D O C U M E N T 1 6 8 O C T O B E R 1 9 2 0 4 5 1
eine Ihrer Postkarten, die mich immer besonders erfreuen und seien Sie nicht un-
gehalten, dass ich schon wieder etwas von Ihnen haben
will.[8]
Ich finde aber, Sie
können helfen; denn was tun Sie schliesslich mit aller Relativität, wenn im Winter
in Berlin der Lummitsch nicht verhütet, dass Sie einen absoluten Mangel an Gas,
Wasser und Elektricität haben, der durch kein Gravitationspotential beseitigt und
selbst durch eine beliebige Krümmung des Raumes nicht gebessert wird.
Mit herzlichen Grüssen an Sie und Ihre liebe Frau Ihr Freund
Haber
TLS. [12 327]. Addressee’s name is typed above salutation: “Herrn Professor Dr. Albert Einstein
Benzingen b/Sigmaringen p.A. Herrn Pfarrer Brandthuber.”
[1]In the midst of government concerns over the food supply (see Berliner Tageblatt, 3 October
1920, Morning Edition) and strikes in other sectors, such as the newspaper industry (see Berliner
Tageblatt, 2 October 1920, Evening Edition), on the previous day employees at the electrical works
had gone on strike, leading to power outages in portions of Berlin, streetcar service stoppages, and
demonstrations by the unemployed in front of city hall (see Berliner Tageblatt, 6 October 1920,
Morning and Evening Editions).
[2]Street battles, primarily on the basis of socioeconomic class, and political murders, mostly by
radical rightists, were widespread in the early years of the Weimar Republic (see Zuelzer 1982,
p. 293). For contemporary accounts of these political murders, see Gumbel 1921 and 1922. On the
use of violence as a political tool in Weimar Germany, see Bessel 1986.
[3]On the development of technical aid in this period, see Mommsen 1934.
[4]Otto Lummitzsch (1886–1962), engineer, architect, and former officer in the corps of engineers
had worked with Haber in chemical gas warfare starting in 1914 (see Stoltzenberg 1994, p. 246). In
1919 he founded the Technische Nothilfe to provide technical aid for disaster situations.
[5]Einstein’s prior involvement in international initiatives included his advocacy in April 1920 for
the international exchange of scholarly literature (see Einstein 1920b [Vol. 7, Doc. 36]), and his par-
ticipation in a commission investigating German war crimes in 1919, when he communicated on the
matter with Lorentz (see, e.g., Einstein to Hendrik A. Lorentz, 26 April 1919 and 1 August 1919
[Vol. 9, Docs. 28 and 80]).
[6]Einstein had earlier discussed and praised international relief efforts (see Einstein 1920b [Vol. 7,
Doc. 36]; Vol. 7, Doc. 41).
[7]Ilse Einstein functioned as his secretary (see, e.g., Doc. 173).
[8]One day earlier, Einstein was with his sons in southern Germany (see Doc. 165). He had been
traveling with Elsa Einstein, first to the Bad Nauheim meeting (see Doc. 154), and then to Stuttgart
(see Doc. 157) and Hechingen (see Doc. 159), after which he visited with his sons in Benzingen (see
Doc. 163). Eventually he left from southern Germany for Holland (see Doc. 179), where he arrived
around 21 October.
168. From Arnold Sommerfeld
[Munich, 7 October
1920][1]
Lieber Einstein!
Gestern sprach ich einen philosophischen Collegen
Geiger,[2]
der mir nahe steht.
Er hatte von einer „Arbeitsgemeinschaft 1920“ eine Aufforderung zum Vortrag