Ep. 190: A (very) brief History of the German Universities
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Between the time the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901 and 1933, a total of 31 were awarded to German scientists and politicians. To name just a few, Wilhelm Röntgen (1901), Max Planck (1918), Albert Einstein (1921) and Werner Heisenberg (1932) for Physics, Emil Fischer (1902), Fritz Haber (1918), Walther Nernst (1920) and Hans Fischer (1930) for chemistry, Emil von Behring (1901), Robert Koch (1905) and Otto Warburg (1931) for medicine, Theodor Mommsen (1902), Gerhart Hauptmann (1912) and Thomas Mann (1929) for literature and Gustav Stresemann for peace.
The UK and France received 17 and 15 respectively, whilst the US picked up just 6 during that same period.
How could German universities rise to such dominance during the 19th and early 20th century from very humble beginnings? That is what we will look at in this episode.
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
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Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, Episode 190, a very brief history of the German universities, which is also episode 6 of season 10, the Empire in the 15th century. |
| 0:18.0 | Between the time, the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, in 1933. |
| 0:25.1 | A total of 31 were awarded to German scientists and politicians. |
| 0:30.1 | To name just a few. |
| 0:31.3 | Wilhelm Rundgen, 1901, Max Planck, 1918, Albert Einstein, 1921, and Werner Heisenberg, 1932 for physics. |
| 0:40.3 | Emil Fischer, 1902, Fritz Haber, 1918, Walter Nerns, 1920 and Hans Fischer, 1930 for chemistry. |
| 0:49.3 | Emil von Bering, 1901, Robert Koch, 1905 and Otto Warburg 1931 for Madsen, Theodore Momsen |
| 0:57.1 | 1902, Gerard Hauptmann 1912 and Thomas Mann 1929 for literature and Gustav Streisemann for peace. |
| 1:06.2 | The UK and France received 17 and 15 respectively, whilst the US picked up just six during that same period. |
| 1:14.6 | How could German universities rise to such dominance during the 19th and early 20th century from very humble beginnings? |
| 1:22.6 | That is what we will look at in this episode. |
| 1:26.6 | But before we start, let me say that this is likely to be an episode That is what we will look at in this episode. |
| 1:33.0 | But before we start, let me say that this is likely to be an episode that may ruffle some feathers. |
| 1:34.6 | That is not intentional. |
| 1:37.8 | I had planned this episode long before events of last week. |
| 1:40.8 | We were recording this on April 16, 2025. |
| 1:46.6 | But it is one of the privileges of running a patron-sponsored podcast to be able to say whatever I believe to be factually correct. |
| 1:50.0 | And for that, I am extremely grateful to all of you, even if I cannot mention you all |
| 1:54.7 | today. |
| 1:56.0 | But I can mention Brock H. |
| 1:58.2 | Matur Stoon, Maurice S, E.N. P.,dois L, Daniel S, Colin B, and Martin L, |
| 2:05.1 | who have committed to support the show on History of the Germans.com slash support. |
... |
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