TRANSCENDING TRADITION

After several stops in Germany and abroad, the award-winning exhibition "Transcending Tradition – Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture" came to Heidelberg in 2016. The life and work of Jewish mathematicians in German-speaking academic culture were on display at the Mathematikon from May 13 to June 12.

Through nine stations, visitors were able to follow in the footsteps of Jewish scientists in Germany and trace their working lives and activities. The chronological framework spanned from the legal and political emancipation of Jewish citizens in the 19th century to their persecution and expulsion under National Socialism. The exhibition portrayed the extensive and significant contributions that Jewish researchers made to mathematics and its culture in the German-speaking world during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. It also illustrated the high price paid for the expulsion of Jews from Germany by the Nazi government and recalled their escape, emigration and genocide after 1933.

The exhibition was conceived by Prof. Dr. Moritz Epple, scientific director of the project and head of the "History of Science" working group at the University of Frankfurt am Main, together with a group of seven historians of mathematics.

"Transcending Tradition – Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture", May 13 to June 12, 2016, Mathematikon Heidelberg, conceived by Prof. Dr. Moritz Epple, with the support of Heidelberg University.