Having won funds in all three lines of funding, the process brought RWTH Aachen University an additional funding of €180 million from 2007-2011. RWTH Aachen Universitys 620-acre campus is located in the part of the city Aachen
8.
University of Greifswald
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The University of Greifswald is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Founded in 1456, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe, with generations of notable alumni, as the fourth-oldest university in present Germany, it was temporarily also the oldest university of the Kingdoms of Sweden and Prussia, respectively. Approximately two thirds of the 12,000 students are from outside the state, the University of Greifswald was founded on 17 October 1456 with the approval of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope. The founding took place in the cathedral, which was later remodeled by Caspar David Friedrich and his brother. The founding of the university was made possible by a decree that restricted teaching activity at the University of Rostock, several professors left Rostock for Greifswald to continue their work there, where Heinrich Rubenow took the chance of establishing his own university. Originally, the university consisted of the four divisions, Theology, Philosophy, Medicine. In Germany, there are three older universities by count of the years of existence, the University of Heidelberg, the University of Leipzig. International co-operation with other institutions of education in northern Europe existed already in the earliest years. From 1456 until 1526,476 Scandinavians were enrolled at Greifswald University and 22 faculty members as well as six rectors came from Scandinavia and this was a relatively high percentage compared to the total number of students at the time. Sources suggest a relatively segregated life of Swedish students in the primarily German university though, the early sixteenth century saw significant co-operation of the university, the Lutheran church, the city and the Duchy of Pomerania. Professors of theology simultaneously served as pastors in the three cathedrals, professors of medicine usually served as personal physicians of the duke. Professors of law where also working at the courts while professors of the faculty of philosophy usually taught the sons. The landed nobility also funded university-related purposes such as scholarships and student bursaries, the Reformation was introduced at the university in 1539. Johannes Bugenhagen, an alumnus of the university, was an important figure during the German and Scandinavian reformation as well as a friend of Martin Luther. After the secularisation of the monastery at Eldena near Greifswald, Duke Philipp I of Pomerania gave all revenue created by the now secularised Amt Eldena to the university. His successor, Duke Ernst Ludwig, began the construction of a college building, Duke Philipp Julius presented the university a gown that was used by the rector on ceremonial occasions up until very recently. In 1604, the Greifswald University Library became the first centralised university library in Germany, the university signed a contract with a book printer from Wittenberg, Germany, for the amount of 2,000 Gulden. This contract lasted nearly a due to the disruption caused by the Thirty Years War
