DEUTSCH“This school, with its liberal spirit and the unpretentious, serious attitude of the teachers who relied on their own judgment rather than any outside authority, made a lasting impression on me.”
Albert Einstein “Autobiographical Notes” *), 1946
Albert Einstein in Aarau
Since 1803, Aarau has been the capital of the Swiss canton Aargau in the Swiss midlands and it lies in the center of the city triangle Zurich, Basel, Lucerne. This central location had already been recognized early, which is why Aarau was the first capital of Switzerland, at least during some months in the year 1798.
Aarau lies at the right shore of river Aare and today (2024) has more than 22,000 inhabitants and is the second populous municipality of the canton.
Today, the sights are among other things the Obertorturm (Oberer Turm) from the 13th century, the Schlössli (today part of Stadtmuseum Aarau), the late Gothic city church, the town hall, and the attractive old town with its painted baroque gabled houses and late Gothic rows of houses.
“[…] He [Albert Einstein] did so well at his autodidactic preparations that at the beginning of October 1895, at the age of only 16 1/2, he passed the entrance examination to the Federal Polytechnical School in Zurich with the best outcome in mathematical and scientific subjects but inadequate results in linguistic and historical ones. Because of these gaps in his education and because of his youth, his parents were advised to have their son attend the final year of a Swiss secondary school, but with the prospect of certain admission the following year, despite the fact that he would still be fully six months below the prescribed age (18 years). So it was that Albert came to the Cantonal School (Kantonsschule) in Aarau, a small Swiss town whose schools had a deservedly high reputation and as a result were often attended by foreigners, even by some from overseas. He found welcome and understanding, and thus right away felt very much at home in the family of a teacher at the school, a scholar of literary and historical subjects. If the Munich Gymnasium had left him with a bias against secondary schools, this was thoroughly dispelled by the ways of the Aarau school. No traces of either a commanding tone or the cultivation of authority worship were to be found. Pupils were treated individually, more emphasis was placed on independent, sound thought than on punditry, and young people saw in the teacher not a figure of authority, but, alongside the scholar, a man of distinct personality. His time in Aarau was thus very instructive for him in many ways and one of the best periods of his life. His general education was enriched and, with the graduation certificate (Maturitätszeugnis) in his pocket, he was able to enter the Zurich Polytechnical School in the autumn of 1896.”
Source: CP, Volume1, Maja Winteler-Einstein. “Albert Einstein – A biographical sketch“
In the autum of 1895, sixteen year old Einstein came from Italy to Zurich to register for the technical department of the Polytechnikum (later Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, ETH). However, he was missing the necessary maturity certificate. Furthermore, he was two years younger than the regular entrance age of 18 years. In a letter to his uncle Caesar Koch, Einstein wrote in the summer of 1895 from Pavia: “As you already know, I should now enter the Polytechnikum in Zurich. This matter encounters considerable difficulties because I should be at least two years older for it.”
With the help of Gustav Maier, a friend of the family, he received the permission from the director of the Polytechnikum, Albin Herzog (1852-1909), to participate in the entrance examination which was prescribed for applicants without maturity certificate. In a letter to Gustav Maier, Herzog wrote on September 25, 1895: “According to my experience it is not advisable to withdraw a student from the institution in which he had begun his studies even if he is a so-called ‘child prodigy’. […] If you, or the relatives of the young man in question, do not share my opinion, I shall permit — under exceptional dispensation of the age stipulation — that he undergo an entrance examination in our institution.”
Einstein took the examination which consisted of two parts and which began on October 8, 1895. He did not pass the examination and thus was also not permitted to study! This seemingly because of poor performances in the general part. However, in the natural-scientific part, he had done well.
In retrospective, Albert Einstein wrote in 1946 in his “Autobiographical notes“ *): “Although the examination made me painfully aware of the gaps in my education, the examiners were patient and understanding. My failure seemed completely justified, but it was comforting that the physicist H. F. Weber let me know I could attend his lectures if I stayed in Zurich. Meanwhile the rector, Professor Albin Herzog, recommended me to the cantonal school in Aarau, where I studied for a year and received my high school graduation certificate.”
He followed the advice of director Herzog to complete his secondary school education at the Aargau cantonal school (today Alte Kantonsschule Aarau – AKSA) and spent one year in the city of Aarau, 50 kilometers west of Zurich. At Einstein’s time, Aarau approx. had 7,200 inhabitants.
