  Albert Einstein accepted a 'special' visiting professorship at the University
of Leiden in the Netherlands in February 1920. Although his appointment should
have been a mere formality, it took until October of that year before Einstein
could occupy his special chair. Why the delay? The explanation involves a case
of mistaken identity with Carl Einstein, Dadaist art, and a particular Dutch
fear of revolutions. But what revolution was one afraid of? The story of
Einstein's Leiden chair throws new light on the reception of relativity and its
creator in the Netherlands and in Germany.
