6-1-2058. Unterrichtsminister an H. Poincaré

Berlin W.8, den 11. Oktober 1910

Der Minister der geistlichen, Unterrichts- und Medizinal-Angelegenheiten
UI Nr. 7397

An Herrn Professor Poincaré, Hochwohlgeboren

Seine Majestät der Kaiser und König haben geruht, Euer Hochwohlgeboren anlässlich Ihrer Teilnahme an der Hundertjahrfeier der hiesigen Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität Allerhöchstihre Porträtmedaille als Andenken zu verleihen.

Es gereicht mir zur Freude, Ihnen im Allerhöchsten Auftrage diese Medaille ergebenst hiermit zu überreichen.

[illegible signature]

PLS 1p. Collection particulière, Paris 75017.

Time-stamp: "17.06.2026 23:09"

Notes

• 1 The centennial commemoration of the foundation of the University of Berlin was held from 10 to 13 October, 1910. On 11 October, the Brandenburg Academy voted to present Poincaré for membership in the Order “Pour le mérite”, replacing Giovanni Schiaparelli (Archives BBAW Historische Abteilung II-X, 17, Orden Pour le mérite). During the festivities, Poincaré, who was one of five French academics invited to Berlin, spoke on behalf of Paris Academy of Sciences in honor of the University of Berlin. A short address in French was published in the proceedings of the festivities (Poincaré, 1910b), while a longer, informal address in German appeared in the Tägliche Rundschau on 8 October (Poincaré, 1910a), alongside remarks by Ferdinand Vetter, Pietro Blaserna and William Ramsay. Poincaré’s remarks, along with those of Pietro Blaserna and William Ramsay were reedited in the December issue of Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Blätter (Blaserna et al., 1910); see also the transcription of Poincaré’s published remarks in German (§ 7-1-22), and the manuscript in French (§ 6-1-1875). While in Berlin, apart from the formal speech honoring the University of Berlin, Poincaré delivered three scientific talks, on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of October, respectively. On the 12th, Poincaré spoke in the evening on the topic of curves traced on an algebraic surface (Poincaré 1911b; Jahresbericht der deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung 19, 1910, 225). On the morning of the 13th, Poincaré lectured on the equations of the theory of Hertzian waves before the Mathematical Union of the University of Berlin. In the evening, the Urania Institute advertised at talk entitled “la mécanique nouvelle”, which attracted, according to one account, a great number of spectators, who were likely disappointed, like M. Jordan, to learn that Poincaré spent the evening at the Kaiser’s table. Jordan’s letter to Poincaré of 14 October (§ 6-1-435) berates him for skipping the lecture. It appears that the talk was rescheduled for the next day, perhaps in a different location. Poincaré’s manuscript in French was translated to German by Paul Schwahn and published in the journal Schwahn co-founded and edited, Himmel und Erde (Poincaré, 1911a). According to Lebon’s bibliography (Lebon, 1912, 90), Poincaré lectured in French, but this is contradicted by one of Poincaré’s auditors, who later recalled that he spoke to a “rather modest-sized audience” at Urania, and that he “developed his topic with effortless fluency, and despite the language barrier, with quite accessible clarity” (Moszkowski, 1920, 15). The latter author mistakenly dates the lecture to 13 October.