1 1 2 D O C . 1 3 0 O C T O B E R 1 9 1 9 Thank you for your advice with regard to my future. I think you are right.[4] I was not sufficiently impartial in this matter. The money probably could have been obtained, though. For a serious firm (there is a trend among them nowadays to ap- pear scientific) it would have been a cheap & excellent advertisement. Embarking on an “informal” relationship with a manufacturer seems to me more difficult, be- cause I still have so little practical experience. So I have decided to join a firm com- pletely.—Cordial thanks for your willingness poss. to write to Gnehm. It is not nec- essary, as I have been habilitated since the summer & have announced the lecture.[5] Michele Besso is currently in Switzerland and is thinking, among other things, of the Patent Office.[6] The light deflection thrilled him and me.[7] He would cer- tainly have extended his greetings to you if he were here. I shall be glad to send you any correspondence when he is not here, if you like. Best regards, yours, W. Dällenbach. 130. From Wilhelm Schweydar[1] Meldorf in Holstein, Holländerei Hotel, 10 October 1919 Dear Mr. Einstein, Mr. Freundlich has told you about the plans of the surveyors and former officers, which do not bode well for the future of the Geodetic Institute.[2] I would not have permitted myself to trouble you again with this unpleasant affair and ask for your kind help if Mr. Freundlich hadn’t urged me to give you a comprehensive report on the new turn of events in geodetics. In a separate letter enclosed, I have listed the facts that I learned about because I believe that you can use the information more easily in this form. If you are leaving on a trip now, as Mr. Freundlich thinks, I would ask you please to inform Mr. Planck.[3] I would, of course, much prefer it if my name were left unmentioned, if at all possible. The Ministry of Culture is ap- parently already informed about this I hear that it is resisting the plans set by the Reich’s Ministry of the Interior. The gentlemen at the Reich ministry are, I pre- sume, all very one-sidedly informed about the institute’s importance, and Krüger[4] has let himself be netted in by the senior military, whom he holds in great respect, with the assurance that the institute should play a leading role. I do not understand how he can help this by removing the institute’s independence.[5] We really must all assist in helping Germany regain its reputation abroad and show the former en- emies what we are capable of. However, in my view, the new plans signify a major