Already in 1670, the physician
Israel Conradi (1634–1715) had tried to organize a scientific society in the city, without success. Several others tried after him, until
Daniel Gralath (1708–1767) finally succeeded. His father-in-law was
Jacob Theodor Klein (1685–1759), a city secretary and also a very distinguished scientist, nicknamed
Gedanensium Plinius. , seat of the organization from 1746 to 1846 At the end of 1742, Gralath had gathered a group of learned men for his purpose, an
Experimental Physics Society (Societas Physicae Experimentalis), one of the oldest research societies of its type. The first organizing meeting took place on 7 November 1742, the first scientific meeting was called on 2 January 1743. The aim of the Society was to practice and popularize science, among others through weekly public demonstrations of the most interesting experiments in physics. Often the effects of
electricity were studied, with the help of the
Leyden jar. Since 1746 these took place in the Great Hall of the
Green Gate. Gralath also became a
councilman and, in 1763, mayor of Danzig. The Society was also supported by Polish King
Stanisław August Poniatowski. Known members were
Nathanael Matthaeus von Wolf,
Michael Christoph Hanow,
Gottfried Lengnich,
Johann Jacob Mascov, who wrote the
Geschichte der Teutschen, also
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit and the
prince-bishop Adam Stanisław Grabowski. The sessions of the Society were also attended by many famous persons of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth like
Great Lithuanian Hetman Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł,
August Fryderyk Moszyński,
Joachim Chreptowicz. After the annexation of the city by
Prussia in the
Second Partition of Poland and during the
Napoleonic Wars, the organization fell into such decline that in 1812 it was proposed to dissolve it, however, several members decided to continue its activity. In 1866, an astronomical observatory was placed in its tower. were destroyed during the
Soviet offensive in 1945, two years after the 200th anniversary. The building at the Motława river was rebuilt after the war. It houses an Archaeological Museum today. == References ==