Ian Farrell on the Swabian physicist’s years in Berlin…
Swabian physicist Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a true celebrity, renowned for his intellect to the point that his name is now synonymous with the very concept of genius. Yet most of his work was so advanced that, even today, many of us would have trouble explaining exactly what he is famous for.
The secret to Einstein’s universal appeal, however, is not his work, but his maverick personality: the crazy hair, the flaunting of conventions, the answering the door in bare feet when receiving dignified guests. He was the original mad professor.
Beneath the exterior of the ramshackle genius was of course a highly astute political mind. When he came to Berlin in 1914 after accepting an invitation from Max Planck to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Einstein insisted on retaining the Swiss citizenship he had acquired during his studies in Zürich.
A staunch pacifist, he wanted to avoid conscription in the likely event of war breaking out, as it did just three months later. Einstein continued to campaign for a peaceful resolution throughout the conflict, and was even a founding member of the left-wing German Democratic Party (DDP) after the November Revolution.
In those early years especially, Einstein’s relationship with Berlin was purely professional. Prussian militarism rankled with him but, fast approaching 40, he was acutely aware that his career had not really taken off since the Special Theory of Relativity was published in 1905.
The position at the Academy offered him the perfect …