D O C U M E N T S 4 5 5 , 4 5 6 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 7 4 4 9 455. From Otto Scheel[1] Kiel, 15 January 1927 Dear Colleague, It means much to me as chairman of the Association of German Universities to cast the situation in the right light for you, before the enclosed press opinion in is- sue 9/10, page 152, of the Mitteilungen des Verbandes der Deutschen Hochschulen is brought to your attention[2] from another quarter. It is a principle of ours to have press statements lend voice to moods from various directions, even if colleagues are mentioned by name. Of course we do not identify ourselves with these voices incidentally, the printing occurred without my knowledge during my absence. I believe I may assume that you will not attach any special importance to this case, but I would be grateful for a statement on your part. Respectfully and sincerely yours, Scheel 456. To Otto Scheel [Berlin, after 15 January 1927][1] Dear Colleague, What you publish about my person is immaterial to me.[2] However, with regard to the issue, I would like to note that it has already frequently struck me that the information distributed to the academic public regarding international relation- ships ¢of intellectual² occurs in a manner which ¢seems regrettable to me² lacks the desirable objectivity. A certain animosity is artificially maintained among academ- ics, in that an unfriendly attitude of foreign corporations is registered, but a friendly attitude is ignored. Whereas the responsible leaders in German and French politics work on rapprochement, the necessity of which they have acknowledged in the in- terest of European ¢science² culture and industry, the academic circles are still ¢prejudiced² in thrall to petty prestige politics and thereby hinder the necessary de- velopment. I hope that this will soon change for it would be sad if the next aca- demic generation were forced to say about ours that it did not understand the great challenges of our time.