  Though this period of Vaihinger’s life was marked by tremendous professional success, it was also a period of personal struggle. In 1906, suffering badly from cataracts, Vaihinger was forced to discontinue his lecturing. Eventually, he was completely blinded. In 1913, there occurred a rather bizarre incident: an anti-Semitic publication, the Semi-Kürschner, “accused” Vaihinger of being a Jew. With anti-Semitism already on the rise in Germany, Vaihinger felt compelled to defend his reputation in court, and sued the publication for defamation. Though the Semi-Kürschner ultimately removed his name, the incident perhaps explains in part why his reputation would continue to suffer under the Nazis. Additionally, Vaihinger had invested significant portions of his assets in Russia; the October Revolution, together with the economic crisis after the First World War left him in dire financial straits, and he was forced to sell the bookstore he had inherited from Elisabeth’s parents. Struggle turned to tragedy when, in 1918, Vaihinger’s daughter Erna committed suicide. His son Richard also began suffering from neuropathy brought on by the war, and by 1929 he was completely incapacitated.