We are assembled to pay tribute to Niels Bohr. Niels Bohr is the symbol, he is the origin, he is the main architect of our work. It was through him, by him, and with him that all this on which our work and our existence stands was created. He was a great man. What is greatness? A great man is one who creates a new period, a new way of thinking, and truly he and his life correspond to this definition. The influence of what he started is seen in every aspect of our life. Modern science has reshaped our world. It became the determining factor in our thinking, in our culture, even in politics, and it establishes the direction in which mankind will move in the next decades. The real significance of the development which was initiated by Bohr cannot yet be judged by us. We are too close to his life. Only from a distance can one see how much Mont Blanc towers over the other mountains of the Alps.