302 THE LATER JOURNEYcontrast to her husband, she was conscious of social standing and others' opin-
ions.*
On various occasions, Einstein would utter asides which expressed his reser-
vations on the bliss attendant on the holy state of matrimony. For example, he
was once asked by someone who observed him incessantly cleaning his pipe
whether he smoked for the pleasure of smoking or in order to engage in unclogging
and refilling his pipe. He replied, 'My aim lies in smoking, but as a result things
tend to get clogged up, I'm afraid. Life, too, is like smoking, especially marriage'
[II].
Shortly after Elsa died, in 1936, Einstein wrote to Born, 'I have acclimated
extremely well here, live like a bear in its cave, and feel more at home than I ever
did in my eventful life. This bearlike quality has increased because of the death
of my comrade [Kameradin], who was more attached to people [than I]' [E20].
It was not the only time that Einstein wrote about his family with more frankness
than grace [E21].
In March 1955, shortly after the death of his lifelong friend Michele Besso,
Einstein wrote to the Besso family, 'What I most admired in him as a human
being is the fact that he managed to live for many years not only in peace but also
in lasting harmony with a woman—an undertaking in which I twice failed rather
disgracefully' [E22].
Half a year after Albert and Elsa were married, his mother came to Berlin to
die in her son's home.
Pauline's life had not been easy. After her husband's death in 1902 left her with
limited means and no income, she first went to stay with her sister Fanny, in
Hechingen. Thereafter she lived for a long period in Heilbron in the home of a
widowed banker by the name of Oppenheimer, supervising the running of the
household and the education of several young children who adored her. Later she
managed for a time the household of her widowed brother Jakob Koch, then
moved to Lucerne to stay with her daughter, Maja, and the latter's husband, Paul
Winteler, at their home at Brambergstrasse 16a. It was to that address that Ein-
stein sent a newspaper clipping 'for the further nourishment of Mama's anyhow
already considerable mother's pride' [E23].
While staying with her daughter, Pauline became gravely ill with abdominal
cancer and had to be hospitalized at the Sanatorium Rosenau. Shortly thereafter,
she expressed the desire to be with her son. In December 1919, Elsa wrote to
Ehrenfest that the mother, now deathly ill, would be transported to Berlin [E24].
Around the beginning of 1920, Pauline arrived, accompanied by Maja, a doctor,
and a nurse [E25]. She was bedded down in Einstein's study. Morphine treat-
ments affected her mind, but 'she clings to life and still looks good' [E25]. She
*Frank remarks that she was not popular in Berlin circles [Fl].