Front side of the institute of physics of the University of Graz - Image credit: Gina Gunaratnam/EPS

Authors: Sonja Draxler and Heinz Krenn

Following the decision on 16 November 2023, the building of the Institute of Physics at the University of Graz has been honoured with the distinction of an EPS Historic Site, an award of great importance for achievements in physics and research. The nomination is the result of an initiative by the First European Centre for the History of Physics (ECHOPHYSICS, founded by Peter Maria Schuster).

In a festive ceremony on 7th June 2024, a commemorative plaque was unveiled by Mairi Sakellariadou, President of EPS, and Peter Riedler, Rector of Graz University, on the facade of the physics building at Universitätsplatz 5 in Graz.

The celebration was embedded in a symposium on the historical construction of the physics building and its leading figure Ludwig Boltzmann. It was a special honour for us that a great-grandson of Ludwig Boltzmann, Dieter Fasol, also participated in the symposium and gave a lecture on “Ludwig Boltzmann, Ilse M. Fasol-Boltzmann and Artificial Intelligence”.

The physics institute was built between 1872-1876 under the supervision of the physicist August Toepler and was considered one of the most modern physics research centres at the time. What was so special about this building? Sun ray corridors running through the entire ground floor of the building enabled optical experiments to be carried out in all rooms using heliostats. At the back side of the building iron-free rooms for galvanometric measurements were established, and an astronomical observatory was attached to the building.

August Toepler himself unfortunately could not use this modern building for his studies as he was appointed to the Royal Saxon Polytechnic in Dresden and left Graz in 1876. Ludwig Boltzmann was appointed as his successor. In 1876 he moved into the new institute building in his second professorship in Graz as full professor of general and experimental physics.

Besides Ludwig Boltzmann, a number of other renowned physicists worked, researched and taught in this building: August Toepler, Albert von Ettingshausen, Walther Nernst, Svante Arrhenius, Alfred and Kurt Wegener, Viktor F. Hess, Erwin Schrödinger, Adolf Smekal, Hans Benndorf, Paul Urban, Otto Burkard, Wilhelm Nordberg, Günther Porod.

Floor plan from the building according to designs by August Toepler - Image credit: W. Höflechner, Archiv der Univ. Graz, post-processed by H. Krenn

Physics Lecture Hall in 1913 - Image credit: K. Rumpf, Publications of the Archive Univ. Graz, vol. 40,  post-processed by H. Krenn

Unveiling the memorial plaque by EPS President Mairi Sakellariadou and Rector Peter Riedler on 7th June 2024
Image credit: K. Tzivanopoulos, Univ. Graz, Communications and Public Affairs