Germany

For further information related to German events, contact the Coordinator:
 Prof. Markus Schwoerer
University of Bayreuth
Experimentalphysik II Gebäude NW I
D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany
tel: +49 921 552 600 • fax: +49 921 552 621
Email: markus.schwoerer@uni-bayreuth.de

Useful links:
www.dpg-physik.de
www.dpg-einstein.de
www.wyp2005.org/globe/europe/www.einsteinjahr.de

Events:

  • Annual conference of the German Physical Society “Physics since A. Einstein” (from 4 to 9 March 2005) in Berlin

  • Public events: - 11 plenary lectures: by international leaders in physics - 4 public evening lectures: on topics of modern physics which are of special interest to the public and which have a clear connection to the work of the physicist Albert Einstein - Physics for school pupils: on a weekday. School classes from Berlin and the surrounding area will be invited to participate. - Lectures in Berlin schools - Industry Day: the Working Commission on Industry and Commerce will organise an Industry Day during the conference with the topic “Einstein in Industry” - Physics for Preschoolers and Elemantary School Pupils: this event is intended to demonstrate to the children and to the adults accompanying them just how positive a force children’s curiosity can be - Visits to the Institutes: Numerous governement-supported research institutes in Berlin and its surroundings will present their often world-renowned laboratories to the public.

  • Scientific Programme of the DPG Divisions and the Working Commissions: lectures and posters from ca. 30 divisions of the DPG

  • Academic celebration: an high point during the DPG annual conference, on Sunday

  • Physics exhibitions and Book Exhibition: two exhibitions at the Technical Univ. and the Humboldt Univ. Here the participants of the conference can obtain information about the newest developments in experimental appartus and about specialised literature. The exhibitions are intended not only for the direct presentation of products, but also to deepen contacts between physics researchers and the companies offering new products.

  • Non-Public Event: evening event honouring the Prizewinners

  • Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology - Einstein's Legacy - November 07.-11. 2005 in Bavarian Academy of Sciences,Munich.

  • Einstein Year 2005
    The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been organizing the Science Years since the year 2000 together with the Science in Dialogue initiative. The aim of the Science Years is to make society aware of the importance and benefits of science. During the past five Science Years - Year of Physics, Year of the Life Sciences, Year of the Geosciences, Year of Chemistry, and Year of Technology - we informed the general public about topical issues and major research activities in the respective science disciplines and contributed to a more innovation-friendly atmosphere in our society. Previous Science Years focussed on specific disciplines - Einstein Year 2005 is the first one to focus on a figure of contemporary and scientific history.
    Further information on www.einsteinjahr.de
    The programme:
    Einstein Year 2005 is setting a new trend. For the first time, the focus of a Science Year is not on a scientific discipline but on a figure of contemporary history. The central events of Einstein Year will take place in Berlin and Potsdam - the two cities where Einstein lived and worked until emigrating to the USA in 1933. But traces of Einstein's scientific work can also be found in other places in Germany. Numerous events will take place during 2005, from Bremen to Munich and from Ulm to Hanover, and their focus will be on Einstein, the man and scientist. The following is a brief overview of the most important events in Einstein Year 2005:

    Conference "Einstein for the 21st Century":
    International conference from 20 to 22 January, organized by the Einstein Forum Potsdam in cooperation with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science. Leading Einstein researchers from Europe, the USA and Israel will discuss the importance and topicality of Albert Einstein's work. The conference will focus on the influence of this socially committed scientist on modern life in general, including science, politics, art and philosophy.

    International conference "Physics since Einstein":
    The German Physical Society, the oldest and largest physical society in the world, will be commemorating Einstein and his work from 4 to 9 March 2005. More than 5,000 people are expected to participate in the conference in Berlin. The programme will include about 6,300 contributions by experts and numerous public lectures at the Technical University Berlin, the Humboldt University Berlin and the Urania Science Centre. Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Fritz Stern, historian and winner of the German booksellers' peace prize, will speak at the official ceremony on 6 March 2005.

    Exhibition "Relatively Jewish: Albert Einstein - Jew, Zionist, Nonconformist"
    In its exhibition, the "New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum" Foundation focusses on Einstein's complex relationship with Judaism, Zionism and the founding of the State of Israel. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures and concerts. It will be open from 8 March to 6 May and from 1 to 30 September 2005.

    Exhibition "A tower for Albert Einstein:
    Potsdam, light and the exploration of the skies" The Einstein Tower on the Telegrafenberg ("Telegraph Hill") in Potsdam was built between 1919 and 1924; it was the result of Einstein's cooperation with the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich and the architect Erich Mendelsohn. The exhibition of the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History in the Potsdam Kutschstall will be presenting the Einstein Tower from 19 March to 26 June 2005 as a monument of modern architecture and modern science. It shows the history of the planning and construction of the Tower and its importance in the history of architecture as well as its function as large scientific facility and the research conducted with it.

    Opening of the summerhouse: in Caputh
    For a long time, Einstein's summerhouse has not been generally open to the public. It will be reopened in May 2005 by the Hebrew University Jerusalem and the Einstein Forum after major renovation. Between 1929 and 1932, the scientific and political avant-garde of the time met in the house in Caputh, which had been built by the architect Konrad Wachsmann. The summerhouse is also a testimony to German history - from Einstein's emigration to the present day. Now it is again to become a place for scientific, political and cultural dialogue.

