Student Days In the land of don'ts

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 52, 8 July 1932, Page 1

Student Days

In the land of don'ts

A Talk from 3YA

by

Dr

D. E.

HANSEN

ie thinking during the past few weeks over my experiences and impressions formed during a stay of two years in Germany, not long before the Great War, I have been embarrassed by a wealth of matter, and have decided to speak mainly of Berlin and North Germany.

Leaving New Zealand on short notice in the month of August, I went direct to London, and dfter 24 hours in that city travelled across to Berlin in order to bejai# time for the commencement of the university session. The jotkey between the two capitals occupied about 24 hours, and it had no dull moments. The train journey to Harwich, the trip across the North Sea to Hook of Holland, and then the journey through Holland

and Germany, with their first insight of the scenery and people of two new countries, were all engrossing. My first trouble ‘was in the Berlin railway station, where the loss of my luggage and my almost total ignorance of the language had me in difficulties for a time. First impressions are always strongest, and those of my first day in Germany, in a strange land among strange people, are enduring. The long day spent in speeding through a picturesque countryside in the full glory of its autumn tints and by towns and oe neath

quaint VilldS€s Weds Ule Uh eK changing interest. , Nor shall I soon forget my first night in a German bed. You all know that there you sleep on a feather mattress with another on top of you. I had. been warned about it, and if I had been shorter

or my covering mattress had been longer tilt night would have been comfortable, although somewhat warm. As it was I spent the night with my feet and my chest alternately cold. HEN followed experiences. For my first bath I paic 1/6, which was more than I paid for my breakfast. ,At no place in my two years’ stay did I ine the cost of the bath was included with friat of the board and residence. The meals were novel to me. Breakfast served at 7 a.m. in the bedroom consisted of coffee and one stall roll and butter, so I paid extra for.an increased. ration. By the. time for the mid-day meal, served about 1.30 or 2 p.m., I was ravenous, and was thankful for the substantial nature of the helpings. I soon "noticed that about 10 a.m. everyone produced a sandwich, whether he was a tram conductor, a bank clerk or a university professor, and that became a warning to me to slip into an ‘automatic restaurant where a 10 pfennig piece (14d.), inserted in the right slot, would produce a hot drink, a glass of beer and a cake or sandwich. The evening meal came at 8 o'clock, for

the working day in Germany was a long one. : For that meal one had a hot meat dish, ' cheeses of many kinds and _ strengths, and | sliced cold meats, washed down with bottled beer. At this meal I made the acquaintance of raw sliced ham, which is extensively eaten in Germany, but I never became reconciled to it.

On the whole, however, the food ‘was acceptable to the British palate. One never saw white bread, except that the morning roll was made of white flour and supplied hot at each house before 7 a.m. The dark bread, made of rye flour, was . most palatable, and would command a ready sale here. In Prussia particularly, however, the people love sour things, just as we love sweet ones, and the bread was ©

commonly mixed berore Dakile, with a good dash of vinegar and did not agree with me. you have all heard of sauer kraut, made from sliced and slightly fermented cabbage with vinegar. It is the sourest dish imaginable, and can safely be described as an acquired taste. Beef, pork and veal were eaten freely, all of excellent quality. Mutton was almost unknown. The standard meat food of Germany for any meal other than dinner is the sausage or wurst. There are’ literally dozens of

varieties, of all sizes, shapes and colours. They are mace-some O° liver, some of blood and others of a variety of meats. All are well seasoned and are usually bought cooked and ready for eating. Ours i a

is a poor country by © comparison, with only its beef sausage, its pork sausage and the monstrosity called Belgian sausage since the outbreak of the (Sreat War. The time is oppottune here for a campaign for at least a brighter and _ better ‘sausage, and more kinds of them. On the other hand, I missed such regular articles of diet as toast, scones, fruit cake, pies, porridge, and most kinds of milk puddings, which were obtainable only jn occasional reform or vegetarian restattrants. As I have devoted some (Con-, tinued overleaf.) ‘

66 H Guten Abend, meine Damen und Herren"

Twenty years ago Dr. Hansen went to Germany to study at the Berlin University and, being a New Zealand M.A., he was considered to have passed the German matriculation exanvination. German life he found queer-his first night in a German bed left him but little impressed with German standards of comfort; their meals he found most difficult, and because of his ignorance of thetr language he at first often went hungry, or walked because he could not ask for a ticket. But all this was only a phase in his becoming a fully-fledged research student ahen he learned to understand and appreciate the German. His talk, telling of his impressions of pre-War Germany, abounds in interesting sidclights which reflect the essential differences between German life and our own.

