Germany for Kids

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Brush up your knowledge of German celebrities in this section. You’ll meet the inventor of the gummy bear, find out the true origin of blue jeans, learn more about some top German athletes, scientists, musicians, supermodels and other celebrities from my country.

Athletes
Musicians
Authors and Philosophers
Actors and Models
Businessmen
Scientists
Weltbürger

Tennis champion Steffi Graf was one of the top figures in women's sports during the 1980s and 1990s. Graf was born in Bruhl in 1969; she turned pro at the age of 13 and gained the world's attention by winning an Olympic demonstration event at the age of 15 in 1984. Just four years later, Graf won a "golden grand slam" – taking all four major titles in professional tennis, plus a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. Graf ranked No. 1 among women tennis payers for a record 186 weeks between 1987 and 1991. She retired from tennis in August 1999, and currently lives in the U.S. with her husband, tennis star Andre Agassi, and their young son, Jaden Gil.

For more information go to:
www.stefanie-graf.com (in German and English)

In 1985, 17-year-old Boris Becker became the youngest player ever to win the tennis tournament at Wimbledon, England. "Boom-Boom" Becker, so called for his huge serve on Wimbledon’s grass courts, snagged the UK’s top tennis title twice more during his stellar career, and headed the list of the world's best players many times. Becker retired from professional sports in 1999. Today, he coaches younger players who hope to follow him on the road to international fame.

For more information go to:
www.sportschau.de (in German only)

"Schumi," as racecar-driving legend Michael Schumacher is known to fans the world over, is one of Germany’s most respected athletes. No other racecar driver has won as many Grand Prix and world championships as he has.
Schumacher discovered his love for racing at the age of four at his father’s go-cart course, where he took his first spin around a track. He went on to exchange go-carts for Ferraris at the Formula 1 race series, and has since become known for his precise driving skills on rain-slicked racecourses. Off the track, Schumacher is also committed to fund-raising for organizations such as UNICEF. He currently lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children.

For more information go to:
michael-schumacher.rtl.de (in German only)

When Germans talk about basketball, one name always comes up: Dirk Nowitzki. The 7-foot-tall forward center for the Dallas Mavericks was born in Wuerzburg in 1978. He is the second German (after Detlef Schrempf) to play in the NBA. Before he joined the Mavericks in 1998, he played basketball in Germany’s second division. Despite his phenomenal success on the court, Dirk remains coolheaded: He still enjoys reading and playing the saxophone in his spare time.

For more information go to:
www.nba.com
www.time.com

J.S. Bach was one of the world’s greatest composers. Born in the town of Eisenach in 1685, he fell in love with music as a young boy and would, legend has it, walk for miles to hear performances by the great musicians of his day. Later, as music director of the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, Bach composed numerous religious works. His magnificent pieces for organ, keyboard, voice and strings still captivate musicians and listeners all over the world.

For more information go to:
www.jsbach.org (in English)

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was a musical rebel as well as one of the most influential artists European music has ever known. Beethoven grew up in Bonn, where he showed tremendous musical talent at an early age. In 1792, he moved to Vienna, Austria and learned from the city's great masters — among them Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was not only famous for his musical skills but also for his bad manners, untidy appearance and terrible temper. Beethoven wrote one of his most famous piano melodies, the Moonlight Sonata, in 1801, just as he was beginning to lose his hearing. By 1817, he was completely deaf — yet it was after this that he wrote some of his greatest music, including his powerful Ninth Symphony. Beethoven died during a violent thunderstorm in 1827; legend has it he was shaking his fist at the heavens as he passed away.

For more information go to:
w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de(in English)

Kids usually have to go to bed early in Germany, just as they do in the United States. But of course, a lot of them try to get around it. So sometimes parents make bedtime more fun by telling stories to help their kids off to sleep, especially stories made famous by the Brothers Grimm.

While living and working in the city of Kassel, the brothers Grimm, Jakob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), heard their neighbors tell wonderful folktales that had been passed down from generation to generation. The Grimms wanted to preserve these stories, so they wrote many of them down and published them in a book called Grimm's Fairy Tales. Although these stories, some of which are gruesome, were not originally intended for children, over the years they were adapted for younger audiences. "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel" are all tales first recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

For more information go to:
www.nationalgeographic.com (in English)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is Germany's most celebrated author. He was born in Frankfurt am Main, studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, and achieved his greatest fame while living and working in Weimar. Goethe's best known play, Faust, tells the story of a man who offers his soul to the devil in exchange for universal knowledge. Goethe's own intellectual powers were legendary. In addition to writing many brilliant plays, poems, novels and autobiographical works, he painted and drew, conducted scientific studies, and captivated admirers with his lively personality.