During his one-year stay in Aarau he lived with the cantonal school teacher Dr. Jost Winteler (1846-1929) and his wife Pauline in Laurenzenvorstadt 119. The Wintelers had a total of seven children: Anna, Jost Fridolin, Rosa, Marie, Mathias, Jost jun. and Paul. He was immediately integrated into the Winteler family. It did not take long and he addressed his “surrogate parents” with “Papa“ and “Mamerl“. Especially to his “Mamerl“ he had a close relationship. On October 29, 1895 Hermann Einstein, Albert’s father, wrote in a letter to Jost Winteler: “Permit me, esteemed Herr Professor, to express my deepest gratitude to you and your family for the exceedingly kind and friendly hospitality extended to my son Albert. He writes with delight about his stay there and already feels as comfortable as at home.”
Through the Winteler family he got to know Switzerland and the life there. Together, they made excursions and the young Albert came to appreciate the beauty of Switzerland with its picturesque lakes and mountains.
Einstein only seldomly spent nights out. Either he worked or often sat together with the guest family at the table where they talked about the daily events, read, or discussed. Anna, the oldest Winteler daughter, liked their guest as a very solid housemate who never was a killjoy.
Einstein liked to have scientific discussions, especially with “Papa“ Winteler. But they also for example talked about politics. This had the effect that Einstein‘s political thinking was influenced. Thus he remembered many years later (1935) in a letter to his sister Maja: “I often have to think of Papa Winteler and of the foreknowing correctness of his political points of view.“
But also the music which occupied an important place in Einstein‘s emotional life, played a very great role in his life in Aarau.
During his stay in Aarau with the Winteler family, 17-year old Einstein experienced his first serious romance with Marie, the 18-year old daughter of the Wintelers. From Pavia, where the enamored Einstein spent his Easter holidays, he wrote in April 1896 in a letter to Marie: ”But love brings much happiness – much more so than pining brings pain. Only now do I realize how indispensable my dear little sunshine has become to my happiness.”
However, the romance did not last long. He ended it within one year to the disappointment of the two parent couples who had looked at the relationship with goodwill. However, the end of the romance did not have any negative effects on the relationship of the two families.
But it remained a familiar connection. Einstein‘s sister Maja married Paul Winteler (1882-1952), the youngest son of the Winteler family, in 1910. Einstein‘s colleague and best friend, Michele Besso (1873-1955), married Anna, the oldest daughter of the Winteler family, in 1898.
In retrospective, young Albert Einstein spent a happy time in Aarau. During his period of study in Zurich (1896-1900), he often visited Aarau.
In the Aarau time, on January 28, 1896, 17-year-old Einstein waived the Wurttemberg and thus also the German citizenship with the consent of his father. For the next five years he was stateless.
Cantonal school in Aargau
The cantonal school in Aargau in Aarau (today: Alte Kantonsschule Aarau, ALTE KANTI), Bahnhofstrasse 91, was founded in 1802 and is the oldest cantonal school and the oldest non-church secondary school of Switzerland.
When Albert Einstein was admitted to the cantonal school at the end of October 1895, it consisted of a secondary school with 56 students and a trade school with 90 students. In addition to August Tuchschmid (1855-1939), professor for Physics, at Einstein‘s time also director of the school, Friedrich Mühlberg (1840-1915), professor for natural history, whom Einstein did especially like, and Heinrich Ganter (1848-1915), professor for Mathematics, had a great influence on the development of the cantonal school. Einstein had lessons with all three of them. Einstein’s Swiss “Papa“ Jost Winteler taught Greek and History at the cantonal school, however, did not have Albert Einstein as student!
Albert Einstein was admitted to the school on Saturday, October 26, 1895 (there were no free Saturdays!) and enrolled in the third year of the trade school, immediately after the third quarter of the school year had begun. The aim was to complete his secondary school education, i.e. to achieve the Swiss maturity certificate (Matur, corresponds to the German school leaving certificate (Abitur)).
His coeval cousin Robert Koch (1879-?) enrolled at the secondary school of the cantonal school only a short time later. At that time, the two of them were the only Jewish students of the school.
