Chronicle

In addition to the DPG spring meetings, the DPG introduces a new meeting format: The DPG Fall Meeting is dedicated to a current research topic which is jointly determined by the three sections of the DPG. The conference will take place for the first time in September 2019 at the University of Freiburg.

The UN General Assembly proclaims 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies, which is intended to commemorate the importance of light as an elementary prerequisite for life for humans, animals and plants and therefore also as a central component of science and culture. The DPG is in charge of coordinating activities in Germany.

Gerd Litfin's presidency publishes the first Physikkonkret on the "Labour Market for Physicists". The information sheet will from now on inform political decision-makers about important background information on current topics in the natural sciences. Over the years, schools have also developed a great interest in the information sheets, as these compact editions are good for teaching in schools.

A new type of DPG association unite for the first time on the basis of a common physical field of interest, but on the basis of their age: The core idea of the young DPG is to make physics, in its exciting, scientific diversity and socially relevant application, tangible beyond the subject matter of the lectures, in exchange with like-minded. Already 10 years after its foundation, the jDPG has well over 3,000 members.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "annus mirabilis", UNESCO proclaimed 2005 the International Year of Physics. In Germany, the Einstein Year, will be proclaimed, the central event of the year for the DPG. The annual conference will take place in Berlin under the motto "Physics since Einstein". The conference not only exceeds expectations in terms of the number of participants, but also in terms of public and political resonance. In this context a one-hour meeting with Angela Merkel, the former leader of the opposition in the Bundestag, will also take place, during which DPG President Knut Urban will present her with Einstein's publications in facsimile.

The online platform weltderphysik.de will be presented to the public for the first time in March 2003 at the DPG Spring Conference in Hannover. This was preceded by the great success of the first scientific year "Year of Physics", which prompted the BMBF and the DPG to further promote the growing interest in physics with a new Internet portal. Since 2005, the Internet portal has also been accessible to all citizens. This means that visitors with visual or motor impairments can also explore the world of physics and make use of the numerous information and research sources.

As part of the "Science in Dialogue" initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is declaring the Year of Physics the first Year of Science. The aim is to make the abstract topic of physics accessible to many people and to arouse the interest of young people and adults in this fascinating field of the natural sciences. The kick-off event will take place on 18 January 2000 at the Technical University of Berlin. The whole year is accompanied by a lot of public meetings.

The DPG establishes a series of lectures in honour of Max von Laue. The physicist and Nobel Prize winner, who was President of the German Physical Society from 1931 to 1933, made an extraordinary contribution to human rights between 1933 and 1945. The Max-von-Laue lectures take place within the framework of the DPG annual conferences and are held by scientists who are characterized by strong political or social commitment.

After extensive discussion, the Council of Directors commissioned an agency in 1999 to create a better awareness of physics in society. The agency is particularly needed for the preparation and implementation of the Year of Physics, which will take place in 2000. It will support the DPG in all areas of public relations from this point on and until 2011.

The Council adopts a statement on energy policy and the planned phase-out of nuclear energy in which the DPG welcomes the intention of the Federal Government to forcefully introduce renewable energy sources and promote energy saving. Due to the global significance of climate protection, however, it considers the continued use of nuclear energy to be indispensable for the time being and therefore attaches importance to the consistent further development of nuclear safety technology.

DPG concludes a contract with the City of Berlin for the use of the Magnus-Haus Berlin. The DPG then begins the renovation of the building, which will be reopened on 18 November 1994 after the work has been completed.

After the building was sold to Siemens Real Estate by the Liegenschaftsfonds Berlin in 2001, a legal dispute arises. In 2004, the Berlin Regional Court ruled that the contract of use was unchanged and that, despite the sale, DPG could continue to use the Magnus-Haus Berlin "as an owner" without rent and sublet parts of the building. However, the contract of use can be terminated in 2024.

1989 marked the beginning of major changes in Central and Eastern Europe. When the inner-German border opened at the beginning of November, the DPG reacted with immediate measures: Among other things, benefits and facilities were offered for settlers and for visitors from the DDR in order to enable them to participate in the activities of the DPG. Many thanks to the Wilhelm und Else Heraeus Foundation for their generous support of young scientists through their Communication Programme.

In 1985 the DPG takes over the administration of the Physics Centre Bad Honnef. Eberhard Freiherr von Medem becomes chairman of the board of trustees.. Theo Mayer-Kuckuk is appointed Scientific Director by the DPG President at the suggestion of the University of Bonn. The day-to-day business is still in the hands of the proven scientific secretary Joachim Debrus. It is above all thanks to him, together with the management of the Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, that the house continues to be popular and used to capacity as a conference venue: In 1986, 68 seminars, some of them lasting several days, were held with a total of 2,500 participants.

On 7 and 8 November 1980, the Day of the DPG will take place for the first time at the Physikzentrum Bad Honnef. In addition to the Executive Board and Council, other decision-making bodies of the association also take part. The highlight will be a discussion event on the future perspectives of physics, at which the development trends in the various areas of science will be discussed. The meetings of the DPG had previously been moved from autumn to spring in order to enable all DPG committees to hold this meeting.

The Hölterhoffstift, built in 1906, opened its Physikzentrum Bad Honnef on 12 June 1976. At the beginning of September 1977, the DPG office moves into several rooms there.

