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Berns Culture Project

Einstein 05
Centenary of the Relativity Theory and its Discovery in Bern
















www.einstein05.ch (from 4 December 2003)
Historisches Museum in Bern
Einstein House
BERN BIENNALE 05, Hochschule der Knste Bern (HKB)
Schweizerische Landesbibliothek





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Albert Einstein
Person of the 20
th
Century


TIME Magazines choice
On 31 December 1999 Albert Einstein, who changed our perception of the world and the universe
with his insights as hardly anyone before him, was chosen as Person of the century by TIME
Magazine.
The most important discoveries of the 20
th
century, the space time continuum, the equivalence of
energy and mass (E = mc
2
), the big bang, the atom bomb, the use of nuclear power, quantum physics
all these, and much more, are indebted to Einstein or developed from his theories.
Einstein was undoubtedly the most important natural scientist of a century that was distinguished by
its breakthroughs in the natural sciences, and the story of his life reflects its dramatic events.

German, Swiss and American
Militarism and the rise of authoritarianism were quick to arouse Einsteins resistance. Thats why at
the age of seventeen he decided to renounce German citizenship. In 1901 he obtained citizenship in
Switzerland (then the most liberal state in Europe). On his appointment as a university lecturer in
Berlin he was once again declared German, but after Hitlers seizure of power in 1933 he once again
gave up his rights and privileges as a German, emigrated to the USA and became an American
citizen in 1940. But he continued to hold onto his Swiss citizenship to the end of his life.

Jewish identity and promotion of the Hebrew University
Although he was no practicing Jew, Einstein identified himself with his Jewish roots and was whole-
hearted in his support of his fellow-Jews in need, especially in the years of persecution. He also
participated in the fund-raising campaign for the foundation of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
and appointed it the legatee of his scientific work.

The pacifist and the atom bomb
Einstein regarded himself as a pacifist and socialist, and courageously pressed his political demands
in public. Faced by the threat to the world posed by National-Socialism, Einstein, who had for many
years renounced military service, came into conflict with his own ideals. Faced by the threat that
Nazi Germany could be the first state to develop an atom bomb, Einstein urged President Roosevelt
to develop an American nuclear programme. Appalled by the effects of the atom bomb dropped by
the Americans on Hiroshima, Einstein later regretted his appeal to Roosevelt and henceforth warned
of the danger of nuclear self-annihilation.

The women in his life
Einstein did not make life easy for his wives. He could write the most affectionate love letters, but he
could also allow a relationship to founder, by his self-absorption and total dedication to his work.
The theory that his first wife, Mileva, was the real originator of the relativity theory cannot be
corroborated.

The man with the violin case
Einstein was a great lover of music. Wherever he travelled, he took his violin with him and
everywhere he went he found among his friends and colleagues amateurs and professional musicians
with whom he could make music.

Icon of the 20
th
century
With his slightly bohemian appearance, his trusting glance and his charming nature, Einstein became
one of the icons of the 20
th
century. He was both an uncomfortable non-conformist and a genius
admired to the highest degree.
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1905: a Wonder Year
2005: Centenary of Einsteins annus mirabilis in Bern


Climactic moment in the life of humanity
A climactic moment in the history of mankind took place in Bern in 1905. While he was employed
as an official in the Swiss Patents Office, Albert Einstein developed his special relativity theory.
The formula E = mc
2
became the key to the understanding of the universe.

Most fruitful time in Einsteins life
In the same year, 1905, Einstein also explained the quantum character of light and the measurability
of atoms. In five publications, Einstein revolutionized our image of the physical world. The history
of science speaks of 1905 as an annus mirabilis, a wonder year.
Einsteins seven years in Bern were the most fruitful in his life. Some 60% of his most important
scientific discoveries were published during his time in Bern.











Culture Project
Einstein 05
Centenary of the Relativity Theory and its Discovery in Bern

The jubilee of Einsteins wonder year in 1905 will be celebrated in Bern by a great culture project
in 2005.

