IMU General Assembly 1998

    Dresden, August 15 - 16

    The General Assembly 1998 of the International Mathemtical Union (IMU) was held in Dresden, August 15 - 16, on the weekend directly before the International Congress of Mathematicians Berlin 1998 (ICM'98).

    Dresden, the capital of the "Freistaat Sachsen", one of the states of the Federal Republic of Germany, is one of the most beautiful cities of Germany. Dresden has been destroyed almost completely at the end of World War II. Extensive rebuilding projects are still going on to recover the beauty of the "old times" when Dresden was built under the rule of the Kings of Saxony.

    The meeting took place at Hotel Bellevue. The hotel is located on the river Elbe, roughly at the point where one of the most famous views of Dresden has been painted by Canaletto in 1748 (click here for the painting).

    • The General Assembly 1998
      • GA 1997 Invitation letter to Adhering Organizations/National Committees
      • Time and Location
      • Tentative Schedule
      • Agenda
      • Social Program
      • ICM'98 Information for Delegates of the General Assembly
      • Accommodation and Travel Directions
      • Registration
      • Local Organizer at Dresden
    • Dresden
    • Collection of some relevant material from the IMU-Server
      • Statutes and By-laws of IMU.
      • IMU Correspondence. The last two letters contain
        • Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of IMU
        • Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of ICMI
        • Procedures for the Election of CDE
        Similar Procedures for the Election of the two IMU-members of the Executive Commitee of ICHM are being considered by the IMU Executive Committee.
      • IMU Bulletins.
      • Bids for ICM 2002
    • Participating Nations and Delegates
    • GA 1997 Invitation letter to Adhering Organizations/National Committees
    • Report on the last General Assembly (1994)

    Time and Location

     The General Assembly 1998 was held in Dresden, August 15 - 16, at
      The Westin Bellevue, Dresden
      Große Meißner Straße 15
      01097 Dresden
      Germany

      Phone: +49/351/805 0    Fax: +49/351/805 1609

    A conference secretariat was available from the afternoon of August 14 to noon August 16 at the Salon Prestige of Hotel Bellevue,

      Conference Secretariat (Salon Prestige):
           Opening hours:     Friday    14:00 - 22:00     Saturday   8:00 - 16:30     Sunday     8:00 - 14:00

    Schedule
    • Friday, August 14, Arrival of the delegates in Dresden
    • Saturday, August 15
      • 10:00 - 13:00 Opening of the General Assembly and First Session
      • 13:00 - 14:00 One hour break for lunch (by invitation of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee)
      • 14:00 - 16:30 Second Session of the General Assembly
      • 17:00 -   Boat tour on the river Elbe (by invitation of the State of Saxony)
    • Sunday, August 16
      • 8:00 - 9:30 Sessions of various Committees
        • Credentials Committee
        • Resolutions Committee
        • Committee for Finance and Dues
        • Nominating Committee
      • 9:30 - 13:00 Third session of the General Assembly
      • 13:00 Closing of the General Assembly
      • 15:00 Guided tours of Dresden (by invitation of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee)
      • 20:30 Concert in the Unterkirche of the Frauenkirche (by invitation of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee)
    • Monday, August 17, Transfer Dresden-Berlin (in form of a sight-seeing tour to Meißen, by invitation of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee)

    Draft Agenda

     for the 13rd General Assembly of the International Mathematical Union
    Dresden, Germany, August 15-16, 1998 (Opening session at 10 a.m.)

    According to the By-Laws of the IMU, 3., the agenda will be dispatched by the Executive Committee to the Adhering Organizations at least three months before the meeting. A question which has not been put upon the agenda may be discussed, but will not be put to the vote unless a proposal to that effect is approved by a majority of the total number of votes assigned to the members.

    According to the By-Laws of the IMU, 2., the Executive Committee, the Adhering Organizations, and the commissions of the Union may propose business to be transacted at meetings of the General Assembly. Such proposals have to reach the Secretary at least four months before the meeting.