At a press conference held in 1971 as part of the 36th Physicists' Conference, the Effect of human activity on the climate was discussed. In the years that followed, this topic came to the fore and culminated in 1985 in the DPG's appeal: "Warning of imminent global climate change by humans".

In September the Physikalische Gesellschaft in der DDR (PGDDR) organizes a successful international conference. 200 scientists from 17 countries take part. The German physicists boycotted the event due to the recent construction of the wall.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Einstein's three famous publications in 1905, the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin (PGzB) and the Physikalische Gesellschaft in der DDR (PGDDR) organize an Einstein celebration in Berlin. Speakers will be Max Born (1882 – 1970) on 18 March in West Berlin and Leopold Infeld (1898 – 1968) on 19 March in East Berlin.

After initially only regional colloquia and conferences had taken place, a Physical Society was again founded in the DDR on the initiative of Friedrich Möglich (1902 – 1957) and Robert Rompe (1905 – 1993).

Lise Meitner (member since December 13, 1907) and Otto Hahn (member since January 8, 1909) are elected honorary members in Clausthal on September 10, 1948. During the Physicists' Conference in Bonn in September 1949 they are awarded the Max Planck Medal in the presence of the Federal President Theodor Heuss. Meitner is the first honorary female member and the first recipient of the Max Planck Medal.

Shortly after the end of the war, all association structures were dissolved in accordance with the Allied Control Council Act.

The National Socialists took power in 1933, which in the following years led to the expulsion of renowned Jewish scientists and a reorientation of research towards military applications. In the book Physiker zwischen Autonomie und Anpassung - Die Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft im Dritten Reich, published in 2006, the DPG examines its role in these politically turbulent times.

Ernst Brüche (1900 – 1985) founds a new journal, of which he remains editor until 1972 and which becomes in 1976 member journal and official organ of the DPG. In 2001, the Physikalische Blätter were renamed for legal publishing reasons. The journal is now called Physik Journal. After a complete retrodigitisation in 2013, all volumes of the Physikalischen Blätter are freely available on the Web. 

On 23 April 1938, the DPG held a celebration to mark Max Planck's 80th birthday at the Harnack House. The Max Planck Medal is awarded to Louis de Broglie and accepted by the French Ambassador.

Source: Stiftung Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv

On the day of Planck's golden doctoral anniversary, the first Max Planck Medal is awarded to Max Planck and Albert Einstein. To this day, the medal is regarded as the DPG's most prestigious award for theoretical physics. The list of its bearers is a Who's Who of modern (theoretical) physics.

The first district association was founded in Bavaria (14 January), followed by Vienna (20 February), which was later expanded to the Austrian district association. Thus the Austrian colleagues renounce the foundation of their own association and instead join the DPG. Hesse follows (24 January 1921) and in Berlin the PGzB is re-established as the district association of the DPG (1 October 1921).

Even the physicists working in industry, whose number has risen sharply since the turn of the century, do not feel sufficiently represented. Led by Georg Gehlhoff and Karl Wilhelm Hausser, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Physik was founded in November 1919 and initially had 125 members. Although originally founded to distinguish it from the DPG, it quickly developed into a constructive cooperation.

Albert Einstein, already world-famous for founding the theory of relativity, comes to Berlin as a salaried member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and becomes a member of the DPG. In appearance and political thinking for his time rather unorthodox, he took over the chairmanship of the DPG from 1916 to 1918.

Nobel Prizes are awarded for the first time in Stockholm. The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845 - 1923) for his discovery of X-rays six years earlier. Röntgen had been a member of the DPG since 1899, and in 1919 he was awarded honorary membership.

The "Annalen der Physik" is an important physics journal that has been published since 1799. Since 1900 the journal has been published in cooperation with the German Physical Society. Since 1906, Max Planck, among others, takes over the editorship, which he exercises until the end of his life.

The number of "foreign" members is constantly increasing. These members, who do not live in Berlin, feel increasingly dominated by the Berlin members and strive for greater influence. An outward sign of these efforts is the renaming of the Society, whose new statutes have been drafted by Max Planck. Emil Warburg remains chairman.

The 50th foundation celebration of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin is celebrated, among other things with demonstrations in the lecture hall of the Physical Institute of the University, including the almost life-size projection of the daguerreotype of the founding members, of whom only Emil du Bois-Reymond and Gustav Karsten live. Also shown are photographs taken by Wilhelm Röntgen shortly before with the "X-rays" he had discovered.

In the 40th year of its existence, the Physical Society has 184 members. One year after its foundation there were 53 members. Since then, the proportion of foreign members outside Berlin has increased from about 13 to 42 percent and a younger generation of physicists is pushing forward.

⇒ Historical member database 1845 - 1945

Hermann von Helmholtz became chairman and remained so until his death in 1894. As an outstanding personality and versatile researcher, he played a major role in shaping scientific life in the Physical Society and its representation beyond Berlin.

Within the framework of the democratic movement after the revolution of 1848, the Physical Society, in an open letter to the "Königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin" (Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin), advocates that "all meetings of the Academy should henceforth be open to the public, insofar as the negotiations concern scientific matters".

For the first time the "Fortschritte der Physik" are published, first by Georg Reimer. As an organ of lectures it should offer an overview of the already extensive scientific publications at that time and thus "close a gap especially in physical literature" (Gustav Karsten).