16-year old Einstein was the youngest among his 14, last of all 9 fellow students who were between seventeen and nineteen years old.
| Course: | Teacher: |
| German | Dr. Adolf Frey |
| French | Dr. Jakob Hunziker |
| Italian | Martin Rennhart |
| History | Dr. Johann Jakob Bäbler |
| Mathematics | Dr. Heinrich Ganter |
| Descriptive geometry | Philipp Gladbach |
| Geodesy | Philipp Gladbach |
| Mineralogy | Dr. Friedrich Mühlberg |
| Chemistry (with practicum) | Dr. Paul Liechti |
| Technical drawing | Philipp Gladbach |
| Artistic drawing | Max Wolfinger |
| Physics | Dr. August Tuchschmid |
| Preliminary concepts of geology and physical geography | Dr. Friedrich Mühlberg |
| Singing and instrumental lessons, gymnastics, military Instruction |
In the “admission report“ of the trade school dated October 26, 1895 there is the note that Einstein has comprehensive gaps in the subjects French and Chemistry, and that it is necessary to rework these subjects.
In the minute book of the teacher conference dated November 08, 1895 it reads: ”[…] Einstein, [grade] 3 Tr[ade School], required to receive private lessons in French, Natural History, and Chemistry, has been exempted from Singing and Gymnastics upon request, as an alien he is at this school grade also exempted from military instruction.”
Among his fellow students Einstein soon had the reputation to be a loner. The one year older fellow student Hans Byland (1878-1949) described him years later with romantic glamorization as follows: “The great physicist did not fit in, even when he was young.“
Hans Byland remembered in 1928: “At the Aargau cantonal school there was a bitter Wind of scepticism in the 90ies, […] In this atmosphere, the cheeky Swabian [Einstein] did not fit in badly, the witty self-importance of whom distinguished him already before everybody else. […] Nothing escaped the sharp and large bright eyes. Who came near him, was under the spell of a superior personality. A sneer around the swelling mouth with the protruding lower lip did not encourage the Philistines to get in touch with him.“ Furthermore, Byland added that Einstein was characterized by a boisterous but sometimes also intimidating wit.
During his time in the cantonal school Aarau, Albert Einstein became a very good student in the subject Mathematics and in the natural sciences. In other subjects he was more “moderate“. This was certainly not because of missing intelligence. He did not want to understand that he should also learn things which did not interest him. Thus he did not succeed – despite private lessons in French – to catch up with his fellow students. Also with Italian he had some problems.
In his “Autobiographical note” *) of 1946 Einstein wrote: “This school, with its liberal spirit and the unpretentious, serious attitude of the teachers, who relied on their own judgment rather than any outside authority, made a lasting impression on me. Comparing this with my six years of education at a German high school run by authoritarian methods made me acutely aware that it is far better to teach people to act freely and on their own responsibility than to educate them on principles of military drill, external authority, and ambition. Genuine democracy is not an empty illusion.
During the year in Aarau, the following question occurred to me: If one chases a light wave at the speed of light one would arrive at a time-independent wave field. But nothing like that really seems to exist! This was the first childlike experiment in thinking about special relativity theory. Innovation itself is not the result of logical thought, even though the end product is tied to a logical structure.”
On March 31, 1896 the instrumental examination took place at the cantonal school. In the examination report it says: “[…] Seventeen students were examined: 8 in piano and 9 in violin playing. […] The violin playing still revealed some stiffness in bowing techniques here and there, but otherwise the results were quite gratifying with regard to technique as well as with regard to intonation. One student, by name of Einstein, even sparkled by rendering an adagio from a Beethoven sonata with deep understanding. […]”. From his music teacher, Franz Rödelberger, Einstein received the grade “5-6” in the subject “Music Violin”.
At the traditional annual celebration of the students, Einstein plays in the Aarau student orchestra. At another event, a public concert evening in the church, the musical director, Rödelberger, gave Einstein the first violin part. They played Bach. The second violinist, Hans Wohlwend, who was impressed by Einstein‘s playing, asked him: “Don’t you count?“ Einstein laughed and said: “Oh no, that is simply in my blood!“ Hans Wohlwend was a student in a higher class of the cantonal school.
