Albert Einstein’s doctoral certificate returns to Zurich

Einstein's doctoral certificate from the University of Zurich was first sold at auction in 2009. It resurfaced in New York in spring 2022 and has now being acquired by the University of Zurich. Keystone / Sigi Tischler

The original doctoral certificate belonging to Albert Einstein has returned to the University of Zurich thanks to a donation.

The theoretical physicist’s certificate, dating from 1906, is now on display in the entrance hall of university’s main building.

The university was able to acquire the original certificate this year thanks to a donation given to the university’s foundation.

“Making the doctoral certificate of our alumnus Albert Einstein available to our students and the broad public was a unique opportunity,” said university president Michael Schaepman in a statementExternal link on Friday.

The doctoral certificate has had an interesting journey. After Einstein received it in 1906, it reappeared in 1948 in a house in Zurich, where the physicist had lived with his first wife, Milena Marić. It was found there in the attic by a young student from canton Schwyz who also found Einstein’s honorary doctoral certificate from the University of Geneva. The owner of the house let the student keep the two documents.

The doctoral certificate was sold at an auction in Lucerne in 2009 and resurfaced in New York in spring 2022.

Strong ties to Zurich

Einstein, who earned the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921External link, has close ties to Zurich. He studied physics at the Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum (now ETH Zurich) from 1896 to 1900. In 1905, 26-year-old Einstein submitted his doctoral thesis “Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen” (A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions) to the University of Zurich. One year later, in January 1906, the mathematics and natural science section of the Faculty of Philosophy awarded him the title Doctor of Philosophy.

In 1909, the University of Zurich appointed him as associate professor for theoretical physics, his first position as lecturer and professor. Einstein left Zurich in 1911 and took up a professorship in Prague. He returned to Zurich in 1912 and worked as professor of theoretical physics at ETH Zurich before moving to Berlin in 1914. Einstein later turned down the offer of a double professorship at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.