A century ago, David Hilbert stepped to the podium at a special meeting of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences to recall the achievements of his close friend Hermann Minkowski. Just one month earlier, on 12 January 1909, the 43-year-old Minkowski had died unexpectedly after suffering a ruptured appendix, leaving those close to him in a state of shock. None was more deeply affected than Hilbert, whose memorial lecture (Hilbert 1910) reflects the deep sense of personal loss he felt at that time: