A Tramp Abroad
Page 6
CHAPTER IV
Student Life
[The Laborious Beer King]
The summer semester was in full tide; consequently the most frequentfigure in and about Heidelberg was the student. Most of the studentswere Germans, of course, but the representatives of foreign landswere very numerous. They hailed from every corner of the globe--forinstruction is cheap in Heidelberg, and so is living, too. TheAnglo-American Club, composed of British and American students, hadtwenty-five members, and there was still much material left to drawfrom.
Nine-tenths of the Heidelberg students wore no badge or uniform;the other tenth wore caps of various colors, and belonged to socialorganizations called "corps." There were five corps, each with a colorof its own; there were white caps, blue caps, and red, yellow, and greenones. The famous duel-fighting is confined to the "corps" boys. The"_Kneip_" seems to be a specialty of theirs, too. Kneips are held, nowand then, to celebrate great occasions, like the election of a beerking, for instance. The solemnity is simple; the five corps assemble atnight, and at a signal they all fall loading themselves with beer,out of pint-mugs, as fast as possible, and each man keeps his owncount--usually by laying aside a lucifer match for each mug he empties.
The election is soon decided. When the candidates can hold no more, acount is instituted and the one who has drank the greatest number ofpints is proclaimed king. I was told that the last beer king electedby the corps--or by his own capabilities--emptied his mug seventy-fivetimes. No stomach could hold all that quantity at one time, ofcourse--but there are ways of frequently creating a vacuum, which thosewho have been much at sea will understand.
One sees so many students abroad at all hours, that he presently beginsto wonder if they ever have any working-hours. Some of them have, someof them haven't. Each can choose for himself whether he will work orplay; for German university life is a very free life; it seems to haveno restraints. The student does not live in the college buildings, buthires his own lodgings, in any locality he prefers, and he takes hismeals when and where he pleases. He goes to bed when it suits him, anddoes not get up at all unless he wants to. He is not entered at theuniversity for any particular length of time; so he is likely to changeabout. He passes no examinations upon entering college. He merely paysa trifling fee of five or ten dollars, receives a card entitling him tothe privileges of the university, and that is the end of it. He is nowready for business--or play, as he shall prefer. If he elects towork, he finds a large list of lectures to choose from. He selects thesubjects which he will study, and enters his name for these studies; buthe can skip attendance.
The result of this system is, that lecture-courses upon specialtiesof an unusual nature are often delivered to very slim audiences,while those upon more practical and every-day matters of education aredelivered to very large ones. I heard of one case where, day after day,the lecturer's audience consisted of three students--and always thesame three. But one day two of them remained away. The lecturer began asusual--
"Gentlemen," --then, without a smile, he corrected himself, saying--
"Sir," --and went on with his discourse.
It is said that the vast majority of the Heidelberg students are hardworkers, and make the most of their opportunities; that they haveno surplus means to spend in dissipation, and no time to spare forfrolicking. One lecture follows right on the heels of another, with verylittle time for the student to get out of one hall and into the next;but the industrious ones manage it by going on a trot. The professorsassist them in the saving of their time by being promptly in theirlittle boxed-up pulpits when the hours strike, and as promptly out againwhen the hour finishes. I entered an empty lecture-room one day justbefore the clock struck. The place had simple, unpainted pine desks andbenches for about two hundred persons.
About a minute before the clock struck, a hundred and fifty studentsswarmed in, rushed to their seats, immediately spread open theirnotebooks and dipped their pens in ink. When the clock began to strike,a burly professor entered, was received with a round of applause, movedswiftly down the center aisle, said "Gentlemen," and began to talk as heclimbed his pulpit steps; and by the time he had arrived in his box andfaced his audience, his lecture was well under way and all the pens weregoing. He had no notes, he talked with prodigious rapidity andenergy for an hour--then the students began to remind him in certainwell-understood ways that his time was up; he seized his hat, stilltalking, proceeded swiftly down his pulpit steps, got out the last wordof his discourse as he struck the floor; everybody rose respectfully,and he swept rapidly down the aisle and disappeared. An instant rush forsome other lecture-room followed, and in a minute I was alone with theempty benches once more.
