The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-07-10
HAVEN WEDNESDAY, july 49,


thirty duels take place here every week
during the semester, and these nearly
all at Hlrsehgasse, a little tavern across
the river from Heidelberg, which Is
known and advertised everywhere as
the place of resort for such encounters.
1t Is mentioned in the guide books, and
every one knows of 1t except the univer-
sity officials and the police. 1t is not a
ten-minute walk from the center of the
town, though II Is outside of the city Ju-
rlsdiction, This, however, seems to be
matter OF no moment, for some of the
clubs for period last year fought in
the town itself, at a tavern directly In
the shadow of the old castle.
The Hirschgasse Is sort of cleft in a
hillslope down which deer used to pass
in order to drink at the riverside. The
tavern Is characteristic German coun-
try drinking resort, on the second story
of which Is a large hall In which the
duelling takes place 1t Is surrounded
by stables, a garden and court.
On the ground floor of this tavern is
restaurant. One of the rooms, be-
sides various pictures of different IA
nous duels, contains three heavy oak
tables, the top surfaces of which are
, carved with the names Of students who
have earlier patronized the house.
Among them are to be found men who
to-day figure prominently In one way or
another in the affairs of Germany. No
tees are now displayed forbidding any
1 further mutilation, and the incisions
have been vanished over, In order that
they may be preserved as mementoes
for the curious.
I In the fighting hall itself are various
ornaments, such as student caps of diff
ferent colors and swords. A bust stat
ue of the Grand Duke of Baden looks
down from niche at the end of the
room, to lend the proceedings constant
ly kind of official character. There Is
In the hall table full Of dainties, such
as sandwiches and beer, at which those
who attend the fights may refresh
themselves at intervals. A side room
exists for the use of the surgeons and
the stitchers. No attempt is made to
conceal the encounters. The hall has a
great number of windows, through
which, ON one side next the hill, men,
and women also, from the town watch
! the fighting. To this neither those who
| fight nor the proprietor of the tavern
| seem to offer any objection.
! There are duels here some three or
| four mornings every week by the men,
! bers of the various fighting clubs, of
| which Heidelberg has an enormous
| number. The most aristocratic Of them
all is the Saxo-Borussia. This club
| bears cartel relations with the Borussia
of Bonn, to which the Hohenzollerns be-
| long. Five or six dueIs between vari-
GUS combatants are usually fought on
| the same morning
| This Is all a curious commentary on
| law and order as they are supposed to
/ exist in Germany. Such machinery for
| the enforcement of law as is to be
! found here flourishes in no other land
In the world and yet, for one reason or
| another, the duel goes on unhindered.,
/ BY the laws of the empire, without TAX
\ ing into account the penalties pre-
scribed by the lower jurisdictions, there
1 is the most severe punishment for duel
4 ling and the challenging to duel In
spite of various attempts to make other
interpretations, the student duels have
by the supreme court of the empire
been decided to be duels in the sense Of
CiAC let Wy. CT pupilSiy Ill Lie INGlCuSldS,
no longer ago than last winter, an es-
teemed member of the kaiser's ministry
declared himself and his government at
issue not only with the laws and the SUI
preme court, but with whatever moral
, feeling there may be in the land against
this malevoIent form of evil.
That there is a strong feeling against
the systematic mutilation of the human
face in the universities there can be no
/ doubt, although 1t is sometimes difficult
to discern Those who are opposed to
it, however, are so far removed from
the throne Of authority that they can
not make their influence felt. 1t is one
of those denominations, of which there
are several in Germany, that there will
be no way to uproot until there is es-
tablished government which can rest
in some way upon a free and reasona-
Bile public opinion. Whatever the gov
eminent Of Germany is to-day, it is not
this.
Duelling is so common at Heidelberg
SS11~S~1NSsre