einstein was born in ulm, württemberg, germany, on 14 march 1879. his family was jewish, but was not very . however, later in life einstein became very interested in his judaism. einstein did not begin speaking until he was 3 years old. according to his younger sister, maja, "he had such difficulty with language that those around him feared he would never learn". when einstein was around 4 years old, his father gave him a magnetic compass. he tried hard to understand how the needle could seem to move itself so that it always pointed north. the needle was in a closed case, so clearly nothing like wind could be pushing the needle around, and yet it moved. so in this way einstein became interested in studying science and mathematics. his compass gave him ideas to the world of science.