Walk of Ideas

The Walk of Ideas was a set of six sculptures in central Berlin designed by Scholz & Friends[1] for the 2006 FIFA World Cup football event in Germany.

Many politicians, members of the initiative or representatives of the companies involved held speeches at the small opening ceremonies accompanying the unveiling of the sculptures.

Plaques in both German and English provided explanatory details on the symbolism of each object along a path exemplifying Germany's research landscape and cultural history.

Here is the full list of names on each spine, beginning with the topmost book: The ceremonial inauguration of the sculpture Milestones of Medicine took place on March 30, 2006, at the Friedrich-Ebert-Platz which is located just east of the Reichstag.

It was in the shape of a pill and, with a diameter of 10 m (33 feet), was impossible to overlook on the waterside promenade of the Spree across the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus which houses the Library of the German Parliament.

The sculpture was intended to symbolise breakthrough pharmaceutical research, such as that done by Felix Hoffmann, Robert Koch, Emil Adolf von Behring, Paul Ehrlich or Gerhard Domagk.

In 1897, pharmacist and chemist Felix Hoffmann managed to process acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) that was chemically pure and stable as well as well tolerated for patients.

Additionally the giant pill on the Spree riverside was meant to be a reminder of medical equipment like the X-ray tube, the Cardiac catheter and dialysis which are German developments.

According to the website Land der Ideen (Country of Ideas) the notes were, due to their static and geometric aspects, by far the most complicated construction of all six sculptures.

According to an announcement by the team behind the national marketing campaign "Deutschland – Land der Ideen", Professor Martin Winterkorn unveiled the sculpture in front of the Oriental Plaza business center in Beijing on November 18, 2006, the evening before the "Auto China 2006" exhibition.

China's most prominent figures in society, sport, and culture were part of the approximately 250 invited guests at the unveiling, which, according to a news release, was a "spectacular show."

On March 10, 2006, the organisers of the "Boulevard of sculptures" unveiled the first statue, The Modern Football Boot in the Spreebogenpark opposing the new central station.

In 1953, Adolf Dassler (the founder of Adidas) developed soccer shoes with flexible screw-in studs that provided a particularly firm grip on soft, rain-soaked ground.

In 1905, his paper "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper" ("The electrodynamics of objects in motion") established the Special Theory of Relativity, which revolutionized the understanding of space and time.