An dieser ehrwürdigsten Stätte
At this most venerable site
französischer Wissenschaft über die neue Phänomenologie sprechen zu dürfen,
site of French science: inside, not on public places! Science, i.e. philosophy, has its sites, and its natioality.
erfüllt mich aus besonderen Gründen mit Freudigkeit.
fills me with joy for particular reasons (the philosopher's joy):
Denn kein Philosoph der Vergangenheit hat auf den Sinn der Phänomenologie so entscheidend gewirkt wie Frankreichs größter Denker René Descartes.
For no philosopher of the past has had such a decisive influence on the sense of Phenomenology as ...
The Introduction, the first paragraph of the hole text though, starts with a reference to the place where Husserl is speaking, the French Academy of Science. He respectfully names "the greatest French philosopher" (diminishing the others?), and then indeed takes the leave on the basic idea of Descartes. Husserl's introduction seems to start casually, as a classical introduction, but not by chance this is already the first paragraph ...