The Student Life of Germany Part 2

The _Chargirten_ watch over the inst.i.tutions of the Ch.o.r.es and of the students in general,--or, in other words, over the so-called _Allgemeine Comment_. They settle also the time, place, and manner of all the public festivities and celebrations. They determine whether, and in what style, a torch-train, or a "Vivat," shall be got up; in what manner a deceased member of the Ch.o.r.e shall be interred; and how the students.h.i.+p shall be represented in the public solemnities of the High School. They direct the choice of the ball directors, who take part in the direction of the public b.a.l.l.s, as, for instance, in those at the Museum at Heidelberg. The presiding Ch.o.r.e fixes the Allgemeine, or general a.s.sembly, and announces it to the other Ch.o.r.es.

Besides this court of honour, there also exists a Beer court, which has to settle all contentions that arise in the drinking companies on points of drinking etiquette, which, as we shall hereafter find, are no few in number. To the const.i.tution of this beer court, one man is chosen out of each Ch.o.r.e, and the oldest Ch.o.r.e-Bursch is generally elected for this purpose. It is held in regular routine at every Kneipe-room of the Ch.o.r.es in succession. Of the beer court generally we shall, anon, speak more particularly, and here need say no more than that before the princ.i.p.al Beer court, the accuser must have two witnesses, who must give their statements on their word of honour,[3]

and the accused must in his defence be supported by two witnesses also.

Thus const.i.tute, as may be seen from what is already stated, these unions, an aristocracy amongst the students, which exercises a certain influence over the general academical cla.s.s; which contributes to establish a principle of unity amongst them; and whose members are ready to give up some portion of their personal freedom, for the consideration and authority which they acquire in the social system; and so alluring is the feeling of the members of Ch.o.r.es in public processions, _Commerses_,--parties which they make to some place in the country for a day's jollification, and whither they go in a long train of carriages with outriders; and in _Comitaten_,--processions formed to accompany a departing fellow-student with public honour out of the city,--being enabled to play the gentleman, and to _renommiren_, or in English popular phrase, "to cut a swell," that members are never wanting to these societies.

There yet remains to be mentioned the numerous cla.s.s of students termed, in student phrase, Camels--amongst whom are again contemptuously distinguished those who live totally isolated and retired, and never on any occasion, or on any account, visit the Ch.o.r.es, their _Kneips_, or take any part in their festivities and processions, and are therefore ignominiously dubbed _Kettles_, Bookworms, etc. In conclusion, we must employ a few sentences on the early Burschenschaft and the modern fragments of its wreck.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BURSCHENSCHAFT.

But nothing comes up to our pleasant self-satisfaction, when we erect ourselves into judges of the high and the distinguished, of Princes and Statesmen; find public inst.i.tutions clumsy and absurd; observe only possible and actual impediments; and acknowledge neither the greatness of the intention, nor the co-operation, which in every undertaking are to be expected from time and circ.u.mstances.

_Hauff's Memoirs of Satan_.

We have already traced the derivation of the word "Bursche," and observed that the first unions of the students were designated "Landsmanschafts" and "Orders." The origin of the first actual Burschenschaft is to be sought in the times when, on the establishment of the Rhenish Prince-league, which placed itself submissively under the sceptre of Napoleon, and the consequent abdication of the imperial throne of Germany by Francis II. in 1806, every heart that beat with a German feeling must have been seized with the deepest sorrow at the fall and das.h.i.+ng to pieces of the Fatherland. An earnest desire to be able to give help to the outraged country--the belief in a G.o.d who alone was able to free it from its oppressions--filled the heart of the patriot, and must have roused him to a tone of mind, than which nothing could be farther from that serene enjoyment of life, often bordering on actual frivolity, to which the members of academical unions were not rarely accustomed to resign themselves. A patriotic spirit, a zealous, earnest aspiration, had already proclaimed itself in the latter years of the former century. Already in its seventieth year had the Poet-league at Gottingen organized itself under Klopstock. John Heinrich Voss, the two Grafs Stollberg, Holty, and others, belonged to it. At the same time tumbled that fabric which the Order of Jesus had artfully raised, and the German language was finally established in those rights, out of which it had so long been expelled. The lachrymose tribe of common tragedies, and the moving comedies with which Kotzebue and Iffland overflowed the stage,[4] were compelled to give place to knightly dramas, and Goethe's Gotz von Berlichingen became for the hundredth time imitated. The German Muse attained a higher flight through Lessing, and finally displayed herself to the world in the two n.o.ble forms of Schiller and Goethe. The first, far from all lightness, full of deep earnestness and n.o.ble sentiment, sought chiefly to effect the moral elevation and intellectual accomplishment of youth; and the youthful freshness of his language gave to his often more philosophical than poetical reflections and sentences, an irresistible charm for young minds. Goethe moved in a contrary direction. With a predominant sentiment for beauty, and an eminent talent for imitation, he sported through every department of literature, and floated perpetually with the current of the intellectual tendency of the age. By such men the German language was speedily advanced to its point of perfection; the French language ceased to be the conversation language of the court and of the polite circles. Joseph II. introduced the German language into the court of Vienna; after the death of Frederick II. it became acknowledged as that of the court of Prussia. For a long time Weimar became pre-eminently the capital city of German accomplishment; and Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Herder, and other distinguished men, found in the court of Weimar, a sphere of action as honourable for themselves as advantageous to the literature of their country. The French ascendency in literature had thus ceased at the very point of time when the French political ascendency came to lie heavy and oppressively on the nation; the literary honour sharpened that bitter feeling of political shame, and the more the German people learned to feel it, the stronger became its impatience to liberate itself from that condition into which it had been reduced by the French. But on whom must this feeling have seized more powerfully than on the student? To whom must the situation of Germany have occasioned more serious apprehensions than to him? On the one hand, sufficiently instructed to perceive the dangers which threatened the political and literary liberty of Germany; on the other, full of youthful spirit, and of desires to help the oppressed Fatherland,--such sentiments must have weaned the students from the trivial pursuit of Landsmans.h.i.+ps and Orders, and accordingly those of the same sentiment united themselves into a Burschenschaft.

The object of this first union was n.o.ble; namely, to rescue the Fatherland; and in order to be able to do this worthily, to raise up men strengthened to the utmost completeness of both moral and physical const.i.tution. Thence came it, that bodily exercises, especially gymnastics, rose into new existence; that the Burschen sought to invigorate themselves by hards.h.i.+ps of every kind; thence, that they strove after the greatest possible purity of manners, and displayed a spirit of hostility towards the less pure tendencies of the yet existing orders. Germany's n.o.blest sons belonged then to the Burschenschafts. These unions had their leaders and laws, much in the same manner as the Ch.o.r.es. Their leaders were the so-called _Rugemeister_, monitors, or judges, and had their speaker, who, in the a.s.sembly, made statement to the people of whatever affairs appeared of importance to them. In these companies ruled no aristocratic power, as was the case in those of the Ch.o.r.es, especially towards the younger members. To establish a thorough union amongst the students, was a main object of the Burschenschaft. On this account the duel was not permitted between the members of the union; and duels between the members of the orders were very much circ.u.mscribed, and only in cases of real injuries, or gross offences, and then under certain conditions, permitted by the court of honour. The Burschenschafts of different university cities stood in combination with each other, and members from one city were in the habit of making visits to the members of the other university cities. The Burschenschafts, as then const.i.tuted, were in most places allowed, or at least, tolerated. They celebrated often, and with the consent of the prorector, their so-called foundation-day, or anniversary, with great banqueting, public processions, music, and torch-trains. The members of these companies conducted themselves so discreetly, that people willingly suffered them, and any little distinctions which might gratify youthful vanity--the wearing of the old German costume, the short coat, the broad out-lying s.h.i.+rt-collar, with the open breast, the cap which but scantily covered the long down-hanging hair, and which, as well as the coat, was mostly of black velvet--such old Germanisms and peculiar attire--were cheerfully conceded to them. Hitherto must the life and movements of the Burschenschaft be styled n.o.ble. With enthusiasm its members received the call to the fight of freedom, which resounded from Prussia in the year 1813; and from all the universities streamed forth volunteers, to join themselves to the German host, which was to do battle with the oppressors of the Fatherland. Theodore Korner has immortalized in his songs the feelings and sentiments of the German youth at that glorious crisis. Many Burschen died, like him, the hero's death, inspired with equal zeal for the good cause, though it was alone permitted to the poet to flash radiantly forth, as from a mirror, the inner glow of his spirit in patriotic song.

THE SWORD SONG.

Sword on my left side gleaming, What means thy clear eyes' beaming?

Thou look'st with love on me, And I have joy in thee.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

A soldier bears me dearly, Hence beam I forth so cheerly; I am a free man's choice, Which makes the Sword rejoice.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Good Sword! yes, free I hold thee, And in hearths love enfold thee, As if thou wert allied To me, a lovely bride.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Already it is tendered, To thee my life surrendered; Ah! were we so allied; When wilt thou fetch thy bride?