Yes, without doubt, idle students are not the rule. Out of eight hundredin the town, I knew the faces of only about fifty; but these I saweverywhere, and daily. They walked about the streets and the woodedhills, they drove in cabs, they boated on the river, they sipped beerand coffee, afternoons, in the Schloss gardens. A good many of them worecolored caps of the corps. They were finely and fashionably dressed,their manners were quite superb, and they led an easy, careless,comfortable life. If a dozen of them sat together and a lady or agentleman passed whom one of them knew and saluted, they all roseto their feet and took off their caps. The members of a corps alwaysreceived a fellow-member in this way, too; but they paid no attentionto members of other corps; they did not seem to see them. This was nota discourtesy; it was only a part of the elaborate and rigid corpsetiquette.
There seems to be no chilly distance existing between the Germanstudents and the professor; but, on the contrary, a companionableintercourse, the opposite of chilliness and reserve. When the professorenters a beer-hall in the evening where students are gathered together,these rise up and take off their caps, and invite the old gentleman tosit with them and partake. He accepts, and the pleasant talk and thebeer flow for an hour or two, and by and by the professor, properlycharged and comfortable, gives a cordial good night, while the studentsstand bowing and uncovered; and then he moves on his happy way homewardwith all his vast cargo of learning afloat in his hold. Nobody findsfault or feels outraged; no harm has been done.
It seemed to be a part of corps etiquette to keep a dog or so, too.I mean a corps dog--the common property of the organization, like thecorps steward or head servant; then there are other dogs, owned byindividuals.
On a summer afternoon in the Castle gardens, I have seen six studentsmarch solemnly into the grounds, in single file, each carrying a brightChinese parasol and leading a prodigious dog by a string. It was a veryimposing spectacle. Sometimes there would be as many dogs around thepavilion as students; and of all breeds and of all degrees of beauty andugliness. These dogs had a rather dry time of it; for they were tiedto the benches and had no amusement for an hour or two at a time exceptwhat they could get out of pawing at the gnats, or trying to sleep andnot succeeding. However, they got a lump of sugar occasionally--theywere fond of that.
It seemed right and proper that students should indulge in dogs; buteverybody else had them, too--old men and young ones, old women andnice young ladies. If there is one spectacle that is unpleasanter thananother, it is that of an elegantly dressed young lady towing a dog by astring. It is said to be the sign and symbol of blighted love. It seemsto me that some other way of advertising it might be devised, whichwould be just as conspicuous and yet not so trying to the proprieties.
It would be a mistake to suppose that the easy-going pleasure-seekingstudent carries an empty head. Just the contrary. He has spent nineyears in the gymnasium, under a system which allowed him no freedom, butvigorously compelled him to work like a slave. Consequently, he has leftthe gymnasium with an education which is so extensive and complete, thatthe most a university can do for it is to perfect some of its profounderspecialties. It is said that when a pupil leaves the gymnasium, he notonly has a comprehensive education, but he _knows_ what he knows--itis not befogged with uncertainty, it is burnt into him so that it willstay. For insta
nce, he does not merely read and write Greek, but speaksit; the same with the Latin. Foreign youth steer clear of the gymnasium;its rules are too severe. They go to the university to put a mansardroof on their whole general education; but the German student alreadyhas his mansard roof, so he goes there to add a steeple in the nature ofsome specialty, such as a particular branch of law, or diseases of theeye, or special study of the ancient Gothic tongues. So this Germanattends only the lectures which belong to the chosen branch, and drinkshis beer and tows his dog around and has a general good time the rest ofthe day. He has been in rigid bondage so long that the large libertyof the university life is just what he needs and likes and thoroughlyappreciates; and as it cannot last forever, he makes the most of itwhile it does last, and so lays up a good rest against the day that mustsee him put on the chains once more and enter the slavery of official orprofessional life.