Details
Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

Autograph correspondence card signed ('Albert') to his sister, Maja, and brother-in-law, Paul Winteler, [postmarked Berlin, 3 September 1921].

In German, one page, 140 x 89mm.





Provenance
Maja Winteler-Einstein (1881-1951) & her husband Paul Winteler (1882-1952) – Besso family.
Literature
Unpublished: not in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (Princeton University Press).
Special notice
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.
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Lot Essay

Coded instructions on a financial matter.

Einstein sends a deliberately cryptic message, ostensibly about the marriage of an elderly friend : 'So it seems all is in perfect order and the 72-year old bridegroom has been snapped up (you do know that he has married the South American?)'. He has sent instructions to 'K.' [perhaps one of his Kocherthaler cousins, or alternatively the banker Leopold Koppel], although he has not been able to get hold of him since: 'Excuse the bother, but I can't help it'. He will 'put in a good word' for Paul Winteler in Zurich: 'But you must go to the meetings'.

The real subject of the letter is almost certainly Einstein's investments in Switzerland, which the Wintelers managed for him, and about which he was anxious to avoid alerting the German tax authorities. The principal vehicle for these was the Schweizerische Auer-Aktien Gesellschaft, and it is probably the directors' meetings of this that he wishes Paul Winteler to attend.
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