A 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).Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad. (With reference to the Karzer at Heidelberg University)
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.Bickert, Hans Günther / Nail, Norbert: Marburger Karzer-Buch. Kleine Kulturgeschichte des Universitätsgefängnisses. Dritte, neu bearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage. Marburg 2013
Responsible for the administration of the 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.
have been preserved at the universities of Heidelberg, Jena, Bonn,http://www.bonner-rechtsjournal.de/fileadmin/pdf/Artikel/2010_02/BRJ_260_2010_Bernoth.pdf Karzer of the University of Bonn Marburg, Tübingen, Freiberg,http://www.tu-freiberg.de/ Freiberg School of Mines Greifswald, Göttingen,Mooney, Carolyn J.: Notes from Academe: Germany. Slammer or Shrine? How German Students Left Their Mark on the Walls of a Campus Prison. In: The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 1, 1996, A 55. [Göttingen]. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, and at Tartu, Estonia. The 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 , 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.Hahne, Gert: Der Karzer: Bier! Unschuld! Rache! Der Göttinger Universitätskarzer und seine Geschichte(n). Göttingen 2005.
Wartime use
At the start of World War I, the Canadian philosophy student Winthrop Pickard Bell, who was attending Göttingen to study under Edmund Husserl, was detained for several months as a potential belligerent. He spent most of the war at Ruhleben internment camp.
References
External links
The Karzer of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Karzer of Technische Universität Freiberg The Karzer of the University of Göttingen The Karzer of Ernst-Moritz-Arndt- Universität Greifswald The Karzer of the University of Heidelberg
The former Karzer of the University of Leipzig The Karzer of Philipps-Universität Marburg German Text: The Karzer of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg The Karzer of the University of Tübingen The Karzer of the 'Evangelisches Stift' Tübingen The Karzer of the University of Tartu (Estonia) Karzer of the former Polytechnicum Riga (Latvia) The final two lock-ups had been established in the manner and tradition of German campus prisons. Reed McConnell: Academic Discipline https://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/69/mcconnell.php