Music is the only language which is understood everywhere – and ideas from Germany have contributed in no small measure to this international concord. To this day, works by Beethoven, Schumann and Wagner still delight millions of people. Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier” is considered a milestone of modern compositional technique, and couples from Berlin to Las Vegas have wed to the strains of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Wedding March. Not only is the choral finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony the official anthem of the European Union, but the Symphony is also responsible for the standard length of a CD.

Germany’s reputation as a nation of music is built not just on its composers, but also on its famous interpreters. Concert audiences worldwide are enraptured by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Thomas Quasthoff. 135 officially financed orchestras perform on 80 stages, and 1.4 million Germans sing in almost 50,000 choirs. This diversity is enriched by international stars such as Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano and Daniel Barenboim, who lead German orchestras at a world-class level.

One quite different musical direction which has been moving the masses since the 1980s also originates in Germany: Techno. Pioneers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen laid down the foundations of electronic music, and the band “Kraftwerk” made this music famous throughout the world. Furthermore, German engineers made sure we could hear our favourite sounds anywhere and everywhere by inventing the MP3 format.

“Masterworks of Music” is one of six sculptures forming the Walk of Ideas for the football world championship – a walking tour of ideas from Germany. The individual inventions stand for the creativity and rich imagination of composers and writers, scientists and researchers, and engineers and inventors.

More German ideas are concealed within the sculptures themselves: they are all made of Neopor®, an innovative plastic material by BASF, and coated with a new metallic paint developed by BASF Coatings.

Find more about the "Walk of Ideas"