Viribus unitis! shall be our watchword: the first International Congress of Mathematicians,held 9–11 August 1897 in Zurich

Georg Cantor voiced the need for opportunities facilitating international mathematical cooperation as early as in 1888. A decade and efforts by a number of mathematicians later, the first International Congress of Mathematicians marked the beginning of an era where personal relations between mathematicians were considered to be of great importance. Furthermore, it set the standards for future congresses. As well as giving an overview of the pre-history and the organization of the congress, I look at a wider historic context, conjecture on the reasons why it was held in Zurich and why such a great emphasis was placed on the social aspect. This paper is a slightly modified version of the talk given at the BSHM Research in Progress Meeting held 3 March 2012 in Oxford.