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My Dear Li: Correspondence, 1937-1946
Personal letters reveal the quandary of a prominent German physicist during the Nazi years and the strength he shared with his loving wife
Nobel Prize–winning physicist Werner Heisenberg lived far from his wife, Elisabeth, during most of the Second World War. An eminent scientist, Werner headed Germany’s national atomic research project in Berlin, while Elisabeth and their children lived more safely in Bavaria. This selection of more than 300 letters exchanged between husband and wife reveals the precarious nature of Werner’s position in the Third Reich, Elisabeth’s increasingly difficult everyday life as the war progressed, and the devoted relationship that gave strength to them both.
These letters provide a fascinating new perspective on Werner’s much-debated wartime work and his attitude toward the atomic bomb. They also shed light on his reluctance to emigrate despite the urging of friends. An excerpt from his private diary, an introduction and notes by his daughter, and a selection of personal family photographs complete this compelling volume.
Nobel Prize–winning physicist Werner Heisenberg lived far from his wife, Elisabeth, during most of the Second World War. An eminent scientist, Werner headed Germany’s national atomic research project in Berlin, while Elisabeth and their children lived more safely in Bavaria. This selection of more than 300 letters exchanged between husband and wife reveals the precarious nature of Werner’s position in the Third Reich, Elisabeth’s increasingly difficult everyday life as the war progressed, and the devoted relationship that gave strength to them both.
These letters provide a fascinating new perspective on Werner’s much-debated wartime work and his attitude toward the atomic bomb. They also shed light on his reluctance to emigrate despite the urging of friends. An excerpt from his private diary, an introduction and notes by his daughter, and a selection of personal family photographs complete this compelling volume.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2016
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About the author
Werner Heisenberg
127 books395 followersWerner Heisenberg (AKA W. Heisenberg) was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory. In addition, he made important contributions to nuclear physics, quantum field theory, and particle physics.
He won the 1932 Nobel prize in physics "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen".
He won the 1932 Nobel prize in physics "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2017
I was looking forward to reading this book because one of my dearest friends is the granddaughter of Werner and Elizabeth Heisenberg. I knew her for quite some time before I realized the connection and her grandfather's fame as the Nobel Prize winning physicist.
This was an opportunity to get a very personal look at the lives of a German family living a rather priviledged but still unstable life while World War Two waged on around them. Letters back and forth between Werner and Elizabeth provide the basis for the book. They are separated as Werner moves around doing his work and teaching and lecturing, and later as he is arrested at the end of the war. Meanwhile Elizabeth is charged with maintaining two homes and 6 children. As the war progresses, their circumstances change dramatically and the challenges of being apart are more in evidence.
Their love for each other and their children is apparent and serves as the glue to hold the family together.
Certainly not a typical war story, but I found the second half of the book more interesting as the family life was more and more impacted by the horror of daily air raids, loss of friends, lack of food and other hardships.
I started the book and put it away when life challenges got in the way. When my husband showed me a documentary that discussed Werner's importance to Germany during the war, I picked the book up again, and am very glad that I did.
This was an opportunity to get a very personal look at the lives of a German family living a rather priviledged but still unstable life while World War Two waged on around them. Letters back and forth between Werner and Elizabeth provide the basis for the book. They are separated as Werner moves around doing his work and teaching and lecturing, and later as he is arrested at the end of the war. Meanwhile Elizabeth is charged with maintaining two homes and 6 children. As the war progresses, their circumstances change dramatically and the challenges of being apart are more in evidence.
Their love for each other and their children is apparent and serves as the glue to hold the family together.
Certainly not a typical war story, but I found the second half of the book more interesting as the family life was more and more impacted by the horror of daily air raids, loss of friends, lack of food and other hardships.
I started the book and put it away when life challenges got in the way. When my husband showed me a documentary that discussed Werner's importance to Germany during the war, I picked the book up again, and am very glad that I did.
August 15, 2019
"I sometimes feel so strangely alone here, so
totally removed from the real world, and it is good when you are nearby again."
"It has become all quiet around me; only outside the wind is rustling in the trees. I have been playing piano until now, and am sitting at the open window now, thinking a lot about you — full of dread and concern, my love."
"Initially this morning I held your letter in my hands for a long time before comprehending that it was really from you — my dear heart !"
"Last night I tried to write to you, my heart was so overly full. But
nothing right came of it. With me, it does not work like this: what overly fills your heart will come flowing out of your mouth ! No, then nothing comes out of me, no matter how much I want to tell you everything that your stay here has meant to me; want to tell you how the world changes, how everything wakes up and becomes warm and meaningful when I sense you near, my love …"
"I will write often now, as though you were with me and could hear me and talk to me, because, actually, I talk with you all day long — so close are you to me even when you are far away …"
"I am already in bed and it is late. But I feel I must say good night to you, even if I do not know when and where this greeting will reach you."
"I am with you more than before in my thoughts; somehow I already look on everything I do as though I am doing it for you."
totally removed from the real world, and it is good when you are nearby again."
"It has become all quiet around me; only outside the wind is rustling in the trees. I have been playing piano until now, and am sitting at the open window now, thinking a lot about you — full of dread and concern, my love."
"Initially this morning I held your letter in my hands for a long time before comprehending that it was really from you — my dear heart !"
"Last night I tried to write to you, my heart was so overly full. But
nothing right came of it. With me, it does not work like this: what overly fills your heart will come flowing out of your mouth ! No, then nothing comes out of me, no matter how much I want to tell you everything that your stay here has meant to me; want to tell you how the world changes, how everything wakes up and becomes warm and meaningful when I sense you near, my love …"
"I will write often now, as though you were with me and could hear me and talk to me, because, actually, I talk with you all day long — so close are you to me even when you are far away …"
"I am already in bed and it is late. But I feel I must say good night to you, even if I do not know when and where this greeting will reach you."
"I am with you more than before in my thoughts; somehow I already look on everything I do as though I am doing it for you."
March 3, 2025
Was expecting a bit more sentimentality. An ardent idyll of Werner & Li.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews