| 1864-06-25 | Walther Hermann Nernst is born in Briesen, West Prussia (now Wabrzezno, Poland). |
| 1883 | Abitur, Gymnasium in Graudenz (now Grudziadz, Poland) |
| Studies at the universities of Zürich (1883 and 1884) and Berlin. | |
| Lectures by Ludwig Boltzmann, experimental studies together with Albert von Ettingshausen, Graz. | |
| 1887 | Nernst-Ettingshausen Effect |
| Joins Friedrich Kohlrausch, Würzburg. PhD thesis, meets Svante Arrhenius and Emil Fischer. | |
| Return to Graz with Arrhenius, work with v. Ettingshausen | |
| Wilhelm Ostwald, Leipzig travels to Graz in search of an assistant. Nernst accepts. | |
| 1888 | Nernst Equation |
| 1889 | Nernst Equation, habilitation, osmotic theory of galvanic cells, Die elektromotorische Wirksamkeit der Jonen |
| Teaching assistant with Prof. Brühl in Heidelberg. Return to Leipzig | |
| 1890 | Assistant and private lecturer with Eduard Riecke at the Göttingen physics institute (Easter 1890). He lives at Bühlstr. 36. |
| Nernst Distribution Law (1890/1891) | |
| 1891 | Declines call to Gießen. Extraordinary professor in Göttingen |
| 1892-09-01 | Marriage with Emma Lohmeyer, daughter of a Göttingen medical professor. They had 5 children, 2 sons (Rudolf and Gustav, both were killed in World War I) and 3 daughters (Hildegard, Edith and Angela). |
| 1893 | 1st edition of Theoretische Chemie vom Standpunkte der Avogadro'schen Regel und der Thermodynamik (last edition 1926) |
| 1894 | Deutsche Elektrochemische Gesellschaft (German electrochemical society, 1902 renamed Bunsen-Gesellschaft) is founded in Cassel (now Kassel) 1894-04-21; cf. Z. Elektrochem. 1(2):33 - 35, 74, 1894. |
| Novel method for the measurement of dielectric constants (modified Wheatstone bridge for alternating currents). | |
| Design of a novel potentiometer which is manufactured be Ernst Ruhstrat, Göttingen. | |
| Nernst declines call to München as successor of Ludwig Boltzmann. Ordinary professor + new institute in Göttingen. |
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| 1895 | Göttingen physicochemical institute, construction and first uses. |
| 1st edition of Einführung in die mathematische Behandlung der Naturwissenschaften (with A. Schönflies) | |
| Naturforscherversammlung in Lübeck, September 16 - 21, 1895. Talk of Miss Maltby (PhD student of Nernst) - first talk of a woman at such conference. | |
| 1896-06-02 | Inauguration of the Göttingen physicochemical institute. Speech (facsimile), Festschrift (serious), Bierzeitung (funny). |
| 1897 | Nernst Lamp (patent D.R.P. 104872) |
| 1898 | AEG (director Emil Rathenau) buys patent of Nernst Lamp. Nernst donates 40000 Mark for additions to the Göttingen institute building. |
| Voyage Bremen - New York (1898-04-07, steamer "Lahn") in order to obtain a
U.S. patent for the Nernst lamp. Prototypes of the lamp are built by Spindler & Hoyer, Göttingen. |
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| 1899 | Nernst law of electrical nerve stimulus threshold (Reizschwellengesetz). |
| 1899-05-09 | First public presentation of the Nernst Lamp in the conference room of the AEG, Luisenstr., Berlin |
| 1899-05-25 | Annual meeting German electrochem. Soc. in Göttingen (- 1899-05-27). Picture postcard. Commers songbook (funny) |
| 1900 | Presentation of the Nernst Lamp at the World's Fair in Paris (Exposition Universelle); Grand Prix for W. Nernst |
| 1901 | Presentation of the Nernst Lamp at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo |
| 1903 | Micro torsional balance (with E. H. Riesenfeld); Chem. Ber. 36 (1903) 2086. Manufactured by Spindler & Hoyer, Göttingen. Sensitivity 5 microgram, max. 2 mg |
