"Where Einstein spent his summer time" Caputh by Gerrem

"The sailing ship, the distant view, the lonely walks in autumn, the relative silence, it is paradise."

Albert Einstein, 1929

ALBERT EINSTEIN IN CAPUTH, 1929-1932

The municipality of Caputh is about six kilometres south of Potsdam, today’s state capital of Brandenburg. This quiet and dreamy place has become famous all over the world through Albert Einstein who spent most of the year in his summer house in Caputh during the years 1929 to 1932. It lies idyllically at two Havel lakes, the "Templiner See" and the "Schwielowsee" whereas the latter is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Mark Brandenburg. In his "hikes through the Mark Brandenburg" the German poet Theodor Fontane (1819-1898) wrote with impassioned words: "The Schwielow is wide, cosy, sunny and has the comfortableness of all widely laid-out natures."

At the time Einstein lived there Caputh had about 3000 inhabitants who earned a living mainly with small-scale companies such as fruit growing, fishing and trade.

Einstein liked living in Caputh very much. It was the quiet, the lakes and the magnificent forests which encouraged him to long and lonely hikes independent from the time of year.

Until now this unique Havel landscape hasn’t changed much. The scenic variety around Caputh and the Havel lakes still invite to hikes, relaxation and changes.

The little house in Caputh is a flop, but a very nice one (…)", wrote Albert Einstein on 18.11.1929 to his sister Maja, shortly after he had moved to his new summer house in Caputh.

To his 50th birthday on March 14 in 1929 Einstein received congratulations and presents from all over the world. To escape the hustle and bustle he spent his birthday not in Berlin but "fled" with his family into the villa of his doctor and friend Janos Plesch to Gatow at the "Wannsee". Berlin also offered the world-famous physicist and son of the city its congratulations. The mayor of Berlin, Gustav Böss, emphasized in his congratulation telegram that the city of Berlin would be proud "to count this German to its citizens whose fame not only at this time fills the world but whose name will be counted throughout the millenniums to the immortal ones." But despite all these beautiful words they had no present for Einstein. A scandal!

At the suggestion of the mayor the birthday present should be a house at the lake. Some time before Einstein’s birthday the municipal authorities of Berlin had decided for this generous present and in the following time Einstein and his family were suggested several projects. In case of the first house that the city had chosen it would have been necessary to throw out the current tenant but Einstein didn’t want this. The following project proposals by the city were equally problematic because it wanted to give away houses with which it couldn’t do as it wanted. After it had finally found out that there was no suitable house they wanted to give Einstein a property with his approval on which they wanted to build a house according to his ideas. But this plan also went astray. As time went by, the present continuously grew smaller. The city now only wanted to give a property as a present which Einstein should select on his own and on which he then could build a house on his own costs.

In the meantime the press had heard of the "present of the city". Thus the whole action became public and became a real scandal.

Einstien and his wife Elsa 1928 in Caputh

Elsa Einstein finally found an appropriate property in Caputh in the Waldstrasse 7, which the mayor also gave his approval to. But after also political quarrels appeared within the city parliament on occasion of the present Einstein finally refused. He told the mayor about his decision in a letter who still in vain tried to persuade him to cancel his choice.

After that Einstein bought the property in Caputh himself and let his house be built on his own costs. Although the "unsuccessful present" of the city spent all of Einstein’s savings he never regretted this step.

Despite the protests of his wife who would have preferred to have a house built of stone, Einstein let his house be built of timber. The house had a cellar and was built in a combination of locally known half-timbered and board and slab building style. Using this technique the scaffolding consists of beams that are connected with each other. Both the outer and inner walls and the ceilings are built of timber slabs or rather boards.

The house was built mainly of Oregon pine and Galician fir. For the isolation between the inner and outer walls different materials have been used, for example a layer of turf and a few centimetres wide space of air. To maintain the look of a log cabin the façade consisted of boards running horizontally with a few visible beam ends. It was lit up by big French windows with white window shutters. The roof consisted of tiles. Before the final construction in Caputh the house was built on a trial basis at the wood building company Christoph & Unmack AG in Niesky.

• Pros:A really nice place
• Cons:Not much inside and 5,--€ Entrance
• In a nutshell:Feel the spirit of a genious