The Historisches Museum in Bern, in cooperation with the Einstein Archive of
the Swiss Landesbibliothek, will be holding a special exhibition on Albert
Einsteins life and work covering an area of some 2,000 square metres
(16 June 2005 17 April 2006).

The Einstein House on the Kramgasse, where the Einstein family was living in
1905, will be given a new exhibition presentation.

The BERN BIENNALE 05 will hold an International Festival of the Arts.
Einstein will provide the festivals general theme, round which various fields of
association will be covered. The organizer of the Festival is Berns College of Arts,
the Hochschule der Knste (HKB).

The Schweizerische Landesbibliothek will be providing, under the title Texts on
texts: Science, Literature, Criticism, a space for reflection on Einstein-related
questions in the history of culture.


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Historisches Museum in Bern:
Meeting Einstein experiencing physics


Major special exhibition
Albert Einstein (18791955)
Historical context Einstein as a person Revolution of our physical conception of
the world Understanding relativity theory On bicycle through Bern at 98% the
speed of light and yet Einstein was right: what was described at the time as his
greatest idiocy explains 73% of the cosmos
2000 sq m of exhibition space / originals, facsimiles, installations
16 June 05 17 April 06 / TuesdaySunday 10.0019.00

Park for the experience of physics
Experiments of the history of mankind
Hands-on experience and testing for oneself Inventions from the Stone Age to the
20
th
century the power of animals, human beings and machines
12,000 sq m of educational amusements in the Museum Park
16 June 05 16 October 05 / TuesdaySunday 10.0019.00

Energy show for three generations
Energy show
Summer nights in front of the museum building now a tiny breath, now the bursting
into light of 15,000 volts arts and physics performances
Arena with planned seating for 10001500 in the Helvetiaplatz:
30 July 14 August 05 / TuesdaySunday 20.00

A book to accompany the exhibition with many important illustrations and documents
Albert through the Looking-Glass
In partnership with the Einstein Archive of the Jewish National and University
Library of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the NZZ publishing house, the
Historisches Museum in Bern is publishing the German and French editions of the
successful book in which numerous documents from Einsteins private archive were
published for the first time.


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The Historisches Museum in Bern
is one of Switzerlands most important museums for cultural history
possesses a collection of 250,000 objects spanning world history
cultivates a spectrum of collections ranging in date from the Stone Age to the present day and
embracing all the worlds cultures
regularly holds special historical exhibitions with an international appeal: Youth Culture (1997),
Iconoclasm (2000), Burgundian Tapestries (2001)
organises major events like the medieval spectacle in 2003, visited by 35,000 visitors in 8 days.

Supporters of the Historisches Museum in Bern
The Canton of Bern
The City of Bern
The Citizens of Bern
The Regional Culture Conference

Museum Administration
Mario Annoni, Regierungsrat (chairman of the donors council)
Peter Jezler (Director)

Einstein Exhibition: Organization
Exhibition partners
o Stadthaus Ulm (12 March 29 August 2004)
o Historisches Museum Bern (16 June 2005 17 April 2006)
o ETH Zrich, Department of Physics, Exhibition: Einstein in Zrich (Autumn 2005)
Collaboration
o Einstein Archive of the Schweizerische Landesbibliothek
o The Albert Einstein Archives at the Jewish National & University Library, Hebrew
University of Jerusalem
o University of Bern: Laboratory for High Energy Physics; International Space Science
Institute; Institute for Informatics
o University of Tbingen: Theoretical Astrophysics
o Max-Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tbingen
o ETH Library, Zurich
o Swiss State Archive
Project management, exhibition concept und advisory council of Bern
o Anne Schmidt (project management, Ulm)
o Peter Jezler (project management, Bern)
o Prof. Hans Rudolf Ott / Rudolf Mumenthaler (project management, Zurich)
o Prof. Hanns Ruder, Tbingen
o Prof. Norbert Straumann, Zurich
o Prof. Klaus Pretzl
o Prof. Rudolf von Steiger, Bern
Exhibition layout
o Raphael Barbier

Contacts
Sponsoring: ursula.leckebusch@bhm.unibe.ch
Public Relations: suzanne.mennel@bhm.unibe.ch
Exhibition production: daniela.zbinden@bhm.unibe.ch

Historisches Museum Bern
Helvetiaplatz 5
3000 Bern 6
++41 31 350 77 11

www. bhm.ch
email: info@bhm.unibe.ch
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Einstein House, Kramgasse 49
Where relativity theory originated


Family Life
Home from 1903 to 1905
The house on the Kramgasse 49 was Albert Einsteins third home in Bern. When his
wife Mileva became pregnant, Einstein wrote to a friend: we are going to have a
child in a few weeks time. That child was to be his son Hans Albert, born on 14
May 1904. It only took a few minutes for Einstein to walk from his home in the
Kramgasse to his work place in the Swiss Patents Office (on the corner of the
Genfergasse/Spychergasse).

Three-man discussion panel
Meeting place of the Olympia Academy
The so-called Olympia Academy met in the Kramgasse 49. This was the scientific
discussion panel formed of Einstein and his two friends Maurice Solovine and Conrad
Habicht. These discussions proved fruitful for Einsteins thought.

Dissertation, Nobel Prize and Relativity Theory
Two-room apartment as laboratory of ideas
Writing from the Kramgasse 49, Einstein announced four projects to his friend
Habicht, in a letter of May 1905. Einstein was to receive the Nobel Prize for the first
of these in 1921. The second was his dissertation, and the fourth the new doctrine of
space and time, relativity theory.

In the Einstein Year 2005
New opening of the exhibition in the Einstein House
The Einstein House will be reopened, totally refurbished, in 2005. Discreet renovation
will restore Einsteins earlier home on the second floor to its original condition.
Original furniture from the Patents Office, facsimiles, reproductions and multimedia
will be displayed. Einsteins life in Bern will be described and the revolutionary
scientific work he produced here further accentuated.
00. xxx 00. xx 05 / Tuesday-Sunday 10.0017.00 ((wre wnschbar und sinnvoll))




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The Einstein House
comprised at the time two floors covering a total 120 m
2

in 2005 it will also include the rooms on the third floor (c.60 m
2
)
in spite of its smallness, it annually receives over 11,000 visitors
has an international public: USA 22%; Switzerland 11%; Germany 10%; Japan 7%; United
Kingdom, France, India, Canada each 4%; Australia, Korea, Poland, Spain each 3%; other
countries: 22%.

The Albert Einstein Society
is a private association, founded in 1977
has run the Einstein House since 1979
annually awards the Einstein Medal; the first recipient was Stephen Hawking in 1979
publishes the periodical Olympia
makes the Einstein sitting-room available to the members of the Einstein Club for discussions and
receptions
organises cultural events

Management
Prof. Peter Fricker (President of the Albert Einstein Society)
Prof. Peter Minkowski (Chairman of the Scientific Committee)
Prof. Hermann Brki (Director of the Einstein House)

New layout of the exhibition
Prof. P. Fricker and Prof. H. Brki (concept)
Trhler und Partner (planning and layout)

Contact
Prof. P. Fricker
Prof. H. Brki

Einstein House
Kramgasse 49
Postfach 638
3000 Bern 8
++41 31 312 00 91

www. einstein-bern.ch
email: webmaster@einstein-bern.ch
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Hochschule der Knste, Bern
BERN BIENNALE 05

An International Festival of the Arts
Einsteins biography and contemporaries
The BERN BIENNALE 05 is an International Festival of the Arts. Its aim is to
define, with an interdisciplinary approach, artistic fields of association round
Einsteins life and work. International stars of music and the theatre will enliven the
event alongside students and staff from the Hochschle der Knste (College of Arts)
in Bern
September 2005, as well as individual high points during the year

Cross-connections
1905: Release of creative potential
Apart from Einsteins relativity theory, the year 1905 released an enormous artistic
potential. Names like Robert Walser, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Arnold Schnberg,
Gustav Mahler, Charles Ives, Oscar Wilde, Sigmund Freud, Frank Lloyd Wright or
the Expressionists left their indelible mark on culture. The BIENNALE BERN 05
wants to trace these cross-connections.

