1 1 6 D O C U M E N T 1 0 9 M A R C H 1 9 2 2 109. From Erwin Finlay Freundlich Potsdam, 24 March 1922 Dear Mr. Einstein, We forward to you the enclosed letter intended to be directed to the Ministry.[1] We discussed the matter during the last meeting of the board of trustees[2] and ask you please to state your wishes. The Ministry’s explicitly stated wish is the reason behind having a representative of the Ministry join the board of trustees. As the annual subsidies by the Ministry to maintain the building and cover the research expenses are not unsubstantial and even have to be increased considerably, it seemed appropriate to us to take this wish into account. Furthermore, we consider it necessary to expand the board of trustees somewhat in order to connect former financial supporters firmly to the endeavor. Therefore Dr. Jeidels[3] proposed that Director Wassermann[4] of the Deutsche Bank be asked to join the board of directors and Privy Councillor Müller[5] stated his willingness to approach Mr. Wassermann together with Dr. Schneider.[6] If he declines, Jeidels himself is happy to step in. Then, aside from Prof. Bosch,[7] Wassermann or Jeidels would belong to the board of trustees as representatives of the founders. Furthermore, we would like to ask Prof. Planck[8] to join the board of trustees, because a certain envy concerning the new installations has persistently emerged among physicists and, as you know, we, for our part, never had the intention of not letting these research facilities be made accessible to others as well. We would therefore very much welcome it if Planck declared his willingness to join this, too, Müller was ready to discuss with Planck, if you yourself did not do so, which would surely open up more prospects of an agreement from Planck. Furthermore, we resolved to ask Dr. Ruge to support us with his counsel as legal advisor.[9] During the past few years I not only had to create the facilities, but also take over the financial settlement of all obligations and in the process saw so many purely legal issues arise that the advice of an attorney is definitely necessary. I can- not in reality assume the responsibility anymore on my own. Dr. Ruge is prepared to give us his counsel as legal advisor with a seat and a voice on the board of trust- ees. We hope that you agree with everything in principle and in that eventuality request that you grant us your approval. Only then will Planck and Wassermann be approached.