On 28 November 1919 Albert Einstein explained his theory to the readers of The Times in London. In the German text, Was ist Relativitäts-Theorie?, he divided physical theories into two kinds. Most are constructive theories. The second kind he called Prinzip-Theorien, principle theories.
Their starting point, Einstein wrote, is general properties of natural processes, principles, aus denen dann mathematisch formulierte Kriterien folgen, denen die einzelnen Vorgänge … zu genügen haben, from which follow mathematically formulated criteria that the single processes must satisfy. Die Relativitätstheorie gehört zu den Prinzip-Theorien. The theory of relativity belongs to the principle theories.
He also wrote that these general principles are themselves empirisch gefunden, found by experience.