Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-20
DUELS AMONG STUDENTS
Still Scratching One Another as in Earlier
Years
University Prison-A Re-
Days-SOme of the Fights.

From the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph.
The two most distinctive institutions in
Heidelberg, perhaps. are the university
prison and the dueling which the students
constantly carry on. The prison is a USE
less Inheritance from an antiquated past,
and the dueling, not to say anything more
severe about it, is agains the law. and in
deed, against a great many laws-those of
the university itself, those of Baden, and
those Of the empire. Yet there are ap-
parently no other two things which the
people Of the town try harder to maintain.
or which, however sorry we may be to
recognize 1t, seem to be quite so attractive
drawing card for strangers. In what
this peculiar attraction may consist we are
unable to say, and it surely is not to be
reckoned any more seriously than a pass
ing love for the curious.
l. In times back every university in Ger
many had its prison, and many still have
Each today has it's own judge and con-
stables and various laws which the stu
dents are supposed to be obliged to observe
Earlier each university was a kind of little
state within state, with very extensive
Independent judicial powers; but since the
this subject in 1878. important changes
have taken place. However, there are va
rious classes of disciplinary offenses, such
as drunkenness, daeling, insult of a fellow
streets or on the university premises, etc.
which the university authorities themselves
still punish. The sentence may be expul-
sion or Imprisonment in the university car
Ger for a term of days, or both. This prison
system fourfshed at Heidelberg in a more
pronounced form than anywhere else. At
Gottingen the visitor may be shown an old
door, which earlier stood in the prison of
that university. upon which is deeply carv-
ed the name of Otto Won Bismarck, a bit Of
workmanship ascribed to the old chancel-
lor when he was sowing his wild boyhood
oats.
The boys when they are sentenced to
prison come in great state. They bring their
servants with them, If they have any.
They drive up In carriages. with mattresses
ard all the necessary bedclothing, SO that
their stay may be pleasant as well as
profitable. They are also well equipped
with paint and all the suitable utensils for
mural decoration.
The duels at Heidelberg are very famous
There is perhaps no university in Germany
at which dueling is not practiced, but here
1t is regarded almost as a religious duty
The sons of the rich consregate at Heidel-
berg, and they are the people who are es-
pecially addicted to this form of student
pastime in Germany. It is not an exag-
geratfon to say that between twenty and
thirty duels take place here every week
during the semester, and these nearly all
at the Hirschgasse, a little tavern across
the river from Heidelberg, which is known
and advertised everywhere as the place Of
J.
In this capacity for a great many years.
The signboards point to 1t. 1t is mentioned
in the guide books, and every one knows
OF it except the university officials and the
the center Of the town, though it is
outside Of the city Jurisdiction This,
however, seems to be matter of no mo-
ment for some Of the clubs for a period
last year fought in the town itself, at a
tavern directly in the shadow of the old
castle.
There are duels here some three or four
mornings every week by the members Of
the various fighting clubs, of which Heidel-
berg has an enormous number. The most
aristocratic Of them all is the Saxo-Borus-
sia This club bears cartel relations with
the Borussia of Bonn, to which the Hohen-
zollerns belong. Five or six duels between
various 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 enforce
ment of law as is to be found here -four
1shes in no other land in the world; and
YET, Tor one reason or another, the duel
gees on unhindered. BY the laws of the
empire, without taking into account the
penalties prescribed by the lower jurisdic-
tons, there is the most severe punishment
LOT duenng ana 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 de-
c1ded to be duels in the sense of the law
=
than last winter, an esteemed member Of
the kaser's ministry declared himself and
his government at issue not only with the
laws and the supreme court, but with what
ever moral feeling there may be in the
land against this malevolent 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. al
though 1t is sometimes difficult to discern.
1hose VINO are opposed to it, however are
SO far removed from the throne of author
lty that they cannot make their influence
felt 1t is one of those denominations. of
winch there are several in Germany that
there VIII be no way to uproot until there
is established a government which can rest
in some way upon free and responsible
public opinion. Whatever the government
of Germany is today, 1t is not this.
Dueling Is so common at Heidelberg that
1t is said sometimes by those who do NOT
know their subject that all the students
night. This is, of course, not true, though
there is relatively larger proportion en-
gagged at 1t here than at some other univer-
sites. There are surely not more than 400
lighters out of a whole attendance of 1 200
This figure, however, may be slightly below
the mark.