Nine Life-Changing German Inventions That You Can't Live Without:

We all know the reputation for German engineering, but some of these things are downright genius. Bavarian Purity Law, anyone?

1. The X-Ray Machine

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Wilhelm Röntgen developed Röntgen rays, which led to the X-ray machine. Infinitely useful: both for medicinal purposes, and for recovering lost items!

2. Acetylsalicylic Acid, more commonly known as Aspirin

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Aside from its medicinal purposes, Aspirin can be used for cleaning, beautifying and many other things. Felix Hoffmann isolated acetylsalicylic acid while working for Bayer in 1897

3. Gummy Bears

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Hans Riegel created gummy bears, and his son, Hans Riegel Jr., went on to build a gummy empire: Haribo. Hans Riegel Jr. passed away earlier this year, but his gummy empire lives on.

4. Bavarian Purity Law

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Water, barley, hops: a life changing combination. While you may be able to live without German beer, who would want to?

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Prost!!

5. Fanta

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The original recipe for Fanta was developed in Germany by Coca Cola Germany. It was later exported across the world.

6. Coffee Filters

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In 1908 Melitta Bentz decided she wanted all of the caffeine without the harsh bitter flavor, and the coffee filter was born. And in a world without coffee we would all look like this:

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7. The Permanent Wave

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That's right, the PERM was invented by a German!

Basically, the 80's couldn't have existed without Germany's help:

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Thanks, Germany.

8. Adhesive Tape

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Adhesive tape was patented in 1901 by Oscar Troplowitz for Beiersdorf AG. He gave it the charming name, "Leukoplast" which means sticking plaster. He never could have imagined the wonderful ways that tape is used today.

9. MPEG-2 Audio Layer III (MP3)

German audio engineer Karlheinz Brandenburg developed MP3 technology in the early 1990's, first at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg then at the Frauenhofer Institute. Fun Fact: the first MP3 song was "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega. MP3 technology allows you to listen to whatever, whenever. Including, for example, this wonderful German Carnival gem:

Thanks, Karlheinz!

Written By Lauren Rogers