    1. Opening of the Assembly
    2. Address by the President
    3. Appointment of Committees
      (i) Credentials Committee
      (ii) Resolutions Committee
      (iii) Tellers
      (iv) Committee for Finance and Dues
      (v) Nominating Committee
    4. Members
      4.1 Change of Group
      4.2 Dues arrears of members
    5. Review of the activities of the Union:
      5.1 Symposia and conferences, ICMI, CDE, ICHM
      5.2 IMU Bulletin; World Directory of Mathematicians
    6. Finance and dues:
      6.1 Financial reports for the years 1994-1997
      6.2 Proposal for the creation of a Commission on Electronic Publishing
      6.3 Budget for the years 1999 - 2002
    7. Elections:
      7.1 Executive Committee of IMU
      7.2 Executive Committee of ICMI
      7.3 CDE
      7.4 ICHM
      7.5 Representative of IMU to ICSU
    8. Site of ICM-2002
    9. Change of Statutes
    10. WMY 2000
    11. Adoption of resolutions
    12. Miscellaneous
    13. Any other item with the permission of the President
    14. Next meeting of the General Assembly

    Social Program

     The delegates of the General Assembly were offered the following social program:

    Boat Tour with a Paddle Steamer: Saturday, August 15, 17:00
    The government of the State of Saxony cordially invites you to a reception on a boat trip from Dresden to Pillnitz. State Secretary Noack will give a welcoming address, we are delighted to hear that Minister Schommer of the State of Saxony will also participate in the reception. Complimentary food and beverages will be served. In Pillnitz the steamer will pause for one hour to offer you the possibility for strolling through the park of Pillnitz castle. On the trip back beverages will be available at usual prizes.

    Guided Tour of the Historical Center of Dresden: Sunday, August 16, 15:00
    The guided tour will lead you to the Inner Neustadt (new town) and over the Augustus Bridge to the Altstadt (old town) with the Semper Opera House, the baroque castle complex of the Zwinger, The Taschenberg Palace, the Br"uhl's Terrace - the "balcony of Europe" -, the Procession of Dukes - a monumental mosaic made of Meissen porcelain tiles showing the rulers of the house of Wettin - and the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). If you are interested please join one of the six guides that will be available. This is a complimentary offer of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee to all GA delegates, guest, and accompanying persons.

    Concert in The Crypta of The Frauenkirche: Sunday, August 16, 20:30
    The Frauenkirche, one of the architectural jewels of Dresden, was destroyed during World War II and is now being rebuilt. The crypta has been completed just recently. The concert will be given by the Virtuosi Saxoniae, an ensemble formed by members of the Saxon State Orchestra - the oldest (still existing) orchestra in the world. Program: 

       Franz Xaver Richter    :  String quartet in C major op. 51   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:  Divertimento in D major K 136   Luigi Boccherini       :  String quartet in G minor op. 33 no. 5   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:  Eine kleine Nachtmusik K 525
    The concert is a complimentary offer of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee to all GA delegates, guests, and accompanying persons.

    Bus Transfer to Berlin via Meissen: Monday, August 17, 9:00/9:20
    Busses will pick up participants of the complimentary coach tour at 9:00 at the parking lot in front of Hotel Bellevue and at 9:20 in Melanchthon Street in front of Ramada Hotel.
    Schedule: 

       10:30 Porcelain factory Meissen (Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Dresden)         Porcelain museum with demonstration workshop and exhibition hall   12:00 bus transfer to the hill of Meissen castle   12:15 one hour time to visit Meissen (the old Meissen castle with the          Gothic cathedral or, downhill, the market place)         Some information material with a city map will be distributed          during the bus transfer from Dresden to Meissen.   13:15 Dinner in the old building of St. Afra, nearby the          St. Afra Church, Restaurant "Monasterium"   15:00 Departure from Meissen to Berlin
    The busses will arrive in Berlin between 18:00 and 19:00 o'clock at Bahnhof Zoo (railway station "Zoologischer Garten" at the centre of Berlin).

    The fastest public transport connection to Berlin is by train, departing from Dresden Hauptbahnhof every two hours (starting at 7:16, 9:16, 11:16, ...) and arriving in Berlin Ostbahnhof (the trip takes about 2 hours).

    ICM'98

     The International Congress of Mathematicians 1998 (ICM'98) took place in Berlin, August 18-27, directly after the General Assembly. Formally, ICM and the General Assembly are not connected. Delegates who wished to participate in ICM'98 had to register for ICM'98 separately, no benefits arose from being a participant of the General Assembly. However, for GA participants registered for ICM'98 we provided a special service: They received their ICM'98 registration material already in Dresden so that they did not have to line up in Berlin.

