28.8 How We Remember Bergman and Scheele
Today, Scheele is by far the more well known of the two friends. In part, this is due
to the nature of their work. Scheele discovered substances that are widely used
today, while Bergman developed ideas and methods that were perfected by others
after his premature death. Thus, Scheele’s accomplishments have been easier to
grasp and refer to compared with Bergman’s more abstract work. Bergman’s reputation also suffers from the fact that he worked in so many fields, while Scheele
devoted his energy entirely to chemistry. At the best, Bergman is credited as the
father of analytical chemistry and in Sweden he is sometimes credited as the father
of the mineral water (or even soft drink) industry. In addition, Scheele’s background as a simple apothecary apprentice has probably captured peoples’ imagination and made him more interesting than Professor Bergman.
As a wave of patriotism swept over Sweden in the late nineteenth century,
Scheele was turned into a national hero [53], entirely disregarding his German
background. The 100th anniversary of Scheele’s death in 1886 and the 150th
anniversary of Scheele’s birth in 1892 were thus celebrated with the erection of a
statue, publication of a handful of short biographies and even a specially composed
piece of music. It is a good guess that all of this would have made Scheele rather
uncomfortable. Stralsund, where Scheele was born, became a city in East Germany
in 1949, and for the 200th anniversary of Scheele’s death, a symposium was held in
his honour in East Berlin. The published lectures [54] contain several references to
Friedrich Engels and even a quote from General Secretary Erich Honecker, who
used Scheele as a good example of the good relationship between Sweden and East
Germany. This is quite remarkable, as Scheele had no interest in politics whatsoever. Today, there are streets named after Scheele in about a dozen Swedish cities
(Fig. 28.5), and there is a Scheele laboratory at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He has a pharmacy in Stockholm and a School in Köping named after him.
Every year since 1961, the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society awards the Scheele
Award to prominent researchers in the field of drug discovery.
Compared to Scheele, Bergman has received far less recognition after his death.
There are, for example, no streets or institutions named after Bergman, and there are
no statues of Bergman, although the facade of the former Department of Chemistry
at Uppsala (built in 1901–1904) is decorated with busts of Bergman, Scheele and
Berzelius (Fig. 28.6); busts of Bergman and Scheele are also found on the facade of
the physics building (which used to be a combined physics and chemistry building)
of Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg, built in 1926 (Fig. 28.7). In
addition, there is an urn with Bergman’s portrait on the yard of the Västergötland
student nation of Uppsala University (Fig. 28.8).
6 The Torbern Bergman medal
(Fig. 3.7) is presented to researchers in the field of analytical chemistry by the
Swedish Chemical Society every second or third year since 1967, and the winner is
6
Bergman belonged to the Västergötland Student Nation, but the Nation was housed on a different
address in Bergman’s days.
386
28 The End of the Story
Today, Scheele is by far the more well known of the two friends. In part, this is due
to the nature of their work. Scheele discovered substances that are widely used
today, while Bergman developed ideas and methods that were perfected by others
after his premature death. Thus, Scheele’s accomplishments have been easier to
grasp and refer to compared with Bergman’s more abstract work. Bergman’s reputation also suffers from the fact that he worked in so many fields, while Scheele
devoted his energy entirely to chemistry. At the best, Bergman is credited as the
father of analytical chemistry and in Sweden he is sometimes credited as the father
of the mineral water (or even soft drink) industry. In addition, Scheele’s background as a simple apothecary apprentice has probably captured peoples’ imagination and made him more interesting than Professor Bergman.
As a wave of patriotism swept over Sweden in the late nineteenth century,
Scheele was turned into a national hero [53], entirely disregarding his German
background. The 100th anniversary of Scheele’s death in 1886 and the 150th
anniversary of Scheele’s birth in 1892 were thus celebrated with the erection of a
statue, publication of a handful of short biographies and even a specially composed
piece of music. It is a good guess that all of this would have made Scheele rather
uncomfortable. Stralsund, where Scheele was born, became a city in East Germany
in 1949, and for the 200th anniversary of Scheele’s death, a symposium was held in
his honour in East Berlin. The published lectures [54] contain several references to
Friedrich Engels and even a quote from General Secretary Erich Honecker, who
used Scheele as a good example of the good relationship between Sweden and East
Germany. This is quite remarkable, as Scheele had no interest in politics whatsoever. Today, there are streets named after Scheele in about a dozen Swedish cities
(Fig. 28.5), and there is a Scheele laboratory at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He has a pharmacy in Stockholm and a School in Köping named after him.
Every year since 1961, the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society awards the Scheele
Award to prominent researchers in the field of drug discovery.
Compared to Scheele, Bergman has received far less recognition after his death.
There are, for example, no streets or institutions named after Bergman, and there are
no statues of Bergman, although the facade of the former Department of Chemistry
at Uppsala (built in 1901–1904) is decorated with busts of Bergman, Scheele and
Berzelius (Fig. 28.6); busts of Bergman and Scheele are also found on the facade of
the physics building (which used to be a combined physics and chemistry building)
of Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg, built in 1926 (Fig. 28.7). In
addition, there is an urn with Bergman’s portrait on the yard of the Västergötland
student nation of Uppsala University (Fig. 28.8).
6 The Torbern Bergman medal
(Fig. 3.7) is presented to researchers in the field of analytical chemistry by the
Swedish Chemical Society every second or third year since 1967, and the winner is
6
Bergman belonged to the Västergötland Student Nation, but the Nation was housed on a different
address in Bergman’s days.
386
28 The End of the Story