| 1904 | Some preliminary work on the ammonia equilibrium (with Karl Jellinek). World's Fair in St. Louis, Mo. (Louisiana Purchase Exposition); presentation of the Nernst Lamp, scientific congress. |
| 1905 | Berlin. Professor of Chemistry, successor of Landolt (1905-04-01) |
| Title of Geheimer Regierungsrat (cf. Phys. Z. 6 (1905) 249) | |
| 1. Vorsitzender (president) Bunsengesellschaft (1905 - 1908) | |
| 1905-11-24 | Fellow of the Berlin Academy of Sciences |
| 1905-12-23 | Nernst Heat Theorem (Third Law of Thermodynamics) Neuer Wärmesatz presented at a meeting of the Königliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen (Royal Academy of Sciences) |
| 1906-04-26 | VI. Intl. congress on applied chemistry, Rome (- 1906-05-03); cf. Z. Elektrochem. 12(29):498, 1906 |
| Voyage Liverpool - New York (1906-09-26 - 1906-10-03, steamer "Oceanic"). Silliman Lectures, Yale University, Philadelphia (1906-10-22 - 1906-11-02). |
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| 1907 | Buys country estate Rittergut Rietz near Treuenbrietzen (60 km south of Berlin) for recreation, entertaining guests and hunting parties. |
| Additions to the Berlin institute building (almost doubling of floor space) (March 1907 - August 1908) | |
| Bunsentagung in Hamburg (1907): Controversy with Fritz Haber on the ammonia equilibrium/synthesis | |
| 1909-01-09 | Inauguration of the enlarged Berlin physicochemical institute. Lecture with experiments by W. Nernst. |
| 1911 | Simple liquefier for hydrogen. Z. Elektrochem. 17(17):735 - 737, 1911 (drawing); Die Umschau 15(52):1076 - 1078, 1911 |
| Solvay Congress in Brussels (initiated by Nernst) | |
| 1912 | 25th PhD anniversary, Festschrift |
| Honorary member of the Bunsengesellschaft. Fellow of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences | |
| 1913 | Conference on "the kinetic theory of matter and electricity" (the so-called "Gaswoche") in Göttingen (April 21 - 26) with talks of M. Planck, P. Debye, W. Nernst, M. v. Smoluchowski, A. Sommerfeld and H. A. Lorentz; supported by redirected (due to D. Hilbert) funds of the Wolfskehl foundation |
| Collaboration of W. Nernst with VARTA AG on the development of fuel cells | |
| 1914-05-21 | Bunsen-Denkmünze awarded in absence (lectures at La Plata, Argentina); cf. Z. Elektrochem. 20(12):357, 1914 |
| Honorary member university of La Plata and chemical society Buenos Aires (1914) | |
| Honorary doctor (Dr.-Ing. h. c.) Technische Hochschule Danzig (1914); cf. Z. Elektrochem. 20(14):470, 1914 | |
| 1914 - 1918 | World War I. Automobil-Korps. Signs Aufruf/Manifest An die Kulturwelt 1914-10-04. Research on chemical warfare (poison/tear gas; explosives). Eisernes Kreuz (1914), son Rudolf is killed (1914); cf. Z. Elektrochem. 20(20/21):585, 1914. Article with a photograph of W. Nernst on horseback (Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung 1915-08-29) |
| 1917 | Member of the Order Pour le mérite, successor of Count Zeppelin; cf. Z. Elektrochem. 23(19/20): 323, 1917 |
| 1st edition of Die theoretischen und experimentellen Grundlagen des neuen Wärmesatzes (printed 1918) | |
| 1918 | Photochemical chain reaction theory |
| Buys Brennerei (distillery) and Rittergut Dargersdorf (Vietmannsdorf, Uckermark, Mark Brandenburg, 7 km south of Templin) (1918 - 1919) | |
| 1920 | Fellow of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm; cf. Z. Elektrochem. 26(3/4):95, 1920 |
| 1921 | Booklet Das Weltgebäude im Lichte der neueren Forschung (based on a lecture 1921-02-19) |
