My dearest dolly,
Because I am writing in my bed
This won't be so terribly neat
But nevermind I'll just go on scrawling
For Dolly is interested in it all the same.
Hello and welcome back to another video. If you thought me going through Einsteins grades was an invasion of his privacy
Well, the worst was yet to come. Today, as was highly requested
I'm going to be going through Einsteins love letters.
Now, the originals are all referenced in the description.
These ones I printed out myself onto some tea stained paper and
Well, they're pretty spicy.
They show that Einstein struggled with some of the same problems in
relationships and love that many people do and they also show that at times
Einstein's mind was lost in space,
thinking about physics, but at other times his mind was lost in love. So let's have a look at them
Einstein met his first wife Mileva while they were both students at university
But that is not where this story starts.
No, we are starting with Einstein's high-school romance, a girl called Marie Winteler
Beloved sweetheart!
Many, many thanks sweetheart for your charming little letter, which made me endlessly happy.
It is so wonderful to be able to press to one's heart such a bit of paper
which two so dear little eyes have lovingly beheld... only now do I realize how indispensable
My dear little sunshine has become to my happiness
My mother has also taken you to her heart
Even though she does not know you. We can see that Einsteins mother did approve of this little relationship
Because she signed the bottom of this letter herself. 'Without having read the letter I send you
cordial greetings! From Pauline Einstein.'
This approval becomes relevant later on when things turn a little sour
and the families no longer like each other that much.
This girl Marie is someone who Einstein met while he was studying at
the Aarau school in Switzerland
Einstein actually lodged with Marie's family as her father was a
professor at the school, and this letter was written while Einstein was back in his own hometown for the holidays.
Here's a reply from Marie:
'Beloved sweetheart! Your little basket arrived today and in vain did I strain my eyes
looking for a little note, even though the mere sight of your dear handwriting in the address was enough to make me happy.'
It finishes off with, 'all I can say is that I love you for all eternity sweetheart,
and may god preserve and protect you.'
A spoiler,
eternity didn't last for quite as long as they thought
fast forward about a year and we have a letter written from Einstein to
Pauline Winteler and that is Marie's mother
It's addressed dear mommy, which is a little confusing some Einsteins mother's name is also Pauline
but this is him writing to his girlfriend's mother and it's not the nicest of letters.
In fact, it's almost a bit of a breakup note
'I am writing you so soon in order to cut short an inner struggle whose outcome is, in fact,
already firmly settled in my mind.
I cannot come to visit you at Whitsuntide.
This must have been some invitation for Einstein to join the family somewhere.
He speaks about pain, which he has brought her child,
pain that was brought through his thoughtlessness and ignorance of her delicate nature
So this sounds like they've freshly broken up and Einstein is cutting ties with the family.
There's an interesting sentence here as he goes on to describe what he's up to and he says that, 'Strenuous
intellectual work and looking at God's Nature
are there reconciling fortifying, yet relentlessly strict angels that shall lead me through all of life's troubles.'
This letter was May 1897
and by February 1898
we have the first letter that I'll show here addressed to Mileva Maric.
Mileva was a classmate of Einstein's at ETH.
She was the only female there studying physics and at the time of this letter she was actually
Away from Zurich and she was in Heidelberg pursuing some of her studies there.
Einstein says that he is very happy about her intention to continue her studies here again, and he's referring to
ETH. He also goes on to tell her about some of the material they've covered and he mentions the infamous Weber
Who lectured on heat.
Now, if you've seen my video on Einstein's grades
You will know that Weber is a little notorious, they didn't end their relationship on good terms.
It's now 1899,
we have another letter here to Mileva. This is one that highlights the fact that they used to study together a lot.
He says,
'When I was reading Helmholtz for the first time,
it seemed inconceivable that you were not here with me and now it's not much better.'
So it seems that Einstein really does enjoy her company. On the other hand
he makes a note here about his family who he kind of finds a bit narrow-minded.
He's struggling to relate with them anymore.
'It is strange how a way of life will eventually change us and all the nuances of our soul
deep inside we become so incomprehensible to each other that we are unable to actively
empathize with the other and feel what moves the other.'
