3 9 0 D O C U M E N T S 4 2 9 , 4 3 0 M A R C H 1 9 2 9 429. From Heinrich Friedmann[1] Munich, Josephspitalstr. 8/III, 12 March 1929 Dear Professor Einstein, When the whole cultural world joins in celebrating the fiftieth birthday of its fa- mous Professor Albert Einstein, how could your old teacher Friedmann miss out and not consider this day one that is important for him? After all, I had the good luck and the honor of being your teacher at the Gymnasium, in Classes I–III, and then also your religion teacher during the preparation for your bar mitzvah. Today, this idea still fills me, at the age of eighty, with pride and gratification, and in view of this I allow myself, my dear Professor, to offer you thousands of good wishes and blessings, which are sent you, both mine and those of my wife,[2] in the warm- est way on the occasion of your birthday. May Providence, which has blessed you with so much wisdom and success, protect you until a ripe old age, to the benefit of humanity and especially of Judaism and the joy of your dear family! In also taking the liberty of most devotedly greeting your worthy spouse,[3] and presenting you, my dear Professor, with my warmest greetings, I remain, with the greatest respect, yours truly, Heinrich Friedmann Head Teacher (retired) 430. From Otto Neustätter[1] Berlin-Zehlendorf-West, Seestrasse 47, 12 March 1929 Dear Professor, Allow me to offer my most sincere and hearty good wishes on the occasion of your fiftieth birthday. Such a day elicits memories! Your uncle,[2] to whom I owe the interesting ap- prenticeship in Italy, had told me that he was struggling with a mechanical calcu- lation. A few days later he returned to Pavia:[3] “You know, my nephew is already fabulous. Where I and my assistant engineer had been racking our brains for days, the young fellow[4] figured out the whole thing in hardly a quarter of an hour. I tell you, he’s going to do great things!” Although the prognosis was certainly right, even your uncle could not foresee that you would become the Einstein. And when we looked up at the starry night sky during our hiking trip in the Italian mountains, and you spoke so aptly about the tremendous impression that this sight always made on you—maybe something of the magnificent insight that you gave the world was already developing in you?