ALS in German, signed "Albert," one page, 8.5 x 11, August 11, 1952. Handwritten letter to his cousin Alfred, in full (translated): "Thank you for relaying the sad news, we had already heard it from Alice. Even though, is it really so sad? We too are ready for departure without passports and without any luggage. And once departed, everything will fall into place all by itself. Much time has gone by since we were squatting in that marvelous crate at the Munich courtyard and played ship. You were a splendid captain, I can vouch to that. Later on, fate led me to cross my path again in Arau with Robert and we both fell in love with Maja's future sister-in-law. All of that is over and done with, seems as if it never had happened. I am feeling very sorry for Alice. She is suffering greatly and from afar her condition does not look very promising. At any rate it is fortunate that you are still there for her. I suppose too that Ogden is the personification of the ideal divorced gentleman." Also bears a two-line postscript written by "Margaret" at the bottom of the page: "Cordial greetings! (Do you still remember who I am?)." In fine condition, with intersecting folds and a trivial chip to one edge.
Writing that he has heard "the sad news"—seemingly of his cousin Robert Koch's death—from his other cousin Alice, Einstein recalls their early boyhood days together in Munich. Born in 1879, Albert and Robert were the same age and thus spent a good deal of time together, from playing on a pretend boat as children to rooming together with Jost and Pauline Winteler during their adolescence in Arau while attending the Aargau Cantonal School. Einstein fell in love with the Wintelers' eighteen-year-old daughter Marie, who he mentions as his sister Maja's "future sister-in-law." Following in Albert's footsteps, Maja also went to school in Arau and fell for the Winteler's son, eventually marrying him. Between his poetic memories of past relationships and his peaceful concept of death as a trip without luggage or passports, this is a positively remarkable and intimately personal letter.
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