DOCUMENT
99 JULY
1915
151
Lenz,
cited in Heilbron
1986,
p.
72)
and he had
signed
the Manifesto
of
the 93 the
following
month.
By
the
end
of
the
year,
he
was, however,
cautioning
intellectuals
to
exercise restraint. He
declined,
for
example,
to
sign a
manifesto drawn
up by
Wilhelm Wien in
December
1914,
in which
the latter
suggested
that German
physicists
refuse
to
publish
in British
journals
(see
Doc.
44, note 11). Though
agreeing
with the document’s
content,
Planck
thought
that it would
merely
fan the flames
of
national
confrontation
and should best be
circulated
after the
war
(see
Heilbron
1986,
pp.
72-73).
[2]Einstein
had become
a
member of
the Bund “Neues Vaterland”
(BNV)
by
the
beginning
of
June
(see
List
of
Members,
Gy-Ar,
Nachlaß
Hans
Wehberg,
Vol. 14,
pp.
109-110), about
the
same
time
that the
association decided to write
an appeal
for international
cooperation among
academics
under
its
auspices (see
Ernst
Reuter
to Walther
Schucking,
31
May
1915,
Gy-Ar,
Nachlaß Hans
Wehberg,
Vol. 15, p. 65).
In mid-June
Einstein
and
others had
begun
preliminary
work
on an “Appeal
of
the
Intellectuals”
(“Aufruf
der
Intellektuellen”; see
the
minutes
of the BNV
meeting,
28 June
1915,
Gy-
Ar,
Nachlaß
Hans
Wehberg, Vol.
14, p.
119).
[3]At
a meeting
of
the entire Prussian
Academy
two weeks earlier, the historian Eduard
Meyer
(1855-1930)
had
proposed expelling
French
corresponding
members of
the
Prussian
Academy.
A
heated
discussion
ensued,
in which
Planck,
but
not Einstein,
took
an
active
part,
and which
ended
in
general agreement
to
postpone a
final decision until the
next meeting
of
the Academy (see
the minutes
of the
meeting
of
the
plenum,
8
July
1915,
GyBAW,
II-V, Vol. 91,
item
7).
For the
concluding
chapter
to
the
debate,
see
Doc. 118.
[4]Einstein
had offered
to
help
in
arranging
the
move
of
household effects from Berlin to the Neth-
erlands
for
the De Haas
family (see
Doc.
95).
99. To
Wander and Geertruida de Haas
Sellin. 24. VII
15.
Liebe Freunde!
Zu meinem
grossen
Schrecken fand ich
gestern
in meiner
Wohnung
in Berlin
diesen
Brief
vor,[1]
der die
Umzugsangelegenheit kompliziert.
Habt
Ihr
Herrn
Schrobsdorff
auch
nicht mündlich
gekündigt?[2]
Wie kam
er
dann
dazu,
Euch schon
vor
einigen
Wochen
auf
die
Vermietbarkeit
der
Wohnung
aufmerksam
zu
machen?
Ich fürchte
nun,
Herr
S.
wird sich der
Entfernung
der Meubel widersetzen. In-
formiert
mich bitte
genau,
wie
es
mit
Eurer
Kündigung
thatsächlich
steht,
damit
ich
mich
erkundigen
kann,
was zu
machen ist. Schreibt
mir
recht bald ausführlich
nach
Berlin.
Mit
herzlichen Grüssen
Euer
A. Einstein.
ALSX.
[70 405].
[1]Einstein had
returned
from Sellin
to
Berlin to attend
a
meeting
of
the Prussian
Academy
two
days
earlier
(see
Kirsten
and
Treder
1979b, p. 216).
[2]The
architect Alfred
Schrobsdorff
had been De Haas’s landlord at Kaiserdamm 96
in Berlin-
Charlottenburg
(see
Adreßbuch
Berlin
1915).
The De Haases left
their
apartment
in the
spring
before
the
rental
contract
expired
(see
Doc.
92).
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