German culture: Aiding worldwide progress

Germany, with its rich and colorful culture, continues to spread its influence around the globe as time goes by.
Deutsch, the country’s national language, was hailed as one of the most spoken languages in the entire world with an estimated 95-100 million native speakers and around 80 million non-native speakers.
Statistics showed that most people in the Europe are Deutsch speakers at birth, which is why it was declared as the official language in the European Union along with seven other countries — Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium and South Tyrol in Italy.
Moreover, countries outside Europe are also housing a large number of Deutsch speakers, including the US with five million speakers, Canada 450,000, Brazil 1.4 million, Argentina 250,000, Mexico 200,00, Australia 110,000, South Africa 75,000, Chile 50,000, Paraguay 30,000, New Zealand 37,500, Namibia 30,000, Jordan 50,000 and Venezuela 10,000.
With its growing prowess, other countries are beginning to recognize the greatness of German language, including Saudi Arabia.
Prominent Universities in the Kingdom, including King Saud University (KSU), welcomed the teaching of Deutsch language to Saudi nationals by introducing the course called Bachelor degree in German language.
The five-year course allows young Saudi nationals to learn Deutsch and become great translators for either the Kingdom or Germany.
Sources said 30 Saudi men signed up for the German course at KSU.
They are being given the opportunity to study in Freiburg in southern Germany with the help of the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE).
Effat University in Jeddah has also included German language in their curriculum.
German courses overseas was made possible by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which provides grants to students and teachers who have great potential in learning the language as well as sending permanent long-stay lecturers from Germany to teach in countries who want to learn Deutsch.
Mark Rode, a German educator in KSU, was one of the DAAD professors sent to teach in the Kingdom since 2009 as well as Susanne Karam at Effat University in Jeddah.
Good job opportunities await graduates in German courses.
Being a long-time partner with Saudi Arabia, around 400 German companies are currently stationed in the Kingdom who are hoping to find skilled cultural and linguistic translators to facilitate communications with their Middle Eastern clients, a majority of whom are Arabic speakers.
Therefore, a bright future awaits Saudi nationals who mastered Deutsch.
Germany also has great influence when it comes to literature and philosophy.
There are around 300 theaters in Germany showcasing some of its greatest plays and dramas including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Faust.”
German writer and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was dubbed as “Germany’s greatest man of letters” and “the last true polymath to walk the earth” by some westerners for his works.
Faust, Goethe’s greatest work, greatly influenced world literature with its story and themes involving religion and other concepts, including the “battle between good and evil” entities.
The Grimm Brothers also contributed to today’s modern literature. They are the minds behind some of the greatest fairy tales in the world, including “Cinderella,” “The Frog Prince,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Rapunzel,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” and “Snow White” among others.
In the field of Philosophy, Germans philosophers like Immanuel Kant, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Martin Heidegger, among others, greatly contributed to the world, especially when it comes to politics, ethics, reasoning and economics.
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Germans also helped in the progression of world music, cinema and media.
Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven are among German musicians who sent billions of audiences in different dimensions because of their timeless music and compositions.
In the modern day, German artists and bands like Herbert Gronemeyer, Scorpions, Blind Guardian, Rammstein, Nena, Xavier Naidoo, Dieter Bohlen, Tokio Hotel and Modern Talking, did not fail to entertain music enthusiasts all over the world.
Likewise, German films and movie festivals such as Berlin Film Festival also enjoyed great success abroad.
Germany is home to some of the world’s largest media organizations, such as Bertelsmann, Axel Springer AG and ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
In the field of architecture, Germany introduced the Carolingian and Ottonian styles, predecessors of the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque style.
Tourists enjoy state-of-the-art landmarks in Germany such as the Neuschwanstein Castle, and Hohenschwangau Castle.
The Staatliches Bauhaus was also well-praised because of its architecture as well as the eye-catching Allianz Arena.
German painters are also globally competitive, including Albrecht Altdorfer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Matthias Grunewald, Hans Holbein the Younger and the well-known Albrecht Durer in the Renaissance period; Cosmas Damian Asam from the Baroque period; and modern artists Anselm Kiefer, romantic Caspar David Friedrich, the surrealist Max Ernst, the conceptualist Joseph Beuys, or Wolf Vostell or the neo-expressionist Georg Baselitz.
“Breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king, and dine like a beggar” is a quote made popular by the Germans in relation to their eating habits and cuisine.
Germany boasts of large selection of bread, and sausages. There are 300 types of bread in the country while there 1,500 different types of sausages produced in Germany.
The worldwide favorite, Schwarzwalder Kirschorte, popularly known as Black Forest cake originated from Germany.
Other German food was adopted from other countries such as Italy’s pizza and pasta, Arab and Turkish Kebab and Falafel, US burgers, and more.
German athletes also are very successful in international sports events such as the Olympic Games.
Germany is ranked third when it comes to Olympic medal count.
Among the famous German sportsmen is Michael Schumacher, a Formula 1 (F1) achiever who won a total of seven championships.
Statistics implied that Germans, like Saudi nationals, are also fond of football as there are 6.3 million official members in the German Football Association, the largest sports organization of its kind.
As of this day, Germany, being one of the super powers in today’s era, continues to aid the world in the road to progress and greatness.