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Lot #244
Lise Meitner Autograph Note Signed to Otto Hahn

Eight years before they split the atom—a holiday postcard from Lise Meitner to Otto Hahn

Estimate: $2500+

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Server Time: 5/19/2026 12:29:51 PM EDT
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Description

Eight years before they split the atom—a holiday postcard from Lise Meitner to Otto Hahn

Austrian-Swedish physicist (1878-1968) who first identified nuclear fission. Despite never winning the award, she was nominated 19 times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry between 1924 and 1947, and 29 times for the Nobel Prize in Physics between 1937 and 1965. ANS in German, signed “Lise,” penned on the reverse of a 3.5 x 5.5 postcard of the Königsstuhl (King's Chair) chalk cliff on the Stubbenkammer in Jasmund National Park on the island of Rügen, August 18, 1931. A handwritten note by Lise Meitner at the bottom of a letter penned and signed by Walter Meitner, her younger brother, who both offer friendly words to Professor Otto Hahn. Lise’s note (translated): “Very warm greetings. We’re here for three days.” Walter’s letter: “I have not yet given up the plan of a raid [surprise visit] and will in any case announce myself in due course.” The postcard also bears a signed handwritten note from Lise’s close friend, German scientist Elisabeth Schiemann, which reads: “Greetings! Just a little more sun.” In fine condition. Accompanied by Meitner’s personal mailing envelope from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, addressed in her own hand to Professor Otto Hahn, but postmarked in Berlin, Germany, on May 23, 1929. Otto Hahn collaborated closely with Lise Meitner over decades of pioneering research in radioactivity, their partnership culminating in the discovery of nuclear fission, with Hahn conducting the key chemical experiments and Meitner providing the theoretical explanation

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