Longitudinal axis
Einsteins biographical and geographical surroundings
During his lifetime Einstein left his decisive mark on many different fields of life. The
BERN BIENNALE 05 will seek to represent Einsteins biographical and
geographical surroundings and the stages of his life through a variety of media.

Tradition
What kind of music did Einstein play and love?
Einstein was light-years ahead of his time as a physicist. But with his appreciation of
art and his violin he remained firmly indebted to tradition. The theme of the violin
will be present throughout the whole Einstein Year with the participation of great
violinists and string quartets of our time. Insofar as they are known, all the quartets
that Einstein is known to have played as a chamber musician, will be performed

Avant-garde
Based on Einstein after Einstein
Here works will be performed that, after Einsteins death, have been based on his
work, or his person, or are in some way connected with his ideas. Commissions for
new works on the theme, that pursue interdisciplinary approaches, will also be
awarded.
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The Hochschule der Knste in Bern (HKB)
was founded in September 2003 from the amalgamation of the Hochschule fr Musik und Theater
and the Hochschule fr Gestaltung, Kunst und Konservierung
is the first all-inclusive college of the arts in Switzerland
is subdivided into schools of music, theatre, art and design, restoration and conservation, and Y art
as research
is the organiser of the BERN BIENNALE

The BERN BIENNALE
is an international festival that has brought together music, new media, art, theatre and related fields
since 1999
benefits from basic funding by the Max and Elsa Beer Brawand Foundation
sets itself a new general theme every two years, in order to promote interdisciplinary approaches
through all fields of art
exploits the resources from the colleges teaching and research
can rely on a wide-ranging network of relations in the arts
presents international stars alongside the most gifted undergraduate and postgraduate students of
Berns Hochschule der Knste
is being held for the fourth time in 2005 and is being dedicated to Albert Einstein

The Venue
The renovation and re-conversion of the former barracks on the Papiermhlestrasse has given rise to
an outstanding infrastructure for presenting large-scale musical and theatrical performances.
The facilitys own state-of-the-art audio studio provides technical back up.
The idea of a former military barracks being used for cultural events would no doubt have pleased
Einstein himself.

Management
Thomas Meier (Director, Hochschule der Knste in Bern)
Roman Brodbeck (Head of the Music Department in the HKB)
Peter Kraut (contact person, Manager BERN BIENNALE 03)

Contact
peter.kraut@hkb.bfh.ch

BERN BIENNALE 05
Hochschule der Knste Bern
Peter Kraut
Papiermhlenstrasse 13a
3000 Bern 22
++41 31 634 93 54

www.hkb.bfh.ch
www.biennale-bern.ch
email: peter.kraut@hkb.bfh.ch

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Schweizerische Landesbibliothek:
After Einstein.
Texts on texts: science, literature, art, and criticism


Space for reflection
Einsteins theory and its consequences for art, music and literature
As part of the BERN BIENNALE 05, a space for reflection (for lectures, readings
and symposia) will be made available. Its aim will be to project the historical
questions raised by the exhibition in Berns Historisches Museum into the present by
elucidating their contemporary repercussions and promoting critical discussion.
The exhibition space in the Landesbibliothek will be reflected in a spatial installation
that will take into account the artistic implications of the theme.

