Germany is celebrating Einstein Year in 2005 in a joint initiative launched by the Federal Government, science, industry and culture. The occasion is the 100th anniversary of the Theory of Relativity and the 50th anniversary of the death of the world-famous scientist. In 1905, Albert Einstein published five essays in quick succession which fundamentally changed our image of the world. These essays revolutionised the classical concept of space, time, matter and energy.
Einstein Year pays tribute to a man who continues to fascinate and inspire the world. Albert Einstein was a brilliant physicist, lateral thinker, pacifist, cosmopolite and visionary. At school Einstein thought about questions which his teachers did not ask. Later he revolutionised the foundations of physics.
Albert Einstein lived and taught in Berlin and Potsdam from 1914 until emigrating to the United States in 1933. These two cities are therefore the central venues for events during Einstein Year 2005. The Humboldt University Berlin, Einstein’s summer house in Caputh and the Einstein Tower on “Telegraph Hill” in Potsdam are just a few of the many places on our walk in Einstein’s footsteps through Berlin and Brandenburg. But throughout Germany, cities from Bremen to Munich and from Hanover to Ulm will celebrate this great man and brilliant scientist.
100 years of the Theory of Relativity and the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein remind us of one of our most important qualities: the power to think and discover. After all, the future arises in our minds. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Science in Dialogue (WiD) initiative wish all the participants in Einstein Year 2005 a year that makes them curious.