D O C U M E N T S 2 4 6 , 2 4 7 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 2 1 1 6 1
245. From Kôshin Murobuse
Berlin W 62, b/Döllen, 12 Luther St., [before 27 September
1921][1]
[See the documentary edition for the original English.]
246. To Kôshin Murobuse
Berlin, 27 September 1921
Highly esteemed Sir,
With reference to your kind letter I inform
you[1]
that I shall be happy to write
an article for your newspaper as soon as my time permits.
The invitation to Tokyo pleased me very much, especially considering my long-
standing interest in the people and cultures of East
Asia.[2]
If no unforeseeable dif-
ficulties arise, I will plan to embark on the trip in fall 1922 (end of August or begin-
ning of September). I beg you, though, please to see that this affair not leak into the
open, because I would otherwise be engulfed in a wave of reporters and invitations
from the most disparate quarters.
Our meeting yesterday was a fine and unforgettable experience for me.
In utmost respect.
247. To Arnold Sommerfeld
27 September 1921
Dear Sommerfeld,
This time I write you with a heavy heart. Saying no is not my strength at any
time, but least of all when it means negating on a promise made. In short: I am not
going to hold the announced lecture in
Munich.[1]
I’ve long had bad premonitions
about it, because I have heard much about the Munich student milieu that could not
please me. I had long been warned by my friends to keep far away from this anti-
Semitic reactionary wasp’s
nest.[2]
But I had promised and considered my hands
tied. But now I read about discussions that the head of the university held with rep-
resentatives of the student association in anticipation of possible
trouble.[3]
The
mere circumstance that such advance meetings were deemed necessary proves to
me that an official visit to Munich is out of place. The way in which those repre-
sentatives acted toward this case releases me morally of any
obligation.[4]
I was very pleased about the fine way in which you stood up for me on this
occasion;[5]
and I am doubly dismayed that now nothing will come of this meeting
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