The Moravian crossroads. Mathematics and mathematicians in Brno between German traditions and Czech hopes

always been a multicultural region. Due to the presence of a strong German minority, it was one of the parts of Europe where the question of nationalities would be posed with special acuteness in 1918 (see figure 1). This complex cultural cohabitation was reflected in the fact that two distinct mathematical communities lived side by side in the town. The discrepant effects of WWI on both communities are examined below from an international standpoint. 7 1. The Czech Fight for Higher Education in Moravia Before WWI Moravia is an interesting place to study the effect of the postwar cultural reconfigurations on mathematics. The father of Czechoslovakian independence, Tomáš G. Masaryk wrote that in the Ŗso-called ŘGerman territoriesř in Bohemia (Moravia and Silesia) numerous Czechs are living; it is therefore fair that the Czech state should keep them; it would be unfair to sacrifice several hundreds of thousand Czechs to the furor teutonicusŗ [Masaryk 1920]. This annexion was of course the seed of many conflicts to come. As Edvard Beneš, Czechoslovakiařs Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained to the delegates of the Peace Conference in Paris, on February 5, 1919: Ŗthe relations of Czechoslovakia with its neighbours have to be settled in order to avoid any future conflict.ŗ 8

In Brno the coexistence of the Czech majority with an important German minority was indeed tense. This fact is crucial in order to understand the shape of its educational institutions between 1880 and 1930. Although the German minority that had exerted a dominant role in the cultural arena suddenly lost its preeminent place in 1918, its cultural influence remained important. It is in this context that one must interpret efforts at building cultural bridges with Allied powers. Our study emphasizes a fact that may seem obvious at first glance, namely, that the history of mathematics in Moravia cannot avoid taking into account the relationship between communities, even if the contours of these communities were never very precise. These contacts were complicated, mixing rivalry and dialogue, and most often reduced to the minimum. 9 write Strasbourg where the Germans would of course have written Straßburg. We will not, however, use todayřs denomination for university towns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, since the context of our study is clearly German: accordingly, Chernivtsi will be called Czernowitz, Lviv Lemberg, and Wrocław Breslau. 7 Who, in this story, were the ŖGermansŗ and who were the ŖCzechsŗ is an important but difficult point to consider. During the period we study, the answer to such question was never univocal and was constantly changing depending on political and social conditions. In his study of the German minority in Czechoslovakia, Křen has shown the fluctuation in the definition of Germans (and Czechs) [Křen 1998]. In population censuses taken in the years 1880Ŕ1900, the numbers of inhabitants of Brno who declared Czech as their main language of communication, varied from 30 to 40 %. In the last census before WWI (1910), 41,000 out of 126,000 Brno inhabitants (32%) declared Czech as their usual language [Dřímal & Peša 1973, vol. 2, p. 64]. These figures must however be considered with care. Political and economical reasons probably led to an overestimation of the German settlement. This can be inferred from the fact that in the very different political context of January 1919, 61% of the (almost identical) population declared that it belonged to the Czech community. 8 Quoted from the newspaper Le Matin, February 6, 1919. 9 One may here recall the well-known fact that the coexistence of several cultural communities in Brno of course ended with violence. The German invasion of 1939 was followed by the terrible years of occupation and the general expulsion of German-speaking inhabitants between 1946 and1948. The first university to be established in Brno was, characteristically, a German institution. Founded in 1873, the Technical University (Technische Hochschule) replaced the Polytechnicum established in 1849, itself a distant heir of the old Olomouc Academy. 10 The Technical University was divided into faculties and was managed by an elected rector. Though the number of professors increased, the number of students stagnated and the Brno Technical University was, in fact, a small institution [Hellmer 1899]. But this does not mean that positions there were unappealing. Numerous Austrian scientists began their academic careers in modest size institutions. As Havránek recalls, the epigrammatic characterization of the professorřs career in the Habsburg monarchy might have been: ŖSentenced to Czernowitz, pardoned to Graz, promoted to Viennaŗ [Havránek 1998, p. 216]. Albeit less prestigious than Graz because of what was perceived as the hostile Czech environment, the Brno Technical University was certainly attractive due to its proximity to Vienna.

Since the beginning of the Czech national revival at the end of the 19th centur

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