Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities

The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of the academy is the promotion of interdisciplinary encounters and contacts and the cooperation of representatives of different subjects.

History

The Academy was founded in 1759 by Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria

Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria

Maximilian III Joseph was Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777.-Biography:...

. The foundation was initiated by Councillor Johann Georg Lori (1723-1787), the founder of the Bavarian Learned Society (Bayerische Gelehrten Gesellschaft). Originally, the Academy consisted of two divisions, the Class for History (Historische Klasse) and the Class for Philosophy (Philosophische Klasse); natural sciences, including mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

and physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, were thought of as part of the Class for Philosophy. Today, the Academy is still divided into two classes, but the classes are now the Class for Philosophy and History (which also includes the humanities and social sciences) and the Class for Mathematics and the Natural Sciences.

Members

In each class, the number of ordinary members is limited to 45, and the number of corresponding members is limited to 80. However, ordinary members at or over the age of 70 are not counted towards this limit; the number of ordinary members is, therefore, usually around 120.

During the course of its history, the academy has had numerous famous members including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

, the Grimm

Grimm

-Media:* Brothers Grimm , the third album by Australian hip hop singer Drapht-Fiction:* The Brothers Grimm, German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors...

brothers, Theodor Mommsen

Theodor Mommsen

Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...

, Anthimos Gazis

Anthimos Gazis

Anthimos Gazis was a scholar, a philosopher during the Greek Enlightenment, a cartographer and one of the heroes of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. He was born in Milies in Ottoman Greece in 1758 and died in 1828...

, Alexander

Alexander von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

and Wilhelm von Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...

, Kurt Sethe

Kurt Heinrich Sethe

Kurt Heinrich Sethe was a noted German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman...

, Max Planck

Max Planck

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...

, Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...

, Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

, Max Weber

Max Weber

Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...

, Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg

Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...

and Adolf Butenandt

Adolf Butenandt

Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt was a German biochemist and member of the Nazi party. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He initially rejected the award in accordance with government policy, but accepted it in 1949 after World War...

Presidents

First president was the chairman of the Mint and Mining Commission, Sigmund Count of Haimhausen. Further presidents included Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, socialite and the younger brother of poet Johann Georg Jacobi...

, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schelling, Justus von Liebig

Justus von Liebig

Justus von Liebig was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. As a professor, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the...

, Ignaz von Döllinger, Max von Pettenkofer and Walther Meißner

Walther Meißner

Fritz Walther Meißner was a German technical physicist.Meissner was born in Berlin to Waldemar Meissner and Johanna Greger. He studied mechanical engineering and physics at the Technical University of Berlin, his doctoral supervisor being Max Planck...

.

At present, the presidency is held by Prof. Dr. Dietmar Willoweit.

Commissions of the Academy

For the pursuit of long-term projects, the Academy forms Commissions. At present, 39 Commissions employ more than 300 persons.

Address

Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Alfons-Goppel-Str. 11

80539 München

Germany

Tel. +49-89-23031-1141

External links

Homepage of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities