First on their list of candidates was Landau at Göttingen, but he turned down the offer, not wanting to leave the comfort of his current post in order to have the relatively major task of creating the new position in Heidelberg.
Unang sa kanilang listahan ng mga kandidato ay Landau sa Gottingen, ngunit siya nabuksan ang alok, hindi willing na iwan ang kaginhawaan ng kanyang kasalukuyang post upang magkaroon ng relatibong malalaking gawain ng paglikha ng bagong posisyon sa Heidelberg.