Christian Heinze
Albert Einstein's "Sommerhaus" (cottage) in Caputh was built in 1929 by the architect Konrad Wachsmann (1901-1980) - a pioneer in industrial building. Einstein lived there with his wife till autumn 1932. While the couple spent a happy time there, many friends came from all over the world to visit them. When he invited his son, Albert Einstein used the words, "Come to Caputh, brush off the world".
After the Nazis came to power, Albert and his wife Elsa didn't return from their journey to the USA in 1933. The house was first rented to the Jewish foster home in the neighbourhood, before it was confiscated by the government in 1935. From then on, the community of Caputh was the new owner of the Einstein estate. It was used as a kindergarten and later on as a training centre for nursery school teachers. During World War II, it was used by the German Armed Forces.
Many leaseholders lived in the "Sommerhaus" from 1945 to 1978. For Einstein's hundredth birthday, the house was set under preservation order and restored by the "Akademie der Wissenschaften" (Science Academy) of the GDR. Afterwards, it was used as a guest-house, as well as a memorial place. All the negotiations about giving back the illegally confiscated house to Einstein's heirs failed.
After a long process of restitution, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was acknowledged as the rightful owner of the Einstein estate. The Einstein Forum Potsdam has been looking after it since the "Sommerhaus" was restored in 2005 - which was 100 years after Einstein formulated the theory of relativity.