Does (condensed matter) physics have an image problem?

Fewer and fewer people in Germany choose physics as their major at a university. 

This is not just hearsay, but it is actually based on a statistical evaluation by the German Society of Physics (sorry, the document is in German only, but you can clearly see the trend in Fig. 1). Also, there are fewer people getting a B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD degree.  

Here are some thoughts on the issue whether physics -- in particular, condensed matter physics, because that is the very discipline I am working in -- has an image problem and why physics as a subject may be less appealing to people nowadays than it used to be some years and decades ago. Certainly, I do not have a simple solution for this problem, but perhaps some of the following points could be important factors in this context.

• People do not really have a good idea about what physics really is. In our high schools we learn about classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and thermodynamics. Perhaps about some very basic ideas of quantum mechanics in very advanced classes. Wouldn't it be great if high school students learned about the importance of semiconductors in information technology, the way how solar cells convert light into electricity, or how sound waves are detected by a sensory organ and transformed into electricity? Because, this is all physics. Especially condensed matter physics is extremely underrepresented at high schools. When I finished high school, I have to admit that I had no clear picture of what condensed matter physics is. 
• Physicists can do anything. That is what I had been told before starting my undergraduate studies. True, physicists can do a lot of things. But a lot of very specific things can be done better by other people, say engineers or computer scientists. So why would a company need to hire a physicist instead of a computer scientist in order to solve certain programming tasks? Because physicists know how to solve problems, how to come up with creative ideas, and how to apply logical thinking skills. Studying physics is hard, but also extremely rewarding in terms of the abilities that can be acquired by students. Furthermore, teachers and the physics community have to communicate more clearly what the job opportunities are with a degree in physics. 
• I believe that we need to come up with more specialized majors, especially here in Germany. Why not offering a M.Sc. in "Quantum Materials and Nanoscience", "Quantum Technology" or "Optical Engineering"? Or, of course, "Astrophysics", "Climate Physics" or "Physics of Materials". I think that with such new programs we could spark many students' interest into hot topics and relatively new scientific disciplines.
• A couple of years ago, I read an interesting commentary in Physics Today by Professor Douglas Natelson, who also has a very exciting blog on nanotechnology. Please take a look at his discussion on whether condensed matter physics has an image problem.
• We have to do a better job at teaching physics in higher education. That is, change the way how lectures are delivered, train professors and lecturers with regard to their teaching skills and methods, provide more online resources to students, and share our enthusiasm with them. All those good things like flipped classroom, blended learning, experiential learning, and active learning. I feel like especially in Germany we are not doing a great jobs when it comes to creative and engaging teaching methods. 
• Outreach, outreach, outreach. Oh, boy. Especially us condensed matter physicists, we need to promote our field more effectively. 
• Collaborations with elementary, middle and high schools. The materials science research center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had so many great activities like Cena y Ciencias, which was particularly for the latino community. It is so important to introduce the excitement of being a physicist or materials scientist to young children. How important science is in our society and what kind of fascinating implications the laws of physics can have. 
• Change society's mindset towards physics, especially in Germany. The typical example in my country: A celebrity on TV would feel extremely embarrassed if they didn't know famous literature by Goethe, Brecht, Hesse and Mann, but it is completely okay to say things like "Physics? I never understood physics at all". Super awkward, but it's the sad reality oftentimes.  
• Make careers, especially in academia, more accessible for women and minority groups. Extremely important. For instance: The higher you get in academia's hierarchy, the fewer women can be found in those positions, especially in physics. Let's try to make academia more fair and diverse.
• On a similar note: Pay more attention to how we are raising our children. For example, boys learn to play with cars, bulldozers and airplanes, and thereby get more and more interested into technical disciplines (of course, this is a massive oversimplification, but I hope that this conveys the point I want to make). At the same time, girls are usually pushed toward other directions. I think that this has gotten better during the past decades, but it is still a great issue. 
• Invest more money into education, infrastructure, teachers, workshops, lab course equipment, computers, fast internet connections, meeting rooms for students, libraries, books, technical staff, salaries for scientists, and so much more. 
• Invite skilled and experienced people from industry, companies and academia to high schools and let them share their stories.
• Try to understand what the most challenging concepts are for students and try to do a better job at explaining those. For instance, in introductory condensed matter classes it is oftentimes reciprocal space that causes many students to start not liking solid-state physics in general. We have to spend more time on explaining such complex subject matter to students, try to find new ways of communicating and using clear examples as well as applications which would improve the students' understanding. 
• More generally spoken: use examples and point out applications, even in introductory classes on physics. Why would one need Newton's equation of motion or the Maxwell equations? Try to connect classical physics with topics of modern research.