Georg Hamel and Richard von Mises in Brno (Q1604665)

This richly documented paper sheds light on one period and one place of the history of mathematics and its applications which has hitherto received too little attention among historians. Universities of the Austrian empire around 1900 in general, but in particular the German-speaking universities in bi-national surroundings such as Prague and Brno, can be considered in several respects as places at the periphery of a German-dominated system, that enabled the development of conceptual germs, which proved later on their relevance in the centers of the communication system (Berlin and Wien). This is exemplified by the careers of the two men on the borderline between pure mathematics and its technical applications who are potrayed in this article in the first line. Georg Hamel (1877-1954) and his assistant at that time, Richard von Mises (1883-1953), went both on to have prestigious careers in Berlin. The paper focusses mainly on the appointment procedures at the German Technical University in Brno between 1904 and 1916 and provides interesting archival material of a predominantly biographical character.