EN
Walther Hermann Nernst is one of the most eminent men of science of the modern times. His great scientific career, crowned by the prestigious Nobel Prize, began with primary and secondary education in Wąbrzeźno and Grudziądz. Nernst’s childhood and youth coincided with the dynamic civilisational changes characteristic of the 19th century, which did not spare the peripheral provinces of contemporary Prussia and the German Reich. The modernisation transformations of the time encompassed public space and means of communication, but also the sphere of political awareness and mentality of the inhabitants of Grudziądz and the region, a population that was nationally, ethnically and socially diversified. The Zeitgeist of that era, a time of optimistic faith in progress and science, was conducive to expanding mental horizons. Such circumstances enabled ambitious and talented individuals (including those from the provinces) to develop their careers.