From left, top row: Lüthy, Adolf (*1878), Frösch, Hans (*1877), Walter, Karl (*1876), Hunziker, Ernst (*1876), Haury, Eduard (*1877), Ott, Emil (*1877). From left, bottom row: Einstein, Albert (*1879), Hofer Cäsar (*1878), Schmidt, Oskar (*1876), Müller, Guido (*1877)
With the successful completion of the 4th Technical Class (certificate dated September 5, 1896) Einstein was able to apply with the Erziehungsdirektion des Kantons Aargau for the maturity examination on September 7,1896. In the letter it says: “[…] Since last autumn I have been attending the Kantonsschule in Aarau, and I am now taking the liberty of applying for the matura examination. After that I intend to study physics and mathematics at Department 6 of the Federal Polytechnikum.”
The examination consisted of a written and an oral part. The examinations began on September 18, 1896 and ended on September 21, 1896. For the written part, the candidates respectively had 2 hours of time. Examination tasks were:
German: “Synopsis of Goethe’s Götz von Berlichingen”
Examiner: Dr. Adolf Frey; Grade: “mostly 5”
French: “My Future Plans” („Mes projets d’ avenir“)
Examiner: Dr. Jakob Hunziker; Grade: “3-4”
Geometry:
Examiner: Dr. Heinrich Ganter; Grade: “6”
Physics: “Tangent Galvanometer and Galvanometer”
Examiner: Dr. August Tuchschmid; Grade: “5-6”
Natural History: “Evidence of the Earlier Glaciation of Our Country”
Examiner: Dr. Friedrich Mühlberg; Grade: “5”
Mathematics: Algebra
Examiner: Dr. Heinrich Ganter; Grade: “6”
Chemistry: “How many liters 30 % hydrochloric acid, the specific weight of which is 1.15, do you receive from 39.5 kg sodium chloride if neutral sulphate is forming as a byproduct? Description of the solids resulting from the reaction.“
Examiner: Paul Liechti; Grade: “The hydrochloric acid is somewhat shortly dealt with, otherwise 5”
The oral examinations were performed on September 30, 1896. Each candidate was at least examined for 10 minutes in the subjects that had already been examined in writing. In addition, the subjects History and Descriptive Geometry were examined orally.
In the examinations, Einstein achieved a grade average of 5 1/3, the best of his class.
Grades: 6 = excellent, 5 = good, 4 = sufficient, 3 = poor, 2 = very poor, 1 = unusable
It is to be noticed that the assessment scale for school performance (school grades) in Germany and in Switzerland differs from each other, i.e. the grade 1 (excellent) in Germany equals grade 6 in Switzerland; the grade 2 (good) equals grade 5, etc.
In the course of his school time Albert Einstein turned to be a very good pupil in mathematics and science. In the other school subjects he was a more “moderate” pupil. Of course this fact had nothing to do with a lack of intelligence. He simply did not want to understand that he should also learn things that did not interest him. In his certificate of qualification for university matriculation the lessons which he was less interested in can easily be detected. But the average grade in his certificate was a 5, i.e. the grade “good”!
One week after he had received his maturity certificate, Albert Einstein enrolled at the Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum in Zurich. The study objective was the subject teacher diploma for Mathematics and Physics.
The “moderate student” Albert Einstein grew to be one of the most important scientists of the 20th century!
08/25
Illustrations Credits:
Roland Zumbühl, picswiss.ch: 1
Roland Zumbühl, picswiss.ch: 2
Alexander Umbricht, Image: Public Domain: 3
ETH-Bibliothek, Image: Public Domain: 4
Public Domain: 5
*) Einstein’s “Autobiographical note“ is his last bigger literary work and amends his “Nekrolog“ [obituary] which he had written in 1946 for the volume published by P. A. Schilpp.
Bibliography:
| Editors: John Stachel et al. | The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Volume 1 | Princeton 1987 |
| Anna Beck, Translator Peter Havas, Consultant | The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Volume 1, English translation of selected texts | Princeton 1987 |
| Hanoch Gutfreund, Jürgen Renn | Einstein on Einstein | Princeton 2020 |
| Editor: Herbert Hunziker | Der jugendliche Einstein und Aarau | Basel 2005 |
| Walter Isaacson | Einstein – Die Biografie | Munich 2024 |
| Albrecht Fölsing | Albert Einstein – Eine Biographie | Frankf/Main 1993 |
| Carl Seelig | Albert Einstein | Zurich, 1954 |
| Editor: P. A. Schilpp | Albert Einstein als Philosoph und Naturforscher | Braunschweig 1979 |
| Hans Byland | Aus Einsteins Jugendtagen Neue Bündner Zeitung | Graubünden 1928 |