PROFESSOR AT HEIDELBERG 277 



received a letter dated June 12 from Helmholtz, which formu- 

 lated the conditions he had verbally expressed : 



' Dear Friend ! In reply to the question which you put to me 

 on behalf of the Minister of Education, Herr von Mahler, as to 

 the conditions under which I would transfer myself to Berlin 

 to take up the Chair of Physics vacated there by the lamented 

 death of Magnus, I reply that I am willing to undertake it on 

 the following stipulations : (i) Personal salary of 4,000 thalers 

 (600). (2) The promise, in so far as it can be made in the present 

 state of affairs, that a Physical Institute shall be built, with the 

 necessary equipment for instruction, for the private work of 

 the Director, and for the practical work of the students. (3) The 

 promise that I shall have sole charge of this Institute and of the 

 collection of instruments, and that it be left to my judgement 

 how far and under what conditions I can permit the use of it 

 to be shared by other teachers (in regard to Professor Dove 

 I should naturally exercise the utmost consideration). The 

 Auditorium in the Physical Institute must equally be retained 

 for my sole use, so that it may be possible to set up com- 

 plicated arrangements of instruments within it. (4) An official 

 lodging for myself in the Institute, and a corresponding allow- 

 ance for rent until it shall be ready. (5) Provisional use of 

 rooms hired in the vicinity of the University for my own work 

 in physics, and for some of my students, with the necessary 

 service. (6) A proper allowance for expense of moving. As 

 soon as I hear from you that His Excellency is ready to 

 comply with these conditions I will come to Berlin myself to 

 survey the situation, and determine the accessories so far as 

 they can be arranged beforehand. If it is desired that I take 

 up the post in the autumn, the matter must be so far in train 

 by July i that I can hand in my demission here.' 



The Minister of Education lost no time in applying for the 

 necessary funds to the Minister of Finance, writing to him on 

 June 14: 



'In view of Helmholtz's universal and unrivalled fame in 

 the scientific world, it would politically be of the greatest 

 importance to get him here/ 



On June 28, the Minister of Education addressed a letter 

 to Helmholtz in which he acceded to all his demands, stating 

 that as there were only 2,000 thalers in the University chest 