For more information go to:
www.econ.jhu.edu
www.mdr.de (Goethe's famous work "The Sorrows of Young Werther" as a modern e-mail novel, in German only)
www.goethesociety.org (website of the American Goethe society, in English)

Thomas Mann was born in Luebeck in 1875, the second son of a wealthy merchant family. Mann disliked school and did poorly there. After school, despite his resolution to become an author, he agreed to work as a clerk for an insurance company to appease his family. However, it didn't take long for Mann to publish his first novel, which was followed by his breakthrough success Buddenbrooks, published when he was 26 years old. More influential works such as Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man, Death in Venice, The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus followed. Mann was a very disciplined writer with a strict daily routine, according to which he had to write one printable page a day. His hard work paid off when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.

In 1933, Mann, his wife, and their six children emigrated to Switzerland, and later to the U.S., where Mann was given an academic post at Princeton University. The Second World War pushed him to become more active in politics. He became the voice of the "other Germany," using pamphlets and lectures to speak out against the Nazi regime. After the war, Thomas Mann moved back to Switzerland, where he died in 1955.

For more information go to:
www.nobel.se (Thomas Mann autobiography)
libweb.Princeton.edu (in English)

Little Bear, Tiger and Tiger's favorite toy, a black-and-yellow-striped wooden duck: There is no child in Germany who doesn't love these characters and their adventures in a land of delights. They are part of the vibrant, fanciful world created by children's book author Janosch. Since 1960, he has written and affectionately illustrated more than 100 books. They have been translated into some 30 languages, and earned many literary prizes. Janosch's best known work probably is "Oh wie schön ist Panama" (How beautiful is Panama), in which Tiger and Little Bear create and finally find the land of their dreams. Janosch was born in 1931, and, after a tumultuous childhood, studied art. In 1980, he left Germany for the sunnier Canary Islands, where he has lived ever since.

For more information go to:
www.janosch.de (in German only)

Martin Luther was one of the most important religious leaders in European history. Born in the German kingdom of Saxony in 1483, he became a priest at the age of 24 and a professor of religious studies a few years later. Through his studies, Luther became convinced that many of the practices of the Catholic church were wrong. One of his most revolutionary beliefs was that each individual — not just the church authorities — could come closer to God by reading the Bible. To help the common people do this, he translated the Old and New Testaments from Greek and Latin into German. In 1521, Luther permanently severed his ties with the Catholic church. But his powerful doctrine survived and became the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation.

For more information go to:
www.germany-info.org
www.iclnet.org (in English)

Karl Marx was a political thinker whose ideas have shaped world history. Born in Trier in 1818, Marx became known for his revolutionary views when he was still a young man. As a philosophy student in Berlin and Jena, he started to question Europe’s economic system. He was struck by the way big industries put so much money and power into the hands of so few. Marx believed that workers rather than business owners should share the wealth created when goods are made and sold. He wrote essays and books on the subject, and found many people who shared his goals.

Based on Marx's ideas, communist governments were established in Russia and China, among other countries, in the 20th century. Businesses in those countries were owned by the state rather than by private companies. The wealth they created was meant to be shared by all. But Marx's dreams were hard to realize, and in most places the communist system has failed.

Yet Marx made a lasting impact on the world in other ways. His ideas have helped inspire ordinary people everywhere to stand up for their rights to good working conditions and fair pay.

For more information go to:
www.philosophypages.com (in English)

German-born singer and actress Marlene Dietrich was one of the great Hollywood stars of the 1930s and 1940s. Known for her deep, smoky voice and sultry style, she stole the spotlight in movies like Morocco, Shanghai Express and Destry Rides Again. Dietrich grew up in Berlin, where she also began her career as a stage and film actress. In 1930, her role in the German movie The Blue Angel turned her into an international star. She started acting in American films soon thereafter; in 1937, she became an American citizen. From the 1950s on, Dietrich continued to perform in concerts and cabarets around the world. She died in Paris in 1992.

For more information go to:
www.marlene.com (in English)

Franka Potente, born in 1974, is one of Germany's most promising young film actors today. After studying acting in Munich and New York City, she made her first big splash on screen in 1998 as Lola in the international hit movie Run, Lola, Run. She must have made a big impression on Hollywood: In 2001, she played opposite Johnny Depp in her first U.S. movie, Blow, and since then has played in other major American productions.

For more information go to:
www.franka-potente.de (in German only)

Born in 1963 in Freiburg, Til Schweiger studied German literature and originally wanted to become a teacher. Instead, he went to the drama school in Cologne. Since his success in Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a box office hit in Germany in the late 1990s, he has been one of the most popular actors in the country. Schweiger has kept his down-to-earth character and still works hard on his career, not only as an actor, but also as a producer and film director.