    Information about all aspects of ICM'98 is available on the following website:

    http://elib.zib.de/ICM98

    Accommodation and Travel Directions

    Hotels

    Rooms had been reserved at
      The Westin Bellevue, Dresden
      Große Meißner Straße 15         (map showing street)
      01097 Dresden
      Germany

      Phone: +49/351/815 0    Fax: +49/351/815 1609

    at DM 222.00 per night for single rooms and DM 249.00 for double rooms.

    To provide rooms at more affordable rates, additional reservations had been made in

      Ramada Hotel Garni Gmbh & Co. KG
      Melanchthonstr.2         (map showing street)
      01067 Dresden
      Germany

      Phone: +49/351/80 61 462    Fax: +49/351/80 61 444

    at DM 98.00 per night for single rooms and DM 123.00 for double rooms. Ramada Hotel is within walking distance from Hotel Bellevue.

    A reservation form for these hotel was enclosed in the invitation letters. Participants were requested to fill out the form and mail or fax it as soon as possible to Prof. Nollau (Dresden). He acknowledged receipt and sent additional information after the form arrived. The deadline for sending reservation forms was June 1, 1998.

    How to Reach Dresden

    The schematic map of Dresden provides a rough overview of the location of airport, railway stations, and the hotels. Detailed maps to the hotels were given above.

    By Plane

    From the Airport Dresden - Klotzsche, during day-time the Airport City Liner leaves every 20-30 minutes for the center of Dresden. Get off at the stop Augustusbrücke. This is close to Hotel Bellevue. The trip takes about 20 minutes, the fare is about 6 DM. The taxi fare from the Airport to Hotel Bellevue is approximately 25 DM.

    See informations on long distance transport on the WWW-server Online Information System of Dresden

    By Train

    From the Dresden Main Railway Station (Dresden Hauptbahnhof), take Tramway No. 5 from the East front of the railway building with the destination Übigau or Tramway No. 11 from the North-East corner with the destination Bühlau. Leave at the stop Neustädter Markt.

    From the Dresden-Neustadt Railway Station, you can walk to Hotel Bellevue via Hainstrasse (about 1 km). Ramada Hotel can be reached by Tramway No. 6. Get off at the stop Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

    Of course, at the train stations taxis are also available.

    See the timetable of the Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company, or informations on long distance transport on the WWW-server Online Information System of Dresden.

    By Car

    Leave the Highway A 4 at Dresden - Neustadt, follow Lommatzscher Strasse and Leipziger Strasse to the inner part of Dresden. The Grosse Meissner Strasse is the immediate continuation of Leipziger Strasse.

    See the map Germany's roads and autobahns on the WWW-server of the Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus e.V. Dresden is somewhat below Berlin in the north eastern part of Germany.

    Passports and Visas

    For citizens of the countries of the European Community an identity card is sufficient. Citizens of other countries must be in possession of a valid passport, and for certain countries visas are required as well. Please consult the German Embassy or Consulate in your country for details. We advise you to apply for a visa at least three months before the date on which you plan to leave for Germany. If you have not recieved a visa by one month before this date, contact us by fax or e-mail. In order to help you, we need the following information: name, address and date of birth, passport number, date and place of visa application. On the net some visa information is available in the Travel Information section of the german information center in the US. Other soruces of interest are the servers of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the Federal Government of Germany.

    Registration for the General Assembly

     After arrival in Dresden, delegates were requested to go to the GA secretariat in Salon Prestige (Hotel Bellevue) to register for the General Assembly and to obtain additional information. Registration was not possible in the Ramada Hotel.

    Local Organizer at Dresden

     The ICM'98 Organizing Committee was responsible for the organization of the General Assembly. For questions, please contact the president of the Organizing Committee

        Prof. Dr. Martin Grötschel
        Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum
        Takustr. 7
        D-14195 Berlin
        Germany

        E-mail: groetschel@zib.de
        Phone: +49/30/84185-210,    Fax: +49/30/84185-269

    In addition, a team of colleagues of the Technische Universität of Dresden supported the organization. Local responsibility rested with

        Prof. Dr. Volker Nollau
        Technische Universität Dresden
        Institut für Mathematische Stochastik
        Willersbau B 320
        01062 Dresden
        Germany

        E-mail: nollau@math.tu-dresden.de
        Tel: +49/351/463 2425,    Fax: +49/351/463 7251


    helmberg@zib.de