In May 1915 Elsbeth returned to Zurich. Since she was a German citizen, Italy's declaration of war on Austria on the twenty-third of the month made it awkward for her to remain in Turin (though it took another three months before Italy took the next logical step by declaring war on Germany itself). The war just beyond Switzerland's borders was already intensifying. It was in spring 1915 that the Germans embarked upon chemical warfare on the western front and began their Zeppelin raids over London. The sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May, one of the major factors that turned American public opinion against Germany, even impinged upon Schoeck too, for the only manuscript of one of his songs—a Goethe setting—went down with the ship, lost for good in a watery oblivion.

Switzerland was a temptingly safe place to be at this time. And since Elsbeth and Schoeck were head over heels in love with each other and disinclined to part again so soon, she decided to stay, and rented an apartment at Stein wiesstrasse, a kilometer from Schoeck's own on the Bergstrasse. The renewed vigor of their “chamber music,” however, resulted in his lease being terminated a few months later, and the loss of his chalet apartment for good. During the ensuing three years that Elsbeth spent in Zurich, she made some money by playing the violin part-time in the Tonhalle Orchestra and elsewhere but remained largely dependent upon Schoeck for her pecuniary survival.