My Suitcase Is Already Full of German Stuff!

Packing a suitcase before a major trip can be pretty frustrating and stressful. Usually my mental process goes from, "How do I fit all this stuff in this tiny suitcase?" to "Will I really need shoes when I get there?" and eventually, "Why don't I just wear all of my clothes onto the airplane?" As I've been packing my suitcase for this exchange, I've been consistently surprised by all of the things made or invented or discovered by Germans that I'm taking with me. So here's a list of the Top Seven German Things I'm Packing:

All packed!

1. Levi's Jeans   If you average it all out, each American owns seven pairs of jeans. Levi Strauss, the guy who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans, was born in Bavaria. He lived there until he was 18, then came to the US with his family. In the words of Giorgio Armani, "Jeans represent democracy in fashion." 

2. Smart Chip Technology   This isn't a widespread technology in the US yet. The big deal about Smart Chips is that they make it harder for credit card hackers to steal from you. Each transaction requires a PIN number or signature. Europe is transferring to this system with many places only accepting Smart Chip credit cards.

3. Computer   Konrad Zuse from Berlin is the "father of the modern computer." In 1941 (1941!) he started his computer business and created the world's first commercial computer. He sold patents to IBM and eventually sold his business to Siemens. His work was the foundation for your cute little Macbook Air. 

4. Adhesive Bandages   Yes, these are just Band-Aids, but adhesive bandage is the generic name. In 1882 Paul Carl Beiersdorf created this plaster called Guttaperchapflastermulle that gives Band-Aids their trademark stickiness.  

5. Telephone   It's disputed who invented the telephone. Most of us would say it was Alexander Graham Bell, but he was just the first to get a patent. It was more of a collaborative effort. Johann Phillip Reis was a key figure in the development of the telephone. He made the first "make-and-break" phone.

6. Soccer Shoes   Or as many Europeans call them, "football boots." Adi Dassler of Bavaria invented the modern soccer cleat. Story time: Adi's brother Rudolph was part of the family shoe business, but after a big fight, Rudi split off on his own and started the company Puma. Don't feel bad for Adi, though, because he went on to have a very successful business himself, Adidas (named after Adi Dassler). 

7. Oxygen   Obviously Germans didn't create oxygen, but a dude named Carl Wilhelm Scheele did discover/identify it. Carl is also one of the reasons German is a key language in the pharmaceutical world.