276 HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ 



The Philosophical Faculty of the University at Berlin 

 proposed Helmholtz and Kirchhoff in a letter to the Minister, 

 and gave the following reasons for their opinion : 



' If Helmholtz is the more gifted and universal in research, 

 Kirchhoff is the more practised physicist and successful teacher. 

 While Helmholtz is the more productive, and is always occupied 

 with new problems, Kirchhoff has more inclination to teaching ; 

 his lectures are a pattern of lucidity and finish ; also from what 

 we hear he is better able to superintend the work of elementary 



students than Helmholtz If it happens therefore to be easier 



to win over Kirchhoff than Helmholtz, the Faculty feels itself 

 justified in most respectfully begging to submit to Your 

 Excellency the name of Professor Kirchhoff as successor 

 to G. Magnus/ 



The then Rector of the Berlin University, du Bois-Reymond, 

 was empowered by the Prussian Minister to treat with 

 Kirchhoff, in the first place, by word of mouth, and started 

 for Heidelberg at the beginning of June with this object, with 

 directions from Olsweisen that if Kirchhoff refused he was 

 to sound Helmholtz, and with letters from the mathematicians 

 Weierstrass and Kronecker to the latter. 



Kirchhoff remained true to his friends in Heidelberg. It was 

 in the course of a little dinner given by du Bois on July 12 at 

 the Hotel zum Europaischen Hof in honour of Kirchhoff and 

 Helmholtz, at which Bunsen and Konigsberger (who had been 

 called to Heidelberg as Hesse's successor at Easter, 1869) were 

 the only other guests, that the Minister's reply to du Bois' 

 telegraphed inquiry arrived, authorizing him to open negotia- 

 tions with Helmholtz. The author, who is the only survivor, 

 will never forget the splendid words in which du Bois pro- 

 claimed with enthusiasm ' that Heidelberg had been the centre 

 of scientific research for long enough, and that while he could 

 understand that Kirchhoff preferred not to leave his friends, 

 Helmholtz by the nature of his work was being gradually driven 

 exclusively into physical research, and that it was fitting for 

 him to transport himself to the capital of the rapidly unifying 

 Germany, whence indeed he had set out'. Not one of us 

 suspected that the great struggle for the real unity of Germany 

 was to break out a few weeks later. 



Du Bois returned to Berlin next day with his report, and 



