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In Ulm's main pedestrian street there is some sort of huge metallic construction composed of rectangles. Approaching, you will see it is a memorial commemorating Albert Einstein, who was born in Ulm and was living there during his childhood and youth.
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General view of the Albert Einstein memorial |
Photos: Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2012 |
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Albert Einstein's head |
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Inscription
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Comment
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Nobel Prizes |
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Alfred Nobel's greatest invention was that of dynamite. But from the beginning of its use, this explosive substance killed so many people (first by accidents, then by military use) that its inventor feeled obliged to create a compensation for mankind by his last will. This was the starting point of the Nobel Foundation and the Nobel Prizes. For more information see the English Wikipedia under Alfred Nobel. |
When Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, the city belonged to the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire. According to the English Wikipedia the Einsteins were non-observant Jews. Albert went to the elementary and secondary school in Ulm, then to the university in Munich. His experience of the German educational system was a completely disappointing one. The important impulses for his future scientific success, up to the Nobel Prize in physics, came from outside the system.
As his father's company failed in 1894 and a new work was found in Italy, from that year, Albert was mostly living abroad and continuing his studies in Switzerland. He married his first wife and had a daughter and two sons with her, and it was not until 1914 that Einstein returned to Germany. He moved to Berlin, where he married his second wife. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize in physics. In 1933, when the Nazis usurped the power, the couple definitely emigrated to the USA because of the Nazis' menaces against the Jews and specially against Albert Einstein.
During the following years, many intellectuals, artists, writers, scientists, university professors and other politically or racially persecuted persons followed Einstein's example abandoning Germany to save their lives, which was an enormous scientific and cultural loss for the country.
In the USA, Einstein was one of the scientific initiators the so-called Manhattan Project, whose objective was to develop an atomic bomb earlier than Hitler was supposed to do. Finally, as Germany capitulated "in time", the bomb was not used against this country but devastated the two Japonese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, Albert Einstein, who rather was a pacifist, never liked the development of nuclear weapons but excused himself arguing that facing Hitler he had no choice but supporting it.
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Quotation |
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Albert Einstein said: “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Source: thinkexist.com. |
After the end of Hitler's dictatorship, many of these emigrants never came back to live in Germany. This was a very comprehensible reaction after all the atrocities perpetrated by German authorities, armies, and other organizations - and given the ambiguous behavior of parts of the German post-war society.
For more details, see the English Wikipedia under German American.
Bibliography
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Author / Title / Subject |
Notes |
Info / Purchase |
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Munich, Bavaria and the Black Forest |
A guide to southern Germany. |
amazon.de/at: English. amazon.es: English. amazon.fr: English. amazon.it: English. |
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Bavaria |
A specialized guide to Bavaria. |
amazon.de/at: English. amazon.es: English. amazon.fr: English. amazon.it: English. |
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The SS state: The system of German concentration camps, by Eugen Kogon |
Standard work on the Nazi state. Translation from German. |
See my critique. |
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William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany |
Shirer's book is one of the great classics of historiography on the 3rd Reich. |
See my critique. |
Internet
Please be aware of our legal reservation concerning any Internet reference.
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Address / Owner |
Content / Subjects |
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Zwei Städte - ein Lebensraum (Two Cities - One Vital Space) |
Shared site of the municipalities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm (German language). |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Encyclopaedic article on the city of Ulm. |
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By Google Maps. |
Zoomable city map of Ulm. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Special paragraph on the Ulm memorials, among which the deserters' memorial, in the encyclopaedic article on desertion, with a paragraph dealing with the deserters of World War II. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on Albert Einstein. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the project whose target was the construction of the first atomic bomb. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on German emigration to the USA, with a paragraph on the emigration caused by World War II and Hitler's racist Nazi regime. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on this Swedish armaments manufacturer and inventor of dynamite. According to his last will, the Nobel Foundation was founded. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on this private institution founded in 1900 according to the last will of Alfred Nobel. The role of the foundation is the management of the finances and the administration of the Nobel Prizes. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the history of the Nobel Prize, including links to the lists of laureates. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on dynamite. From the beginning of its use, this explosive substance invented by Alfred Nobel killed so many people that its inventor feeled obliged to create a compensation for mankind by his last will. This was the starting point of the Nobel Foundation and the Nobel Prizes. |
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Holidays in Ulm? Excellent idea! But where to stay? |
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Whether you are looking for a room, an apartment, a hotel, a guest house,
or any other accommodation, |
Arrival by Public Transport
For the arrival in Ulm, see Inscriptions of Ulm.
Exiting the Ulm main station, take the pedestrian subway just in front of you and continue straight ahead in the pedestrian street. After less than 100 m you will see the huge Einstein memorial.
Indications concerning the arrival correspond to our personal knowledge or even experience, but we cannot assume any responsibility for their rightness. When you are reading this page, things may have changed in reality.
Thanks a lot to Murray Sklar for a useful remark.
Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2012
Frequently-asked questions - Webmaster
Last updated: July 31, 2019
