Kaiserreich
the economy 		Kaiserreich
society, Fin de Siecle






The Kaiserreich
Science and Technology



As a result of a federalism lasting for centuries and the country's division in protestant and catholic regions, newly unified Germany disposed of a large number of universities, spread over the entire empire. The nation's most famous university was the HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY at Berlin; university degrees were highly regarded.
Unification in 1871 was more than just a political matter. In various regions of Germany, different sets of measurements were used, standardization was highly desirable. The matter was solved internationally at the METER CONFERENCE in Paris 1875, in which Germany participated, adopting the METRIC SYSTEM.
The German Empire was federalistic in structure. Although Prussia dominated, with ca. 70 % of the territory and population, other regions got their share in administrative functions. The IMPERIAL PATENT OFFICE for instance was established in Munich (1877), where the nation's foremost technical museum, the DEUTSCHES MUSEUM, was opened in 1903.

Late in the 19th century, Germany's universities were leading centers of research. WILHELM CONRAD ROENTGEN discovered the x-rays. Among the inventions made in Germany in those days were NICOLAUS OTTO's combustion engine 1875, CARL BENZ's invention of the car 1886, RUDOLF DIESEL's Diesel engine. ROBERT KOCH (1843-1910) discovered the virus causing tuberculosis. JUSTUS VON LIEBIG (1803-73) identified the three basic food elements, carbohydrates, fats and proteins and came up with the first synthetic fertilizers, establishing agrochemistry. KONRAD DUDEN published the first volumes of his dictionary (since 1880), standardizing German orthography (which hitherto varied from region to region). Philosopher FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1844-1900), sociologist MAX WEBER (1864-1920) taught. RICHARD WAGNER composed his operas and drove the Kingdom of Bavaria (King Ludwig II. supported him massively) almost into bankrupcy. Businessman HEINRICH SCHLIEMANN, at his own expense, undertook excavations in Greece and Asia Minor, finding Troy (1871) and Mycenae (1874), proving the Ilias to be based on historical facts.


EXTERNAL
FILES 		Meter Convention, from BIPM


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 12th 2004

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