[1] The two parted ways in 1894, when Albert left Germany to follow his family to Milan.

In 1896, Elsa married textile trader Max Löwenthal (1864–1914),[2]: 146  from Berlin, with whom she had three children: daughters Ilse (1897–1934) and Margot (1899–1986), and a son who was born in 1903, but died shortly after birth.

[2]: 193  They lived in the Berlin area and in 1929 acquired a summer house in Caputh in nearby Potsdam.

[6] Elsa spent most of her marriage with Albert acting as his gatekeeper, protecting him from unwelcome visitors and charlatans.

[7] In autumn 1935, they moved to a house at 112 Mercer Street,[2]: 216  bought that August,[1] but shortly afterwards Elsa developed a swollen eye and was diagnosed with heart and kidney problems.

It was stated in Walter Isaacson's book, Einstein: His Life and Universe, that he believed "strenuous intellectual work and looking at God's nature are the reconciling, fortifying yet relentlessly strict angels that shall lead me through all of life's troubles".