Annual-Report-2024 - Flipbook - Page 24
Albert Schweitzer in Lindau 70 Years Ago
Remembering a Pivotal Moment
for the Lindau Meetings
As a highlight of the Opening Ceremony, a newly produced documentary
commemorated the 70th anniversary of the first visit of a Peace Nobel Laureate
to a Lindau Meeting. Albert Schweitzer’s visit in 1954 not only marked a
new epoch for the Meetings but also had a profound impact on some of the
20th-century's leading physicists that were assembled in Lindau.
Using newly found letters and photographs from the
1950s, a short documentary film showcased the full story
of Schweitzer’s visit to Lindau. In the correspondence,
Schweitzer reflects on his visit, expresses his admiration
for the distinguished scientists, and voices his desire to
return to Lindau one day.
In fact, soon after the first Lindau Meeting in 1951,
co-founder Franz Karl Hein reached out to Schweitzer to
explain the Meetings’ origin and ambition. In 1954 an official invitation followed, endorsed by Count Bernadotte,
who, in his letter, pointed out the Meetings’ familiar and
warm atmosphere, “distinct from official conferences”.
Schweitzer accepted the invitation. He arrived by
train on 30 June 1954, was welcomed by Mayor Walther
Frisch, and listened to Nobel Laureate Butenandt’s talk at
Lindau’s City Theatre, sitting next to Werner Heisenberg.
That evening, Schweitzer gave an organ concert: much
anticipated by the organizers but hidden from the public.
He played alongside Heisenberg and indeed afterwards
praised Heisenberg's organ skills.
The 1954 Meeting was the first to see the participation
of a substantial number of Young Scientists. Not surprisingly, 1954 has thus gone down as an iconic year that
came to embody the Lindau Spirit like few others, radiating the enthusiasm and optimism that characterized
Schweitzer's visit shortly after the Second World War.
22 | Responsibility Extending Beyond Science
However, the most enduring impact of Schweitzer’s
visit may have been in the dialogue he began with
Heisenberg and Otto Hahn. Following their meeting in
Lindau, Schweitzer corresponded with both men for the
remainder of his life, discussing topics that included
quantum physics but that, above all, were concerned
with nuclear war.
In 1954, the issue of nuclear armaments could not be
overlooked. That spring, Schweitzer published an article
in the Daily Herald addressing the dangers of the hydrogen bomb. Otto Hahn publicly supported Schweitzer’s
stance against nuclear weapons, while Heisenberg later
remarked that Schweitzer's presence at the 1954 Meeting
led him and his colleagues to re-evaluate their humanitarian responsibilities as scientists. One year later, the
1955 Mainau Declaration, an appeal against nuclear war
signed by eighteen Nobel Laureates, was spearheaded by
Heisenberg and Hahn.
Remembering Schweitzer in 2024 was highly appropriate: not only because of the 70th anniversary of his visit,
nor in anticipation of 2025's celebrations of Schweitzer's
150th birthday or the 70th anniversary of the Mainau Declaration. Commemorating his visit gave all of Lindau's
participants the opportunity to reflect on the broader
responsibilities shared by all scientists.
