The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-07
UNIVERSITY DUELS
FACTS ABOUT A CURIOUS FEATURE
OF GERMAN STUDENT LIFE.
Two Kinds Of Contests, Those which
which Occur by appointment.
Philadelphia Tele-

oEAlf correspondence <Aiiduclpuld lcte- /
graph.
One Of the most curious manifestations
in German student life is the duel. This
is carried on by the same class of men
who have been already spoken of as
studying SO little and drinking so much |
beer; that is, for the most part by the
of the secret societies. There
are certain obligations as to personal |
behavior resting upon all the students
who are not wild men," Antiquated
customs exist in regard to the salut of
an acquaintance, the method of conduct
at a drinking festival and in the great
field of university social relations in gen.
eral. These written and unwritten rules
must be carefully observed or the penal
ty is a challenge, which custom requires
that the student shall accept.
The student duel. however. is not al
ways the outgrowth of an insult or a
supposed insult. There is another form
which is. perhaps. the more usual and
which leads to a greater number of en-
counters. This is the PRO patria" duel.
which is a contest between different
clubs at regular intervals, and it is car
ried on merely for the pleasurable ex-
element which those who participate
and those who o. on draw from it.
The combatants are usually chosen by
a will other than their own. Though
there are sometimes volunteers, the
president, as a rule, selects some MEM
Der of his club who shall on a certain
day meet a member of another club
similarly chosen by it's president. Con-
tests arranged in this way are very
numerous. 1t is desired that each club
shall provide a man at least once a
week, and. as there are at the large uni
verslties quite a large number of fight
ing societies, the combat wages very fire.
quently. 1t is this ~tyrannous, obligatory
feature of the duel which makes it such
a persistent evil in German university
life.
1t may neither be pleasant nor neces-
sary to give a description of one of these
encounters. The task has been done be-
fore, and it only remains to cite a few
facts in regard to an institution which
1T is a little marvellous the Germans do
not find some method to abolish. The
duel or "mensur," as it is called, is
fought in various ways, with various
weapons and according to different rules.
There are duelS with Sabres and with
rapiers, with sharp swords and with dull
swords. This is usually a matter of per-
sonaI choice or rests perhaps upon a.
local tradition. The weapon used gem
orally goes by the name OF schlaeger,
5oAAA III
such as the korbschlaeger, or the bas-
ket-hilted rapier, and the. glockenschlaeg-
er, a heavy weapon made of hard bell
metal. The latter is an arm which has
been in favor in late years at Leipsic and
Halle.
The duelist must be specially dressed
for the combat in a suit called the pauk-
wichs, which consists of heavy bandag-
ing for the neck and arms, a thick piece
of upholstery, somewhat like a mattress,
which is suspended yer the breast. and
glass goggles to protect the eyes. There
are sometimes covers for the ears also.
The point of attack is thus the head and
face, another curious symptom of the
student duel. 1t is thus hat part of the
body which nearly all other people aim
the most carefully to guard from injury
which 1T is the particular desire to nu-
tilate and scar.
1t is to be noted also that the Jules
are such as to protect the rest of the
body. The strike" must be made in
only a certain way, and each combatant
has a second, also armed with a sword,
who must ward off foul blows. 1t lis
further a. curious feature that a single
wound does not suffice to settle the diff
Guilty. Both combatants are often in
jured, and it is not unusual for each to
receive several wounds. The coItes
only ends, indeed, by the exhaustion OF
or the other party or at the expira-
ton of the time limit.
LAWS AGAINST THE DUEL.
It would seem, if the proper desire
were manifested, that the duel could be
gotten rid of in the German universi-
ties. The government is strong enough
to stop other abuses. There are avs
enough on the subject. Paragraph POI OF
the penal code of the German empire
says: .The challenge to duel with dead
~ arms and the acceptance of such a
challenge Will be punished with an i'm.
prisonment of six months" 1t has beer
said by ~iurists. however, that because
the combatants are bandaged and be-
cause of the rule relating to the strike
| the student duel cannot be considered
as a due with deadly arms" This ii
a peculiar method of legal i~nterpreta,
ton from which there is some dissent
1t is true hat the "mensur'' does rather
rarely lead to fatal results. though thu
cases are not at all unknown. TIL
wounds are at times of a kline which
occasion abScess OF blood poisoning, an6
almost any university can in the cours'
of a few years produce a considerable
number of disasters. There are also 10
cal and state laws on the subject, ant
it has been a matter for legal dispute
also which should have jurisdiction, thu
empire or the state. There is in any
case sufficient written law to effect con
viction and punishment
The authorities can scarcely plead tha
they are of the dueling practice
The police are not actually informed o
the time or locality of the fights, blu
they can hardly fail to know of boil
these facts. In the large cities there /
more effort at concealment. and tn,
place of encounter is usually not s.
recognizable, but at the village universe
ties there can surely be no Ignorance
concerning it. a point is selected. as
rule, outside of the town, but there i
surely some one with jurisdiction in tn
country also The sword carriers. tn
participants and spectators are visible I
all men as they go to their fighting re
sort, which is usually a small hall i
connection with a tavern in regular us
for this purpose. At any rate those VIII
nave taken part could be pursued. The
are to be met, with their faces bar
daged. on the streets, in the universit
Railways and in the lecture rooms. ]
would be droll were they to plead tha
they had been injured in any other mar
ner. It is a matter of great pride, an
1 the men exhibit their scars with mnc
satisfaction. Those whose scalDs ar
dotted with cuts usually keep their hal
trimmed very short, SO that they mn
secure credit for all the marks Of the
yaIor and chivalry.