| Rector Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universiät, Berlin (inaugural speech 1921-10-15) | |
| 1921-12-10 | Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the year 1920 "in recognition of his work in thermochemistry" |
| 1922 | President Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, successor of Emil Warburg (1922 - 1924) |
| Buys country estate Rittergut Oberzibelle (Zibelle, near Muskau, Oberlausitz, 160 km south-east of Berlin). Starts fish farming (breeding carp) | |
| 1923 | 2nd edition of Die theoretischen und experimentellen Grundlagen des neuen
Wärmesatzes. Lecture/speech Energiebilanz des Weltalls (newspaper article) |
| 1924 | Chair of physics, successor of Heinrich Rubens |
| 1928 | Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry |
| 1930 | Bechstein-Siemens-Nernst Piano (Neo-Bechstein), electric/electronic piano |
| 1932-06-02 | Fellow of the Royal Society, London |
| 1933 | Emeritus, retirement (protest against Nazification of science), breeding carp, hunting at Zibelle |
| 1941-11-18 | Walther Nernst dies at his Rittergut Oberzibelle (Zibelle, near Muskau, Oberlausitz; now Niwica, Poland). Cremation in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. In 1951 his urn is transferred to the Göttingen Stadtfriedhof (municipal cemetery), and his tomb is there since that time. |
| 1950 | In Hamburg-Ottensen the road Schulstraße is renamed Nernstweg. |
| 19xx? | In Leipzig-Möckern the road Warburgstraße is renamed Nernststraße. |
| 1951-11-01 | The urns of Walther Nernst and of his wife Emma (she died 1949-05-04) have been transferred from Berlin and from London, resp., to Göttingen and are buried in a simple ceremony at the Göttingen Stadtfriedhof (municipal cemetery), and a tomb is erected. |
| 1957 | A little road in a residential area in Göttingen is named Walther-Nernst-Weg. |
| 1964-05-07 | Bunsentagung in Berlin (- 1964-05-10). Festvortrag J. Eggert on W. Nernst |
| 1964-06-27 | In der Aula der Universität Göttingen Gedenkfeier der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Deutschen Bunsen-Gesellschaft zum 100. Geburtstage von Prof. Dr. Walther Nernst. |
| 1964-10-01 | Walther-Nernst-Gedächtnissymposium at the Humboldt University, Berlin (- 1964-10-03); Walther-Nernst-Hörsaal, Bunsenstr. 1, Berlin; commemorative tablet for W. Nernst in the lecture hall |
| 1970 | A crater on the far side of the moon is named Nernst (coordinates 35.3° N / 94.8° W, diameter 116 km) |
| 1974-09-01 | In Berlin, district Neukölln, a little road (footpath) is named Nernstweg. |
| 1983-09-13 | Commemorative tablet for W. Nernst and M. Bodenstein at the physicochemical institute, Bunsenstr. 1, Berlin |
| 1991-06-29 | Commemorative tablet at Nernst's house of birth in Briesen/Wabrzezno |
| 1991-11-18 | Kolloquium aus Anlass des 50. Todestages von W. Nernst. Humboldt-Univ. Berlin, Bunsenstr. 1 (W. Nernst-Hörsaal) |
| 1992-11-21 | Commemorative tablet for W. Nernst at Zibelle/Niwica where he lived 1922 - 1941; cf. Phys. Bl. 49(3):234, 1993 |
| 1996-06-27 | Centennial celebration: 100 Jahre Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Göttingen |
| 1998-08-26 | In Berlin, district Treptow/Johannisthal/Adlershof (new science campus) a little road is named Walther-Nernst-Straße. |
| 1999-04-16 | Commemorative tablet at the ARD Hauptstadtstudio, Wilhelmstr. 67a, Berlin (location of the old institute of physics) |
| 2005-07-08 | Centennial of the Nernst Heat Theorem (3rd law of thermodynamics). Colloquium in honor of W. Nernst, Humboldt-Univ. Berlin |
Revised 2023-09-13