For more information go to:
www.rtl.de (in German only)

Blonde haired, blue eyed, and very tall: Claudia Schiffer isn't only one of the world's top models, she also represents the cliché of a German woman. She never wanted to become a model, but instead aspired to work with her father as a successful lawyer. However, things changed in 1987, when she went to a nightclub with her friends and was spotted by a modeling agent. Schiffer's meteoric rise as a model put her on the covers of over 500 magazines and in several feature movies, such as Black & White (2000). In her free time, she likes to ride horses, paint, play tennis and dance. Funnily enough for someone who is always traveling, Schiffer does not have a driver’s license.

Levi Strauss, a native of Buttenheim, is known as the man who invented blue jeans. Strauss got his start in the dry goods business after emigrating to New York at the age of 16. When news of the California gold rush reached him, he moved to San Francisco, where he hoped to make his fortune selling supplies to prospectors. Strauss started manufacturing durable work pants using a canvas-like material known as cotton duck. In 1872, a Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis suggested placing metal rivets at stress points for greater strength. The two took out a patent on the idea in 1873. Strauss expected the garments to sell fast, so he opened two factories in San Francisco to meet the demand. He was right: In the years to come, Levi Strauss & Co. flourished, and when Strauss died in 1902, he left behind an inheritance worth six million dollars. Today, his most famous product is worn around the world.

For more information go to:
www.levistrauss.com (in English)

Hans Riegel created one of Germany's most popular sweets: the gummy bear. Born in 1893 in Bonn, Riegel started his own candy company there in 1920, calling it HARIBO, for HAns RIegel BOnn. All Riegel had to begin with was a sack of sugar and a few simple candy-making tools. His first breakthrough came when he invented the “dancing bear,” a forerunner of the gummy bears sold today. These sweetly shaped confections had to be poured into molds by hand, but HARIBO still managed to produce 200 pounds of dancing bears a day, which Riegel's wife delivered to customers on the company bicycle. Today, HARIBO is many, many times its original size, but it's still a family business, run by the founder's sons, Paul and Hans junior.

For more information go to:
www.haribo.com (in English)

Adi Dassler, a shoemaker's son who loved sports, was the creator of adidas athletic shoes. Dassler was a pioneer in the sports world. In 1925, he developed the first cleated shoes for track and soccer; six years later he started a separate line of tennis shoes. Dassler's dream was to make the best shoe for each game. By working closely with athletes, he learned how to meet their demands, and soon runners were winning Olympic medals in Dassler shoes. In 1948, Dassler named his company "adidas," taking the first three letters from his first and last names and joining them together . The brand made history in 1954, when Germany's soccer team, all wearing adidas shoes, won the World Cup for the first time. Today, adidas makes everything from boxing boots to soccer balls, and its three-stripe symbol is worn by sports stars and fashionistas all over the globe.

For more information go to:
usa.adidas.com (in English)

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a scientist and explorer who blazed a trail through Central and South America in the early 19th century. Humboldt made many important discoveries during his five-year journey. He climbed mountains to see how temperatures changed at different altitudes. He watched weather patterns and learned about the causes of tropical storms. He studied plant life, volcanoes and the magnetic pull of the north and south poles. When Humboldt got back to Europe, he published an encyclopedic book about his voyage. Today he is remembered as one of the first great geographers of the New World.

For more information go to:
www.uni-potsdam.de (in German and English)

A researcher in Göttingen opens the Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1454.

Johannes Gutenberg (1397-1468) invented the printing press more than 500 years ago. One of the first books he printed on his revolutionary machine was the Bible. It took Gutenberg and his assistants more than five years to produce 200 copies. He lost a lot of money on the project, but today copies of the Gutenberg Bible are among the most valuable books in the world.
The type in the Gutenberg Bible does not look like the print you're reading now. This great work was set in Gothic script, which many people find difficult to read today.

For more information go to:
www.gutenberg2000.de (in German only)

Discovering the theory of relativity made Albert Einstein one of the most influential physicians of the 20th century. However, his career started only slowly. Being a poor student, Einstein had to repeat several high school classes before he got his degree and could start studying mathematics at the university in Zurich. He wrote his most important papers on the electromagnetic radiation of light, the theory of relativity and quantum theory. They revolutionized the common laws of physics. In 1921, Einstein received the Nobel Prize for Physics for his work.
After several visits to the U.S., Einstein accepted a post at Princeton University in 1932. The rise of the Nazi regime kept Einstein in America and he never returned to Germany. The invention of atomic weapons, based on his theories, as well as the impact of World War II, pushed Einstein to devote his life to the promotion of peace. Even the last letter he ever wrote was dedicated to international peace: it was an agreement that his name should go on a manifesto urging all nations to give up atomic weapons. Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey on April 18, 1955.

For more information go to:
www.westegg.com/einstein (in English)
www.humbolt1.com/~gralsto/einstein/quotes.html (quotes by Einstein)