A Karzer was a designated lock-up or detention room to incarcerate students as a punishment, within the jurisdiction of some institutions of learning in Germany and German-language universities abroad. The American writer Mark Twain wrote about the karzer in Heidelberg in his book, A Tramp Abroad (1880). [1]
Karzers existed both at universities and at gymnasiums (similar to a grammar school) in Germany until the beginning of the 20th century. Marburg's last Karzer inmate, for example, was registered as late as 1931. [2]
Responsible for the administration of the Karzer was the so-called Pedell (English: bedel), or during later times Karzerwärter (a warden). While Karzer arrest was originally a severe punishment, the respect for this punishment diminished with time, particularly in the 19th century, as it paradoxically became a badge of honour of sorts to have been incarcerated at least once during one's time at university. At the end of the 19th century, as the students in the cell became responsible for their own food and drink and the receiving of visitors became permitted, the "punishment" would often turn into a social occasion with excessive consumption of alcohol.
Karzers have been preserved at the universities of Heidelberg, [3] Jena, Bonn [4] ,Marburg, Freiburg, Tübingen, Freiberg, [5] Greifswald, Göttingen, [6] Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, and at Tartu, Estonia. The Karzer in Göttingen was known, after the Pedell Brühbach, as Hotel de Brühbach; it was moved in the 19th century, because of the extension of the university library, to the Aula building; a cell door, preserved from the old Karzer, shows graffiti by Otto von Bismarck. Bearing witness to how the students spent the time in the cell are the many memorable wall, table and door graffiti left by students in the cells and today shown as tourist attractions in the older German universities. [7]
At the start of World War I, Canadian philosophy student Winthrop Pickard Bell, who was attending Göttingen to study under Edmund Husserl, was detained for several months as potential belligerant. He would spend most of the war at Ruhleben internment camp. [8]
Corps (or Korps; "das ~" (n), German pronunciation:[ˈkoːɐ] (sg.), (pl.)) are the oldest still-existing kind of Studentenverbindung, Germany's traditional university corporations; their roots date back to the 15th century. The oldest corps still existing today was founded in 1789. Its members are referred to as corps students (Corpsstudenten). The corps belong to the tradition of student fraternities which wear couleur and practice academic fencing.
Academic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, and, to a minor extent, in Belgium, Lithuania, and Poland. It is a traditional, strictly regulated épée fight between two male members of different fraternities with sharp weapons. The German technical term Mensur in the 16th century referred to the specified distance between each of the fencers.
The Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband is the oldest association of German, Austrian and Swiss Studentenverbindungen or students fraternities. It comprises roughly 105 German, Austrian and a Flemish (Belgian), Hungarian and Swiss Corps, all of which are based upon the principle of tolerance.
Georg August Goldfuß was a German palaeontologist, zoologist and botanist. He became a professor of zoology at the University of Erlangen and later at the University of Bonn. He coined the terms "protozoa" and "pelecypoda".
The first Wartburg Festival was a convention of about 500 Protestant German students, held on 18 October 1817 at the Wartburg castle near Eisenach in Thuringia. The former refuge of reformer Martin Luther was considered a national symbol and the assembly a protest against reactionary politics and Kleinstaaterei.
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, or Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to "exceptional scientists and academics for their outstanding achievements in the field of research". Since 1986, up to ten prizes have been awarded annually to individuals or research groups working at a research institution in Germany or at a German research institution abroad. It is considered the most important research award in Germany.
Peter Schlechtriem was a German jurisprudential scholar.
Corps Rhenania Heidelberg is a member Corps of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband, the oldest association of student fraternities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Corps Rhenania is "pflichtschlagend", which refers to the fact that it requires of its members, that they participate in several ritual, organised duels with members of other specific student fraternities. Eligible applicants are those students, both current and former, of the Ruprecht Karl University in Heidelberg, Germany. Members of Corps Rhenania are colloquially referred to as "Rhenane".
Franz Penzoldt was a German internist and pharmacologist born in Crispendorf, Principality of Reuss-Greiz. He was the father of writer Ernst Penzoldt (1892–1955).
This article shows a list of railway stations in Germany. The list is subdivided per federal state. Due to the number of railway stations it shows a selection of the principal stations and links to related state articles. Where there are 2 or more passenger stations in a large town or city, the most important is often designated by the Deutsche Bahn as the Hauptbahnhof, of which there are 122 in total.
The Long Night of the Sciences is an established form of public relations and science communication activity in Germany. On one night of the year, large scientific institutions hold lectures and demonstrations for the general public in order to present themselves and a general overview of their research topics. The events cover all aspects of science, from natural sciences, arts and humanities to social sciences. The public can usually visit the institutions between around 5pm and 1am on the "Long Night of the Sciences" in exchange for a fee.
Konrad Ott is a German philosopher with a special interest in discourse ethics and environmental ethics.
Friedrich Karl Schmidt was a German mathematician, who made notable contributions to algebra and number theory.
Stefan Fröhlich is a German political scientist and professor for International Relations at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. The emphasis in his work is on German foreign policy, transatlantic relations and US foreign policy, European foreign and security policy, and International Political Economy.
German U15 e.V. is an association of fifteen major research-intensive and leading medical universities in Germany with a full disciplinary spectrum, excluding any defining engineering sciences.
Bekenntnis der Professoren an den Universitäten und Hochschulen zu Adolf Hitler und dem nationalsozialistischen Staat officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzig. It had statements in German, English, Italian, and Spanish by selected German academics and included an appendix of signatories. The purge to remove academics and civil servants with Jewish ancestry began with a law being passed on 7 April 1933. This document was signed by those that remained in support of Nazi Germany.
The album amicorum was an early form of the poetry book, the autograph book and the modern friendship book. It emerged during the Reformation period, during which it was popular to collect autographs from noted reformers. In the 1700s, the trend of the friendship book was still mainly limited to the Protestant people, as opposed to the Catholics. These books were particularly popular with university students into the early decades of the 19th century. Noteworthy are the pre-printed pages of a friendship book from 1770 onwards, published as a loose-leaf collection by the bookbinder and pressman Johannes Carl Wiederhold (1743-1826) from Göttingen.
The final two lock-ups had been established in the manner and tradition of German campus prisons.