Cycles and Circles: Answers
Created | Updated Mar 13, 2012
Last week I thought I had had a splendid idea. Turned out I erred. C'est la vie. But, since I promised, here are, without further ado, the answers to last week's questions (which I repeat here for your convenience).
- Q: Which byname would you give the 19th century?
A: The century of Inventions. The century of steam. The century of electricity. - Q: Who did the greatest service to humanity?
A: Joseph Lister, who established the antiseptic treatment of wounds. - Q: Who was the most important German?
A: The former Chancellor of the empire, Otto von Bismarck, with Emperor Wilhelm I as runner-up. - Q: Who was the most important woman?
A: Queen Louise of Prussia, with Queen Victoria as her runner-up. - Q: Who was the greatest poet?
A: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Schiller as runners-up. - Q: Which was the greatest event?
A: The foundation of the German Empire (1871) with the French Revolution (1848) as runner-up. - Q: Which was the most influential event?
A: Nearly all people agreed that this had been the German-French war (1870/71). - Q: Which was the saddest event?
A: The battles of Jena and Auerstedt (1806) where the French were victorious over the Prussian and Saxonian armies. - Q:Which was the main Berlin-event?
A: Berlin is declared capital of the German Empire. - Q:Who was the greatest thinker?
A:Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth von Moltke, with Immanuel Kant as runner-up. - Q: Who was the greatest painter?
A: Adolph von Menzel, with runners-up Arnold Böcklin and Wilhelm von Kaulbach. - Q: Who was the greatest sculptor?
A: Reinhold Begas with runners-up Christain Daniel Rauch and Bertel Thorvaldsen. - Q: Who was the greatest musician?
A: Richard Wagner came far ahead of Ludwig van Beethoven. - Q: Which was the most important battle?
A: The Battle of Nations at Leipzig (1813) was twice as important as the Battle at Sedan. - Q: Which was the most important event for civilisation?
A: The abolition of slavery was more important than the conquest of the Colonies. - Q: Which was the happiest period?
A: The period since the foundation of the German Empire in 1871. - Q:Which was the unhappiest period?
A: The reign of the French over the Germans. - Q: Who was the hero of the century?
A: The German Emperor Wilhelm I got 2,400 votes, beating Otto von Bismarck by 800 votes. - Q: Who was the greatest military leader?
A: French emperor Napoleon I, with Prussian general field marshal Helmuth von Moltke as runner-up. - Q: Who was the greatest statesman?
A: The actual founder of the German Empire, former Chancellor Otto von Bismarck is voted almost unanimously greatest statesman. - Q: Who was the greatest inventor?
A: US American Thomas Alva Edison. - Q: Which was the most important charitable invention?
A: The discovery of the railway beats those of electricity, steam power, telegraphy and x-rays. - Q: Who was the greatest Berliner?
A: Alexander von Humboldt is voted greatest Berliner, with Emperor Wilhelm I as runner-up. - Q: Which book had the biggest influence?
A:Meyers Konversations-Lexikon is the winner before the Bible, Karl Marx's Capital and Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. - Q: Who was the worst wrongdoer?
A: Napoleon Bonaparte I beats Luigi Luccheni, the murderer of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. - Q: Which was the major economic event?
A: The railway is voted as the major economic event, even ahead of the abolition of the toll gates.
