100
DOCS.
139,
140 FEBRUARY 1909
139.
To Jakob
and Emma
Ehrat-Ühlinger
[Bern,
15
February
1909][1]
So
here
I
sit
again
at
my
office desk and
think
fondly
of the
days
spent
as your
guest.
For
me
it
was a
real
blessing
to find such
a
cozy refuge
in
your
home.
There
one
is
much less
aware
of
super painful
situations than
when
one
has
to
roam
about
among
strangers.
It
was a
special delight
to
sit
again
at
the
side
of
the
good
Mama
Ehrat,[2]
who
was
indeed
so good
to
me
earlier,
when
I
was
still in such
distress.[3]
Now
the
chances
seem really good
that
we
will be able
to
sit
around
together
cozily
in
Zurich,[4] many a
time,
for
the
stern Kleiner, whom
I went
to
see
Friday, spoke very kindly
about the result
of the
"examination,"
and intimated that the
rest
is
most
likely
to follow
soon.
So,
if
I
am
not forced
to
stay
here
because of
the
accursed
money,[5]
it
seems
that I'll indeed
have
something,
as
it appears,
for
next
fall
. . .
Both
of
you
must
then
come
to
visit
us
in
spring!
I will
see
to it
that
I
get my
vacation
at
that
time.
140.
To
Otto
Stoll
Bern,
25
February
1909
Highly
esteemed Professor
Stoll:[1]
With
many
thanks for
your
communication, I
hasten
to
provide you
with
the
information
you
wanted.[2]
I
was
born of German
parents
in Ulm in
1879. I
attended
elementary
school and
Gymnasium,
the latter
up to
the
seventh
grade,
in
Munich.[3] Thereupon
I
went to
Italy
to
stay
with
my parents
for
half
a year,
after
which I
went to
Aarau
in
the
fall
of
1895.
There
I
was a
student
in the
vocational
section
of
the
cantonal
school,
and
obtained
my
high-school-leaving
certificate the next
year.
[4]
In 1896-1900 I
studied
at the
Department
for
Teachers of Mathematical
Sciences
of the Federal
Polytechnical
Institute
and
obtained
my
diploma
there.[5]
About that
time I
acquired
citizenship
of the
city
of
Zurich.[6]
After
having
worked
for
about
2
years
thereafter
as a
private
teacher
at
various
places,
I
became
a
Technical
Expert at
the
Swiss
Federal Patent
Office in
1902.[7]
I
have
worked
in this
capacity
ever
since.
In
1905
the
University
of Zurich conferred
upon
me
the
title
of
Doctor.[8] Since last
year
I work
at
the
University
of
Bern
as a
Privatdozent.[9]