Einstein and his beloved Prague. Only in the Czech Republic did he devote himself fully to science and financially secure his family
When American filmmakers, led by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, chose Prague to shoot Genius for National Geographic, they may not have known how close the connections between the real life of Albert Einstein and our capital as such are. The selection was undoubtedly won by beautiful historical scenery similar to the more expensive Vienna for filmmakers. However, Prague became a famous science in its life, which really influenced its future.
Professor of vanity
Albert Einstein spent a total of 16 months in Prague. During this not long time, the hundred-towered city came under his skin. He joined here as a professor of theoretical physics at the then German part of Charles Ferdinand University. When the commission selected the adept for the vacant position, a small human and somewhat funny collision arose.
Although Einstein was originally popular, physicist Gustav Jaumann from the Brno University of Technology eventually received an offer. When he learned that he was originally a favorite of Einstein, he left his place offended out of vanity.
Beautiful Prague, strange people
The famous, but not so well-known Einstein at the time, therefore visited Prague for work. The new environment and especially the character of his work to fully develop his genius. Specifically, he lived in Smíchov near the Palacký Bridge in today’s Lesnická Street.
It is clear from the letters that Einstein liked Prague. He wrote positively to his friends mainly about the beautiful view of the Vltava and its beautiful bridges. At the same time, he was very satisfied with the functional modern apartment building, which already had electricity and an elevator at that time.
The beautiful architecture and genius loci of the city is one thing that the famous scientist already had some doubts about were the local people. He even wrote in a letter: “Only people are strangers to me, it’s a mixture of humiliated loyalty and arrogance. It depends on their fate,” he also told friends about the growing nationalist tendencies of local Germans.
According to Professor Jiří Podolský, who, among other things, is suitable as a consultant for the aforementioned Genius series, Einstein considered himself a globetrotter and nationalism was foreign to him. The fact that his wife came from Serbia also contributed to this.
Favourite places
Einstein finally had time for scientific work in Prague. He also devoted himself to the famous theory of relativity. In addition to his freedom to work and coexist in a scientific mushroom, his professorship also brought him sufficient financial resources, which they provided for part of his life. It was not an upper sum, but as a scientist he had a solid background.
He most often worked at Klementinum, where he had five lectures and two hours of exercises a week for twenty students. It is interesting that there were two girls among the listeners, which was still unusual for this time.
In addition to academia, very often also among the companies of cafes and pubs. He most often stayed at the legendary Café Louvre, where he probably sat down with local intellectuals, and also occasionally did not despise the offer to go to a party called U jednorožce in the Old Town Square. There is also one of the two memorial plaques commemorating Einstein’s stay.
With the imminent departure of one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century, his wife, who did not like it at all, may have been in Prague. After sixteen months, Einstein moves to Zurich. Later, he visited Czechoslovakia once again in 1921. It is also worth mentioning that in 1950 he wrote a telegram to President Klement Gottwald to overturn the death sentence of the opposition politician Milada Horáková.
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