ALS in German, signed “Papa,” one page, 8.5 x 11, February 25, 1927. A bitter letter to his son Hans Albert, regarding his fiancée and later wife Frieda Knecht. In part (translated): “I am pained to hear that you now want to let your wife come. She will never let go of you and will draw you from one disaster to the next. If you find it so boring in Dortmund, why don’t you give up your position there and come here. It will be interesting and a change of pace for you. It all comes from her having seized you first, which is why you now view her as the embodiment of femininity. It is, after all, a common way for sillies to fall victim to fate. In any case: never send or bring Miss Knecht to me, for the way things are, I simply could not bear it. If, however, you ever feel the urge to separate from her, then do not be proud, but confide in me, so that I may help you. For that day will come. Think about whether you really want to stay in Dortmund, or whether I should look for something for you here. That would not be difficult for me; and it would be much more interesting and educating than in Dortmund. If so, must it be in steel engineering, or would a wider field do as well? Where do you take your meals? Are you staying at a boarding house? Be careful not to ruin your stomach, this is so often the case with young persons who are unaccustomed to taking care of themselves.” In fine condition, with intersecting mailing folds, and a couple of trivial edge dings.
You don’t have to be, well, Einstein, to realize that the famed physicist was no fan of Miss Knecht. He felt his son, who at the time was a 22-year-old construction engineer in Dortmund, was too naive and inexperienced with women to be involved with the woman who at this point was his fiancee, already envisioning a bitter divorce, and going so far as to beg him not to have any children with her. Clearly, Einstein maintained, such a marriage would only lead to a lifetime of regret. If his son ever felt the urge to part company, however, then as explicitly stated here, “...confide in me, so that I may help you. For that day will come.” It’s difficult to see whether Einstein’s divorce in 1919 soured him on the institution, or if such comments were simply the continuation of a disturbed relationship between father and son. Purportedly, the bond between the two resumed some form of normalcy following the May 1927 marriage between Hans Albert and Frieda Knecht—one that produced three children. In perhaps one of the few examples of a mistake by Einstein, his son’s marriage lasted until Frieda’s death in 1958. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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