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In the guest blog, geologist and librarian Thomas Hofmann looks at local highlights of natural science conferences with prominent guests and interesting contributions.
It began on September 18, 1822 in Leipzig, when people from science and medicine met to talk about the latest developments in their fields. 200 years later, the “Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors” (GDNÄ) will meet here again from September 8th to 11th and celebrate its anniversary. Grandees, including Alexander Humboldt, Albert Einstein and Max Planck, spoke about their work at the annual conferences. The conferences did not only take place in Germany - the scientific community also came to neighboring countries. Austria was a frequently visited conference location, with Vienna in first place (1832, 1856, 1894, 1913, 1966), followed by Innsbruck (1869, 1924, 1978), Graz (1843, 1875) and Salzburg (1881, 1909).
The first meeting of the society in neighboring Austria, which was supposed to be the tenth and therefore an anniversary meeting, was not a good star. In 1831 the date would have been from September 19th to 27th, but Europe was dominated by the cholera pandemic, which once again brings back memories of the corona pandemic. Everything had to be postponed.
In 1832 the second attempt worked: the meeting took place from September 18th to 27th. On September 22nd, Prince Metternich invited people to a soirée. Three days later, His Majesty the Emperor invited the scholars to Laxenburg in the south of Vienna. A huge marquee with five rows of tables had been set up in the castle courtyard. The aim was – in terms of pomp and glory – to outdo the prince. The researchers certainly liked it.
The Graz conference in 1843 was opened by Archduke Johann, who addressed the scholars with concrete ideas: "It would seem to me desirable that at every meeting an overview of what had been achieved in the individual branches of the natural sciences over the past year would be presented." (Sunday Papers, September 24, 1843). During the conference, the first geological map of the world ("Carte géologique du globe terrestre") was presented by Ami Boué (1794–1881). In addition, the spelling of today's state capital was also discussed: Gratz or Grätz?
The second Vienna meeting took place in September 1856 and was also carved in stone. How did this come about? On March 4, 1853, the geologist Leopold von Buch, born in Stolpe (Brandenburg) in 1774, died in Berlin. He was not only one of the greatest geologists of the 19th century, he also knew the Alpine region very well and was often in Austria. Franz Carl Ehrlich (1808–1886), also a geologist and curator at the Museum Francisco Carolinum (today: Upper Austrian State Museum), used the conference of German scholars to erect a monument to his colleague.
His written proposal was presented to scholars in Vienna on September 20th and met with widespread approval. Funds were collected in a unique crowdfunding campaign that received widespread support in the European scientific community. A building block cost just 5 guilders (around 84 euros), and Alexander Humboldt was among the 821 supporters. So it was easy to create the Leopold von Buch monument with the following inscription on a huge granite block in the municipality of Großraming in Upper Austria within two years: "Dedicated to the memory of Leopold von Buch according to the resolution on September 20, 1856 in the XXXII Assembly of German Natural Scientists and Doctors in Vienna with the participation of numerous friends of natural sciences in Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, England, etc.".
The origin of the erratically occurring granite blocks of the monument, which is protected as a natural monument, continued to concern experts until the end of the 20th century. According to popular opinion, they probably slipped into the deep sea area of the colored marl series around 50 million years ago (Eocene).
The fourth congress in Vienna in September 1913 attracted more than 5,000 congress participants to the capital. The city was all about science. “You meet them, the German natural scientists and doctors, everywhere in the city, and you are happy to meet them,” writes the feature writer Paul Zahler in the “Neue Freie Presse” on September 23rd in his “Congress Picture Sheet.” It wasn't just the number of researchers that was impressive; the speakers and topics were also well-known.
On September 23rd, the future Nobel Prize winner (1922) Professor Dr. Albert Einstein from Zurich "The problem of gravity". The botanist Hugo Iltis from the Technical University of Brno gave a lecture on “Gregor Mendl as a student”. A day later, government councilor Gustav Paul, director of the Vienna Vaccine Production Facility, spoke about “unlocking, isolating and constricting pure vaccine material from cowpox”. But the list of lectures was much longer, almost 1,000 in 34 sections. The conference location was the University of Vienna on Ringstrasse, but the opening took place a few doors away, in the parliament building by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen. Of course there was also a reception at the court. However, it was not His Majesty, the 82-year-old Emperor Franz Josef, who greeted the scholars, but rather the 26-year-old Archduke Carl Franz Joseph. Nobody present suspected that he would be the last Emperor of Austria to leave Austria for Swiss exile on March 23, 1919.
Rector Richard von Wettstein summed up with satisfaction at the end of the conference (September 29): "Vienna's new research institutes, the radium institute of the Imperial Academy and the biological research institute also aroused a lot of interest." The following note is also worth noting, which identifies the 20th century as a new era: "The strong participation of women as active members was very significant for this year's meeting."
The 54th meeting took place in Salzburg from September 17th to 24th, 1881. Here, too, the guests were euphoric: "We welcome you, the natural scientists of Germany, as men of progress, because what would research be if it wasn't progress." (Salzburger Volksblatt, September 17, 1881). Lectures took place in the university's Aula Academia, where a large sign proclaimed "Science is power." The lecture by Munich hygienist Max von Pettenkofer was met with great interest. He spoke on September 18 about “soil and its connection to human health.”
Of course, the social part wasn't neglected either, there were also two excursions, one to Zell am See and the other to Reichenhall. On the day of the excursion, September 20th, there was a real Salzburg rainstorm, which in the original sounded like this: "It was raining, and quite decently." But at midday it cleared up and the 800 participants were able to reach the beautifully decorated Reichenhall in a special train and enjoy it to the fullest.
When the German scholars came to Innsbruck for the 88th meeting in September 1924, the city was in danger of becoming too small given the more than 6,000 participants. Federal President Michael Hainisch traveled from Vienna to the opening. What is striking is the emphasis on Germanness in the local press. "And here the German spirit, German natural research and German medicine will be able to find a grateful field of activity." ("Innsbrucker Nachrichten", September 20, 1924). Here too, the weather showed its typical local color, with strong foehn winds blowing on September 23rd. Professor Karl von Frisch (1886–1982) was among the speakers; he gave a lecture on “The sensory physiology and language of bees”.
Almost 50 years later, he received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1973 together with Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen. (Thomas Hofmann, September 8, 2022)