Traces in Dublin
Ludwig Hopf: Mathematician, Physicist, and Lecturer at Trinity College

Ludwig Hopf was born in Nuremberg on 23 October 1884 as the eldest son of a Jewish hop trader. Ludwig followed his scientific interest and became a Mathematician and Physicist, settling in Munich in 1906. Arnold Sommerfeld had begun to make Munich one of the most important places for the study of theoretical Physics in the world. Sommerfeld became Hopf’s PhD advisor and lifelong mentor.

In 1909, Sommerfeld introduced Hopf to Albert Einstein at the 81st Congress of German Scientists and Physicians. Ludwig Hopf then became Einstein’s assistant and worked on scientific publications with him. After his habilitation in 1910 and serving in the First World War, Hopf published important standard works for physics, such as Aerodynamik. In 1923, he became a professor for mathematics and mechanics at the Technical University.

As a Jewish professor, he was suspended by the Nazi regime in 1933 and pensioned off in 1934. He then supported his sons’ emigration and attempted to find work as an academic again. In spring 1939, Hopf was able to emigrate to England and was then invited to Ireland to teach at Trinity College Dublin. He arrived in July 1939 as a “Refugee of distinction” but died five months later.