I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 0 x x x v i i
lioness’s den,” the Zurich apartment from which Mileva was absent (Docs. 9, 70b
and 86a).
Upon his return to Berlin in mid-August 1919, Einstein gradually began to re-
ceive reports of the eclipse expedition mounted by British astronomers. By Sep-
tember, he knew that successful photographs had been taken, and was informed by
Hendrik A. Lorentz that Arthur S. Eddington had obtained important confirmatory
data. Immediately after publishing a note on the expedition’s results, Einstein left
on 18 October on a two-week trip to Holland, staying at the home of his close
friends Paul and Tatiana Ehrenfest. On 23 October, he wrote to Elsa that Eddington
had reported to Leyden physicists that the general theory of relativity had been ver-
ified, yet his delight was clouded by his mother’s condition. He commiserated with
Elsa about the difficult time that awaited her in light of the imminent transfer of
Einstein’s dying mother from Lucerne to Berlin (Docs. 9, 148b and 151a).
In October 1919, Einstein informed his Zurich family that they would have to
move to southern Germany, since he found it financially impossible to continue to
support them in Switzerland (Vol. 9, Doc. 135). Mileva rejected the demand, ex-
plaining that, given her unstable health, she would lack appropriate assistance in
Germany. She also argued that Hans Albert should not interrupt his schooling, and
that the only chance for an improvement in their financial situation would be affor-
ded if Hans Albert were to become independent as soon as possible (Docs. 9, 148a
and 183c). By early 1920, the Zurich family members were again dispersed, and
their apartment was leased: Eduard was in a sanatorium in Aegeri because of a re-
lapse of his pulmonary illness; Mileva visited her ailing parents in Novi Sad; and
Hans Albert once again stayed with the Zangger family (Doc. 9, 240a).
In July 1920, by which time Mileva and the sons had returned to their Zurich
apartment, Einstein proposed that he vacation with the boys in southern Germany
in the autumn (Doc. 70). During this enjoyable sojourn in Benzingen in early
October, Einstein gave expression to ambivalent feelings towards his sons: he
wrote Elsa that the boys had “developed splendidly,” yet also confessed that he
could not see them as his “temporal continuation”; they had “large thick hands” and
“in spite of all their intelligence,” there was “something indefinably four-footed”
about them (Doc. 179). Einstein renewed his attempts to move Mileva and the boys
to Germany. In reaction, Hans Albert beseeched his father to forgo this plan and
allow him to complete his schooling without interruption (Doc. 212), although Ein-
stein continued to insist that Hans Albert could attend the “excellent” polytechnic
school in Darmstadt (Doc. 232). In fact, during 1920, Einstein’s financial situation
was improving significantly, due both to substantial raises in his salary and the
brisk sales of his publications on relativity (see Calendar).