Boltzmanngasse 5
Mathematical and Philosophical Institute of the University of Vienna
Wiener Kreis Gesellschaft
This address was central to the Vienna Circle in several respects. The Department of Mathematics and the Department of Philosophy were located here, with the professorships of Hans Hahn, Karl Menger, and Moritz Schlick. Kurt Gödel was employed as an lecturer and docent (Privatdozent), and Friedrich Waismann was a librarian. Starting in 1924, the meetings of the Vienna Circle, to which Schlick issued personal invitations, took place in a room at the Department of Mathematics. In its diversity, the group was special in several respects: it included professors and students, was multi-ethnic, and – for its time – had a large proportion of women. Also in Boltzmanngasse, Karl Menger organised a Mathematical Colloquium and three lecture series on the exact sciences as a parallel activity to the Schlick Circle from 1928 to 1936.
Letter from Edgar Zilsel renouncing his habilitation submission, 3 November 1924
Despite his high qualifications, Zilsel was told that, as a Jew and proponent of an antimetaphysical philosophy, he had no chance of habilitation. He therefore withdrew his application.
Tues 8th – The first exercises (axiomatics), in the mathematical institute. With Ms Neurath. In the afternoon, discussion with Miss Rand about her dissertation.
Carnap's diary, 8. May 1928
Hans Hahn’s report on Kurt Gödel’s habilitation thesis „Über formal unentscheidbare Sätze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter Systeme“, 1932
Gödel’s work, wrote Hahn, „is a scientific achievement of the first rank, which caused the greatest sensation in all professional circles and – as can be predicted with certainty – will take its place in the history of mathematics“.
In 1933/34, the university was closed for extended periods of time. Both Schlick’s Circle and my Colloquium, however, met regularly though Schlick, Hahn, and I, being the only members with keys to the deserted buildings, had let the others in. Upon entering one had the feeling of having reached a quiet oasis.
Karl Menger
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung
The group size fluctuated between ten and twenty over the years. During each academic year, the composition of the group remained essentially the same, with the exception of external guests. [...] The students came in roughly equal numbers from the fields of mathematics and philosophy; most of them did not yet know themselves where they belonged. [...] The room was filled with rows of chairs and long tables arranged to form a conference table. When there was no meeting, it was used as a reading room. The first to arrive moved some tables and chairs away from the conference table that was used by most of the speakers. In the space thus gained, they arranged the chairs in a semi-circle. A long table was kept free for those who wanted to bring books or smoke, or take notes. [...] The participants stood around in informal groups until Schlick clapped his hands. Then the conversations ended, everyone took a seat, and Schlick, who usually sat at one end of the table near the banquet table, announced the topic of the evening‘s lecture or report or discussion.
Karl Menger
Yes, those were the Thursday evenings in Boltzmanngasse. There were four students alongside professors and doctorate degree holders. One was Rose Rand [...]. And then there was Natkin, Feigl, and me; we were all still students.
Heinrich Neider
Administrative office of the Vienna universities to the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Philosophy in Vienna – Waismann’s dismissal, 10 February 1936
nder Austrofascism, there was no longer any place for a analytic philosopher and Jew like Friedrich Waismann at the university, where Moritz Schlick had at least secured him a job as a librarian.