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

The bridal night's red morning Breaks to the trumpet's warning; When cannon peals begin, Fetch I the loved-one in.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

O sweet embrace! untiring, I tarry still desiring; Then bridegroom fetch thou me, My garland waits for thee.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Why in thy scabbard ringing, Thou Iron-joy art springing In such wild battle-glow?

My Sword, why ring'st thou so?

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Ah! in the scabbard ringing, I long to be forth springing, Right wild with battle-glow; Hence, soldier, clink I so!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Wait in thy chamber narrow, What wouldst thou here, my marrow?

Wait in thy chamber, wait; I'll fetch thee, ere 'tis late.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Leave me not long in sadness, Thou garden of love's gladness, Where blood-red roses breathe, And blossom flowers of death.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Unsheathe thee then, thou treasure, Of soldier's eyes the pleasure; Come forth, my Sword, come forth, On! to the father's hearth!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Aha! the glorious wedding, Here through the free air treading!

How flames in suns.h.i.+ne bright, The steel so bridal white!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

On, on, ye brave contenders!

Ye German true defenders!

And if your hearts be cold, The loved-one to them hold!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

While on the left side sitting, Shy are her looks and flitting; But on the right, the bride Trusts G.o.d in all her pride.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

To iron mouth love-glowing, The bridal kiss bestowing, Be every lip applied; Curst he who leaves the bride!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Now let the loved-one sing forth!

The dazzling flashes spring forth!

Fast dawns the marriage tide, Hurrah, thou Iron Bride!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

The battle of the people at Leipsic, in the year 1814, freed Germany from its chains. For the complete liberation of Europe, and for the restoration of state relations on a firm foundation, a Congress was determined upon, which in the same year was held in Vienna. The task which this congress had to discharge was the more difficult, in that the people, inspired with a new spirit, in the consciousness of the mighty exertions that they had made, cherished hopes and desires whose realization did not coincide with the interests of Princes. The settlement of territorial relations, and organization of a new general const.i.tution for all Germany, engrossed its deliberations. The restoration of the German empire, which was demanded by a majority of voices, was rendered impossible by the jealousy on the part of the kings of the Rhine-league of their sovereignties. As those states which had sprung up and become great under the former German empire, were now become independent, there remained no alternative, if they were to submit themselves anew to a paternal authority, but, instead of the old German empire, to subst.i.tute a sort of family compact The return of Napoleon hastened the settlement of the fundamental principles of a German international-compact; and after eleven sittings, on the 8th of June, 1815, the _Bundes-Acte_, or Act of Convention, was signed and published.

With the rising of the people against Napoleon, a greater life and cordiality of religious faith had come back. This expressed itself in the Holy Alliance. For the maintenance of European peace, the three powers--Austria, Russia, and Prussia--not only renewed their alliance, but based it again upon a religious foundation. On the 26th Sept. 1815, the Holy Alliance was concluded by the three monarchs themselves, without a.s.sistance or advice of a minister. By this they bound themselves, the contracting parties, both in the management of their kingdoms and in their transactions with other states, to take alone as their guides the precepts of the Christian religion, the commands of justice, of love, and peace. They expressed a firm resolution, in accordance with the Sacred Writings, to continue in the covenant of a true and indissoluble brotherly love; that national divisions and national animosity should thenceforward retreat before the consideration that their people were the common members of one and the same Christian empire; the princes themselves should acknowledge that the great Christian nation to which they and their people belonged, had in reality no other rulers than Him from whom alone power doth proceed, that is G.o.d, and the Saviour Jesus Christ. At the same time were all states solicited to give in their concurrence, and were a.s.sured that on recognition of these avowed principles of this Alliance, with alacrity and love they would be received into the sacred covenant. The Holy Alliance found numerous partic.i.p.ants. Most of the European states sent in their formal adhesion in the course of the year 1816. One might imagine that all parties--princes and people--were about to co-operate in the sentiment so finely expressed in Arndt's famous song--

THE GERMAN'S FATHERLAND.

Which is the German's Fatherland; Is't Prussian-land? Is't Swabian-land?

Is't where on Rhine the red grapes hang?

Where o'er the Baltic sea-mews clang?

Oh no! oh no! oh no! oh no!

His Fatherland must wider go!

Which is the German's Fatherland?

Is't Styrian, or Bavarian land?

Is't where the Ma.r.s.en's herds do wind?[4]