Einsteins Kindheit und die Macht der Neugier

What does “auswendig” mean in German?

In the clip, young Einstein says the teachers told him: “lerne das auswendig” — learn this by heart. He hated it. They wanted him to repeat words exactly, the same every time, without asking why. So “auswendig” is knowing something word-for-word from memory, like a poem or a phone number. Here it carries a cold, strict tone: memorize and don’t question.

Spoken in the clip: “Die Lehrer sagten, lerne das auswendig.” (The teachers said, learn this by heart.) “auswendig” describes saying or knowing something from memory, with nothing to read from: - “Ich kann das Gedicht auswendig.” — I know the poem by heart. - “Sie lernt die Wörter auswendig.” — She learns the words by heart. - “Er weiß meine Nummer auswendig.” — He knows my number by heart. A useful pair is “auswendig lernen” — to learn something so well you can repeat it from memory. The tone is often neutral, but in the clip it sounds strict, because the teachers wanted memorizing instead of real understanding.