This is a thread about #heidelberg history, which typically combines the commemorative of progressive politics against the city's spießig (petit bourgeois meanness) history.
Trattoria Toscana stands at Marktplatz 1. @CAPASHeidelberg folks often eat here after our lectures. 1/
In the 19th century, this was the location of the Schwanen-Apotheke (not to be confused with the contemporary Schwan Apotheke on Hauptstr).
More than just a drug store, it was a pharmaceutical institute, an independent site of scientific discovery.
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The Schwan-Apotheke was created by Georg Friedrich Walz (1813-62).
In the aftermath, his career and scientific work was frequently blocked by the conservative Baden government.
But he did establish the Schwanen-Apotheke, habilitated at the uni, and sought a Professorship in science.
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His promotion was frequently blocked by politicians and Bunsen (of the Bunsen burner) on the grounds that it was inappropriate for a private scientist to be offered the Professorship. pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/inhalt-30-1999…
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Walz was finally made Professor in 1859 after 3 attempts, making him the second oldest Professor on his inauguration. The tensions in the city perhaps led to his suicide 3 years later.
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While there is no marker for Walz or the Schwanen-Apotheke, Heidelberg honors his son, Ernst Walz, who was mayor from 1913-28, with the Walz bridge.
This is the bridge that connects the train station to the medical campus, where @CAPASHeidelberg reside. 7/
Walz's pharmacy is significant for those he employed, including a young assistant,
Carl Schorlemmer (1834-92)
Schorlemmer later moved to England to later become the UK's first Professor of Organic Chemistry, at Owens College, today called Manchester uni, @OfficialUoM
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Schorlemmer was a close personal friend to Marx and Engels, staying with Marx on visits to London and travelling with Engels on a trip to the US.
Carl was one of only 8 at #marx's funeral.
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Engels' funeral oration to Schorlemmer, called him "a {complete} communist before Lassalle appeared in Germany" and praised Schorlemmer as one of the founders of organic chemistry as a science, rather than a "mess of confused statements."
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So next time @CAPASHeidelberg has a pizza at Toscana, give a thought to it as space of the intertwining of new science and socialism/communism.
Bread and Roses, indeed!
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#Halloween marks the anniversary of Europe's first act of ethnic cleansing.
With the 1290 Edict of Expulsion, Edward I banished all Jews (roughly 3000) from England in return for Parliament's permission to raise a tax of £116,000 – the largest single tax of the Middle Ages.
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Not until Cromwell in 1656 were Jews allowed to return to England.
The Edict only had force in England. Scotland being free from English State repression.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a formal "act of repentance", on the 800th anniversary of the Synod of Oxford in 1222, which passed a set of laws that restricted Jews' rights to engage with Christians in England.
Every tourist to #Heidelberg sees the New University Building in University Square. 2/
I gave my @CAPASHeidelberg lecture here last year, as does every other fellow, in a lecture hall named for American alumni.
But few know it’s dark #nazi history. 3/
shortly before I leave Heidelberg, I made it up into the Honor Cemetery, a Nazi project in 1934 where WWI soldiers were exhumed and moved into a new ceremonial space. 1/
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The photos don't adequately convey the monumental landscaping, where the eye is drawn to a stone plinth and then beyond.
I want to commemorate Kenneth Jacobson, who recently passed at 92.
Like many I knew Ken from @actupny, where he calmly chaired the tempestuous Treatment & Data committee during my time.
Ken's in the black jacket here; 1/
ACT UP was one of the rare American organisations where people didn't ask immediately what your "profession" was, so many were unaware that Ken was an accomplished composer, including a song that Sinatra choose for his standard book: "Golden Moment"
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There's been no obituary for Ken, but here's an oral interview from his undergrad @ColbyCollege mainejews.org/docs/Colby/Ken…
It's painful, though to me that even as late as 2010, Ken was asked (and graciously let pass by) questions like this: 3/