Physics in literature
Drrenmatt on Einstein
Friedrich Drrenmatt is one of the few Swiss writers (together with Adrien Turel and
Ludwig Hohl) who actively engaged with the fields of the natural sciences. He was
especially fascinated by astronomy and physics. Even as a young boy, he would watch
the planets in the night sky and got to know the names and constellations of the stars.
Later the starry sky from which God had been banished increasingly became a kind
of cold counter-image to the Protestant world in which he had been brought up. His
reactions to the findings of physics are reflected in various ways in his work.
His internationally famous play The Physicists tackles the question of the
responsibility of science to society, and in 1979 he received an invitation from the
ETH Zrich (Federal Institute of Technology) to give a great and impressive lecture
on Albert Einstein on the centenary of his birth. Drrenmatts engagement with
Einstein and the natural sciences will form one of the leitmotifs of the series of events
held in the Library.
End of August 05 End of January 06 / MondayFriday 9.0018.00, Wednesday 9.00-
20.00, Saturday 9.0014.00

Original Drrenmatt text
Whats Great about Einstein
Whats great about Einstein is that he thought through things that are apparently
quite commonplace. He suddenly started thinking again about such questions as: What
is space? What is time?
As hardly anyone else before him, Einstein penetrated into the inscrutable, the
indescribable, and precisely for this reason had the gift to speak simply. Only thus
could he describe this conception of the world, [] this immense labyrinth in which
we always grope about helplessly and hopelessly.



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The Swiss Landesbibliothek
is part of the Federal Ministry for Culture
conceives itself as memory of the nation with its comprehensive Helvetica Collection
plays an active role as an institution with its own cultural programme and has held important and
successful exhibitions both at home and abroad.

The Swiss Literature Archive
is part of the Landesbibliothek
collects and curates over a hundred literary and intellectual estates representing all four linguistic
cultures of the country and makes them available for research.

The literary estate of Friedrich Drrenmatt
is one of the most important archives of the Swiss Literature Archive
Drrenmatts pictorial work is exhibited in the Centre Drrenmatt in Neuchtel.

The Archive of the Einstein Society (administered by the Einstein House)
is placed on loan under the care of the Swiss Landesbibliothek
will be augmented with the estate of the Einstein expert Max Flckiger.

Management
Dr. Jean-Frdric Jauslin (Director, Swiss Landesbibliothek)
Dr. Thomas Feitknecht (Director, Swiss Literature Archive)
Peter Erismann (Head of Exhibitions, Swiss Landesbibliothek)

Contact
Peter Erismann (Head of Exhibitions, Swiss Landesbibliothek)

Schweizerische Landesbibliothek /
Schweizerisches Literaturarchiv
Hallwylstrasse 15
3003 Bern
++41 31 322 89 11

www.snl.ch
email: peter.erismann@slb.admin.ch

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Milestones in Albert Einsteins life (18791955)



Ulm
1879 Albert Einstein is born to an assimilated Jewish family
in Ulm (Germany) on 14 March.

Munich
1880 The Einstein family moves to Munich and runs an
electro-technical factory there.

Northern Italy
1894 The family business is Munich is wound up; the family
moves to Northern Italy. Albert at first remains at his
secondary school in Munich, but later abandons it and
travels to join his parents.
Aarau
1895 Einstein takes his matriculation exam at the cantonal
school of Aarau.

Zurich
1896 Renunciation of German citizenship.
18961900 Study of physics at the Polytechnic in Zurich.
1900 Completion of studies. Teachers diploma with
specialization in mathematics.
1901 Obtains Swiss citizenship.

Bern
19021909 Einstein working in the Patents Office in Bern.
1903 Marriage with his former fellow-physics student Mileva
Maric.
1905 Annus mirabilis: special relativity theory and formulae
of equivalence between energy and mass (later to
become universally known as the equation E = mc
2
).
1905 Doctorate at the University of Zurich.
1908 Post-doctoral lecturing qualification at the University of
Bern.

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Zurich
1909 Extra-mural Chair at the University of Zurich.

Prague
1911 Full Professor at the University of Prague.

Zurich
1912-14 Professor at the Polytechnic in Zurich.

