4 D O C U M E N T 2 J A N U A R Y 1 9 1 9
entered the second grade of the Zurich elementary school in the Hochstrasse in April 1918 (see his
Schülerausweis, SzZ-Ar), he may have been spending the school vacation in Arosa due to a lingering
cold and symptoms of influenza (see Mileva Einstein-Maric to Helene Savic, 1919 [70 736]).
[4]Hans Albert (nicknamed “Adn”) presumably visited his father at the Elitehotel (see Auszug aus
dem Protokoll der Erziehungs-Direktion des Kantons Zürich, 23 December 1918, SzZU) or at Pen-
sion Sternwarte (see Docs. 5 and 6).
[5]Einstein’s earlier stomach and abdominal difficulties flared up again in summer 1917. He was
bedridden and housebound for several months from late December 1917 until April 1918 (see Ein-
stein to Hans Albert Einstein, 24 December 1917 [Vol. 8, Doc. 417], and Einstein to Anna Besso-
Winteler, after 4 March 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 474]).
Einstein’s stomach problems originated almost twenty years earlier. He first complained of them
indirectly in spring 1901 (see Einstein to Alfred Stern, 3 May 1901 [Vol. 1, Doc. 104]). See Winteler-
Einstein 1924, p. 20, and Kayser, R. 1930, pp. 53–54, on malnutrition during his student years as a
possible contributing factor to his stomach problems.
2. To Hedwig and Max Born[1]
[Zuoz, canton of Graubünden, 15 January 1919]
[…][2]
Prächtig daoben, wenn man bei strahlender Sonne und süsser Chokolade von
Berliner Ereignissen
liest.[3]
Montag gehts los mit dem
Schulmeistern.[4]
Das Nest
Zuoz ist unglaublich schön architektonisch.
Herzliche Grüsse an Euch alle von Euerm
Einstein.
Wir können erst um den 20. II
zurückkommen.[5]
AKSX. [74 314]. The postcard is addressed “Herrn u. Frau Professor Dr. Max Born Berlin-Grunewald
5. Teplitzerstraße 5,” in Elsa Einstein’s hand and postmarked “Zuoz (Graubünden) 15.I.19.” Einstein
has written “(Altes Gerichtshaus)” on the verso, which contains a photograph of the old Zuoz court-
house, where he and Elsa were staying.
[1]Max Born (1882–1970) was Extraordinary Professor of Physics at the University of Berlin; Hed-
wig Born-Ehrenberg (1882–1972) was his wife.
[2]Text by Elsa Einstein is omitted.
[3]Armed clashes had recently taken place in Berlin after interim German chancellor Friedrich
Ebert, head of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), summoned troops to the city on 24
December 1918 for an unsuccessful attempt to clear the palace of revolutionary sailors. On 5 to 15
January 1919 the army violently suppressed workers’ protests in a conflict known as the Spartacus
uprising, with total casualties exceeding one thousand.
[4]In August of the previous year, as a compromise solution to remaining in Berlin but honoring a
commitment to Zurich, Einstein suggested he come to Switzerland twice a year for about five weeks
to give twelve two-hour lectures at the University of Zurich, a suggestion approved by the faculty in
mid-October (see Edgar Meyer to Einstein, 20 October 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 637], note 2). Einstein’s
lecture cycle at the University of Zurich was scheduled to begin on 20 January (see the preceding doc-
ument, note 2), which was the following Monday.
[5]Einstein planned to return to Berlin after the lecture cycle ended on 20 February (see the preced-
ing document, note 2).