Albert finds in Mileva something that he can't find in his family, which is sort of an intellectual equal
Someone who he can discuss Helmholtz with. Perhaps that is why Albert is so attracted to her.
She is a couple of years older than him and probably quite mature
Probably a lot more so than Albert found in his first relationship with Marie.
Here's another letter from Mileva. She says, 'All this time I have not gotten further than our garden
We now don't go to town at all. There have been many cases of scarlet fever and
diphtheria, so that we prefer staying in our own fresh and healthy air.'
So it shows that lock down vibes are nothing new. At the bottom of this video
You can see some of the nicknames that these two used referring to each other.
This one is signed off your Doxerl, which is the name for 'dolly'.
Here's another letter from Einstein and in it he tells Mileva that her letters always make him
So happy that everybody teases him for it.
He also goes on to mention that his sister is following in his footsteps by moving to Aarau to
complete her high school education
He takes it upon himself to
mention the little daughter there who he fell so terribly in love with four years ago.
And here he is referring to Marie
I'm not quite sure why he says this but he then says,
'if I saw the girl again a few times, I would surely get crazy again.
I am aware of that and fear it like fire.'
Maybe something got lost in translation,
but it seems like Einstein is telling his current love interest
that he's at risk of falling back in love with his ex.
Here's a short and sweet note from Mileva addressed to one of her pet names for Albert, 'Johonsl'
and she says,
'Since I like you so much and you are so far away that I cannot give you a kiss,
I am now writing this little letter and am asking you whether you like me as much as I do you?
Answer me immediately.
Thousand kisses from your Doxerl. Albert and Mileva's marriage did end in divorce,
but these letters show us that in the in-between years
and at the start of their relationship there was very much a lot of affection between the two
We then have the poem to Mileva which was written in bed
and under it some more disapproval from Einstein's mum.
'I go into Mama's room. First I have to tell her about the examination
Then she asked me innocently: "So, what will become of Dolly?"
"My wife," say I,
equally innocently, but prepared for a real scene. This then ensued immediately.
Mama, threw herself on the bed buried her head in the pillow and cried like a child.
After she had recovered from the initial shock,
She immediately switched to a desperate offensive. "You are ruining your future and blocking your path through life.
That woman cannot gain entrance to a decent family."
It seemed that Einstein's mum disapproved of this relationship because she thought that
Einstein was too young to marry and settle down. He was about 21 at the time.
She thought he was throwing away his career prospects
She also didn't consider Mileva to be very beautiful. At this time where a woman could be either
beautiful or smart,
Einstein's mum makes remarks about Mileva being a smart one.
But as we know, Albert was a very independent person and three years after this letter
Albert and Mileva did go on to get married and they had some children together.
He also mentions how he feels restless without Mileva in his presence. He says,
'When I do not have you I feel as if I were not whole. When I am sitting, I would like to walk;
when I am walking, I look forward to being at home,
when I amuse myself, I would like to study,
and when I am studying I feel a lack of contemplativeness and repose.
When I go to bed, I am not satisfied with how I passed the day.'
I like this passage here because it really shows the human aspect of Einstein and the fact that
Yes, his mind was on all things physics and thinking of some of the biggest ideas
there are, but his mind was also in love and he's feeling lovesick and he can't focus
And that's, you know, a side of Einstein that you never hear about
Now, if you remember back to the first letter, we had Einstein's mum Pauline giving a glowing review to his first girlfriend
Marie Winteler
Although that is long in the past now
and in fact
This is a very nasty note written from Pauline Einstein
to Pauline Winteler when talking about Marie
She says, 'that we don't want anything to do with her,
there is constant friction with Albert because of it.'
Now, these families are still linked together because I believe Einstein's younger sister Maja
Went to our Aarau and also boarded with the family.
In fact, Maja goes on to marry Marie's brother Paul and becomes Maja Winteler.
Although in this letter Einstein's mum says that, 'we should not talk anywhere about an engagement.
This Miss Marie is causing me the bitterest hours of my life,
if it were in my power, I would make every possible effort to banish her from our horizon,
I really dislike her.