    Exhibition "The fascination of discovery: Albert Einstein and physics in the 20th century":
    The Deutsches Museum in Munich will honour Albert Einstein with a large special exhibition from 7 May to 31 December 2005. The exhibition will show the relevance of Einstein's work to today's world - be it the atomic bomb, GPS, laser or the silicon chip - and it will explain current activities in physical research, particularly in cosmology. Furthermore it will give an overview of Albert Einstein's life and relate his research to his biography; it will reflect his close relations with the Deutsches Museum and the City of Munich. Einstein's scientific work will thus be considered in the political and cultural context of his time. Lectures, discussions and guided tours will accompany the exhibition.

    Exhibition "Albert Einstein - Engineer of the Universe":
    The exhibition which will be held in the Berlin Kronprinzenpalais from 16 May to 30 September 2005 is among the central events of Einstein Year. Einstein, the most important scientist of the 20th century and an outstanding figure of contemporary history, as well as the scientific revolution triggered by him will be presented to a broad public. Original exhibits, Einstein's writings as well as media stations and films are being combined to offer the visitor a unique insight into Einstein's activities, the changing scientific views of the world, the dynamism of scientific development and Einstein's world today. This is an exhibition of the Max Planck Society, designed and organized by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.

    Summer of Science 2005:
    Einstein will also be the main topic of the Summer of Science 2005 in Potsdam and Berlin. Between 11 and 26 June, exhibitions, lectures, films and other events will trace Einstein's path and show not only his scientific legacy but also his personality and view of the world. The opening event will be the Long Night of Sciences, which has become a tradition in Berlin and Potsdam since it was first organized five years ago. "All about Einstein" will be presented in a big dome tent in Berlin, which will attract visitors with its exhibits and lectures as well as a short opera and a Science Cafe. The programme in Berlin will be complemented by the "Highlights of Physics" exhibition of the German Physical Society. The events in Potsdam will mainly take place on the Neuer Markt and around the Einstein Tower on "Telegraph Hill". The Summer of Science is organized by the Science in Dialogue (WiD) initiative together with local and regional institutions in Berlin and Brandenburg.

    Einstein's Miracle Century Celebration I
    n Einstein Year 2005, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and the Max Planck Society are inviting the winners of the Nobel Prizes for chemistry, physics, medicine and physiology to participate in "E.M.C2 - Einstein's Miracle Century Celebration". From 23 to 25 June 2005, immediately before the 2005 Nobel prizewinners meeting in Lindau, the invited Nobel prizewinners will visit the places where Einstein worked in Berlin and in Potsdam and its environs. This is to pay tribute to Albert Einstein, the man and the scientist, and his revolutionizing contribution to the development of science.

    Exhibition "Einstein Spaces":
    An art project of the Einstein Forum at nine locations in Berlin, Potsdam and Caputh from 4 September to 30 October 2005. Nine international artists - Olafur Eliasson and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster among others - will perform their work exactly in those places where Einstein lived and worked between 1914 and 1932/33. The artists' work will relate to the history of the places and interpret the past for present-day life, using different media and strategies.

    Conference "Einstein's thoughts - a basis for peace in the 21st century"
    The three-day conference, which will be held in Berlin from 14 to 16 October 2005, will focus on Einstein's political commitment. It will deal with the importance of social responsibility in scientific work today. It will provide a forum for the interdisciplinary dialogue between the natural and social sciences and the humanities. The conference is organized by the Einstein Forum, the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), the Association for Peace and Conflict Research (AFK), the Research Association for Science, Disarmament and International Security (FONAS), the Natural Scientists Initiative for Peace, and the Association of German Scientists (VDW).

    Final event :
    Einstein Year 2005 will close with a final event which will take place in November to thank all players and partners for their contributions to Einstein Year.

    Special events during Einstein Year 2005:
    Beside the conferences and exhibitions described above, there will be numerous other attractive events and places to visit. A broad range of activities have been designed for people interested in science, for children and young people, and for tourists visiting Berlin - all of them are to be reached and encouraged to think about science and research.

    Exhibition vessel MS Einstein
    The theme vessel of the Science in Dialogue initiative will again be on tour and visit numerous cities along the German waterways in summer 2005. The exhibition on board this 105-metre-long inland shipping vessel will present Einstein's work and personality to the visitors. The exhibits and interactive simulations will encourage visitors to join in and take a look at Einstein's complex theories, and they will present developments in current science based on these theories.

    The Einstein bus:
    From May to October, the Einstein bus will start twice a day at Gendarmenmarkt, today's location of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science. This rolling compact seminar and infotainment cinema will provide information about the life and work of Albert Einstein while touring the city and stop at various places where Einstein lived and worked in Berlin and Potsdam, at the Humboldt University as well as at the Einstein Tower on "Telegraph Hill" in Potsdam and at Einstein's summerhouse in Caputh.

    Guided city walks:
    Guided tours of Berlin will lead visitors to diverse places of past and current research and economic activity and show historic and modern technology and architecture. Additional city walks accompanying the exhibition "Albert Einstein - Engineer of the Universe" will offer insights into Einstein's life in Berlin.

    Pupils academies and competitions:
    Special programmes and events will be offered for the researchers of tomorrow. During Einstein Year, national competitions, pupils academies and summer camps dealing with natural science and technology subjects will be organized, and lectures on Albert Einstein will be given within the framework of children's universities. Furthermore, a web-based forum will offer educational material for teachers and pupils.

    The Long Albert Einstein Night
    The international literature festival in Berlin will organize a Long Albert Einstein Night including readings of Einstein texts, music and theatre. You can look forward to a wide and varied selection of events and activities. More information on Einstein Year is available on the website www.einsteinjahr.de.