Berlin
191433 Einstein at the Prussian Academy of Sciences and
University of Berlin.
1913 First draft of the general relativity theory and a theory of
gravitation.
191418 First World War, Einstein appears in public as a pacifist.
1916 Completion of the relativity theory.
1917 Introduction of the cosmological constant.
1919 Divorce from Mileva Maric. Marriage with his cousin
Elsa Einstein, on her divorce from Lwenthal.
1921 First journey to America, on a fund-raising campaign for
the foundation of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Princeton
1933 Beginning of Nazi regime and persecution of the Jews.
Einstein emigrates to Princeton, USA, and never returns
to Europe again.
193945 Second World War. Einstein urges President Roosevelt
in a now internationally famous letter, to begin a nuclear
research programme.
1940 American citizenship (while retaining his Swiss
citizenship).
1945 American atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Einstein regrets his letter to Roosevelt and
warns of nuclear self-destruction.
1952 The State of Israel offers Einstein the post of President,
but Einstein turns it down.
1955 Einstein dies in Princeton on 18 April.


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Culture Project
Einstein 05
Centenary of Relativity Theory and its Discovery in Bern
www.einstein05.ch


Historisches Museum Bern
Helvetiaplatz 5
3000 Bern 6
++41 31 350 77 11
www. bhm.ch
email: info@bhm.unibe.ch


Einstein House
Kramgasse 49
Postfach 638
3000 Bern 8
++41 31 312 00 91
www. einstein-bern.ch
email: webmaster@einstein-bern.ch


BERN BIENNALE 05
Hochschule der Knste Bern
Peter Kraut
Papiermhlenstrasse 13a
3000 Bern 22
++41 31 634 93 54
www.hkb.bfh.ch
www.biennale-bern.ch
email: peter.kraut@hkb.bfh.ch


Schweizerische Landesbibliothek /
Schweizerisches Literaturarchiv
Hallwylstrasse 15
3003 Bern
++41 31 322 89 1
www.snl.ch
email: peter.erismann@slb.admin.ch



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Links


Project partnerships of the Historisches Museum

Ulm
Exhibition: Albert Einstein (18791955)
12 March 29 August 2004
Stadthaus Ulm
Mnsterplatz 38
D-89073 Ulm
++49 07 31/161 77 00
www.stadthaus.ulm.de
email: stadthaus@ulm.de

Zurich
Exhibition: Einstein in Zurich (Autumn 2005)
ETH Zrich, Department of Physics
ETH Hnggerberg HPF G 9.2
CH-8093 Zrich
www.phys.ethz.ch

Jerusalem
Albert Einstein Archives
Jewish National & University Library
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.alberteinstein.info

Berlin
Einstein Exhibition 2005
Albert Einstein: Engineer of the Universe
Contact: Prof. Jrgen Renn
Max-Planck-Institut fr Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Wilhelmstr. 44
D-10117 Berlin
++49 30 226 67 -101 (-102)
email: renn@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de


Conferences in Bern (first half of July 2005)

www.einstein2005.ch

University of Bern / International Space Science Institute Bern (ISSI)
International Symposium: Current physics in Einsteins tradition, present-day research problems and
prospects of physics
Berns Einstein Festival 2005

Forum for University and Society of the University of Bern
Heuristics, Discovery and Innovation Culture

Tri-Annual Conference of the European Physics Society EPS-13 in Bern
Beyond Einstein Physics for the 21st Century

Annual Assembly of the Swiss Academy of the Natural Sciences (SANW)
Einstein in Everyday Life (1415 July 2005)






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((Plan de Berne page 8/9))

Einstein's Bern
1902-1909

1902-1909
Employed in the Patent Office

Fourth home
Tscharnerstrasse

Equivalence formula
E = mc2

Second home
Tillierstrasse, 18

Marriage with Mileva Maric

First home
Gerechttigkeitsgasse, 32

Still unemployed

Third home
Kramgasse, 49

Special Relativity Theory
Birth of Hans Albert

Fifth home
Aegertenstrasse, 53

International recognition