But I have lost every influence on Albert. You can imagine,
dear Frau Professor, how unhappy this makes me. Pauline Einstein'
Not sure totally what is going on here whether Albert is still seeing Marie in some way,
but definitely these families are no longer on good terms, although they are forever linked
thanks to Maja and Paul.
While we're on the topic of hate, let's fast forward a few years to 1912.
This is after Einstein's miracle year of productivity which was in 1905.
and here we have a letter to
Elsa Lowenthal, who was actually Einstein's cousin.
Now yes, Einstein does go on to marry Elsa,
she becomes his second wife after he divorces Mileva
but him and Mileva are still together when this letter was written, they didn't divorce until 1919.
Einstein says to Elsa that, 'I can't even begin to tell you how fond I have become of you during these days.'
He also that mentions that he had some kind of fleeting crush on Elsa's sister, Paula,
but he assures her that is over now
He says, 'When I think of the bad relationship between my wife and Maja (his sister) or my mother,
then I must admit to myself, sadly, that I find all three of them quite
unlikable! But I have to have someone to love, otherwise life is miserable. And this someone is you;
you cannot do anything about it, since I'm not asking you for permission.
I am the absolute ruler in the netherworld of my
imagination, or at least that is what I choose to think.'
Now, I don't find that sentence too romantic, but it must have worked out for him
'Kisses from your Albert.'
This letter ends with a spicy P.S.
which is him saying, 'If this is what you want, then write me again.
I will always destroy the letters as you have requested
I have already destroyed the first one.'
So I think they knew that this relationship of theirs was not going to be well received
and that they were in their best interest to keep it secret.
'Dearest Else, I am writing so late because I have misgivings about our affair.
I have the feeling that it will not be good for the two of us as
well as for the others if we form a closer attachment.
So, I am writing to you today for the last time.'
This breakup letter of sorts with Else while he's still married to Mileva
shows how heartbroken Einstein is to be cutting off this relationship.
But never fear, next year in 1913,
things are back on Einstein says, 'Now we will be together and will rejoice in each other. Unfortunately,
this won't happen until the end of the winter semester, because I could not bring myself to break off things here so rapidly.
Give my regards to Uncle and Aunt.'
Here, he must be referring to his uncle and aunt which is Elsa's parents.
Certainly a taboo relationship now, and I'm not sure to what extent it was then.
This next letter from 1914
showed some of the friction that the relationship faced. 'Dear Elsa, didn't I tell you that all hell would break loose?'
He refers to Mileva as Miza and says that, 'she is by nature
unfriendly and mistrustful.' He says, 'You showed her kindness. But she obviously distrusts you.'
Now, that doesn't seem surprising to me seeing as this Elsa character is about to steal her husband away.
This next letter, I really wanted to show you.
It's written a month later to Elsa and Einstein is apologizing for being a poor letter writer.
He says, 'I cannot find the time to write because I am occupied with truly great things.
Day and night I rack my brain in an effort to penetrate more deeply
into the things that I gradually discovered in the past two years and that represent an
unprecedented advance in the fundamental problem of physics.'
I think this is a nice insight into Einstein's opinions of his own work.
He says that he must now write a long article,
since his most distinguished colleagues refuse to accept his point of view
Einstein did have to put in a lot of effort to convince other physicists of his work.
And I think this is a fitting final letter to show.
It again reminds us that Einstein's life is interwoven with
love, life and physics.
You can't really separate his correspondence with any of these girls
and his obsession with working on figuring out some of these fundamental ideas.
At his most excited times,
he is talking to these girls about his findings or discussing his studies.
I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into an aspect of Einstein's life that you don't often see.
It took me a long time to research and edit this video because I wanted to make sure I was bringing you the
spiciest litters and there was a lot to read through on the digital archive. I was only able to devote this time
thanks to the viewers who support me on Patreon. It is their support that keeps the channel running,
so if you would like to show any appreciation
for the videos I make, please consider supporting the channel there as well. The link will be on screen and down in the description
I'd like to give a big thanks to all of my current patrons
including a special mention for today's patron cat of the day, Annachie.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time :)