ree German University Life (Continued from page i.) attention to the food, JI may as well mention the drinks. Coffee of wonderful quality, the beans being ground just before it is made, is obtainable everywhere and at. all times. Tea was served in glasses standing m a metal-holder, very weak, indeed, to an Englishman. I was informed that jt was not an uncommon practice to dry the leaves after they had been used once and use them over again. Wine was cheap; even a quart bottle of highgrade champagne eould be bought for 4/6. But the standard drink except for breakfast is beer. The Bavarian workman, indeed, scorns coffee for breakfast, but has a glass of beer along with his roll of bread and his large breakfast radish. Like the sausage, the kinds of beer are endless. Most are mild, often containing not more than 23 per eent. of alcohol, which is little stronger than the hop beer sold in our | shops as light refreshment. I have seen children of two or three years old drinking it from their mothers’ glasses as they sat in the cafes on a Sunday afternoon listening to the orchestra. Such beer does not transport well and the beers brewed in Germany for export are usually double strength Very little spirits is drunk in Ger many! Spirits drinking 1s regarded there as the first sign of almost ¢ertain degradation. On the other hand. Jarge quantities of beer are drunk, but to very little effect, and one seldom saw a-person drunk. Under the old days of license in New Zealand I saw more drunk men in a week here thau I did there in two years. So I will pass on to a few remarks about the University and University work. The number of students in the two universities of Berlin, namely, the University and the Technical University, exceeded 80,000, so that the buildings were necessarily scattered, and there is little corporate life such as exists in the residential universities of the British Empire. The university student in Germany is a privileged person: he receives a spec‘jal discount on his purchases in the shops, has preference in buying tickets for the theatre and other places of entertainment, and in many other ways. In ‘some university towns the student who misbehayes is not placed in the ordinary lock-up by the police, but is -4mearcerated in special quarters. Some of the universities even had their lockup attached to their own buildings, and the name of the great Bismarek is to ba found on the walls of one of them. The professorial staff of such a dis-

tinguished university as that in Berlin naturally includes many brilliant men, especially in view of the fact that the controlling body is prepared to appoint leading men from other countries to the staff. The students, too, especially those doing research work, came from many countries. For some time I worked with an English university man who had played tennis at many Continental tournaments with our celebrated player Anthony Wilding. All foreign studeuts entering a German university are required to hand in their passports and receive in their place special cards showing that they are entered for the time being as students. They are then entitled to all the privileges of German students. Student Life. TUDENT life is made all the more interesting by intercourse with men from many countries. In the last research laboratory in which I worked there were more Poles and also more English-speaking (i.e., English, Ameri cin, Australian, and New Zealand) students than there were Germans Other countries represented among the students were Russia, Hungary, Nor. way, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Brazil. and Japan. German was the common language, and we never spoke English except in a company that was exclusively English.

The Russian students were interesting fellows, most of them poor and lightly clad even in the depth of those severe winters and living on very little Yet they were strong and hardy. They were all very apprehensive as to the future of Russia, for they could see trouble, revolution, and bloodshed as inevitable in their unhappy country. A general favourite was a Japanese student, who, prior to coming to Germany, had been a lecturer in the University of Tokio. The prime favourite, however, was an Irishman who had lived for some years in Leeds. He had all ofthe Irishman’s ready wit, and his German, spoken with an _ IrishYorkshire accent, was a joy to all his hearers! Germans, and indeed al] continental people; are excellent linguists, and in shop or restaurant one could always -yely on being addressed in English,

and good:Mnglish at that. The teaching of Hnglish in the schools is evidently well done. Further, many Germans in pre-war days worked in offices and other business places in England for a time and gained a good knowledge of the language. I remember being impressed by 1 German barber who while he shaved me talked fluently in Huglish, with a Scottish accent. He had learned his English in Bdinburgh. Long Hours. HE sttidents all mixed well, due perhaps in large-part to the infiuence of the principal professor in that department, who was a most genial and kindly man. Hvery year he entertained his research students and his assistants to the number of 80 or 40 at a dinner in his own home, or at one of the famous old inns of the town or the sur: rounding neighbourhood. During the day’s work we used our spare moments to wander round the laboratory and discuss with the other students the research work that they were engaged in. This intercourse had probably as much effect on our education as our own particular piece of work. Our working hours were long, usually 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a short break for Mittagessen (the midday meal), but if the occasion demanded it was not uncommon to work till 8 or

9 p.m. Low Salaries. if WAS not long in. discovering that university professors were in receipt of low salaries: the head professor in a department with three or four other professors and lecturers to assist him received only £250 per annum. However, he was allowed to act as expert adviser to any firm or industry, and in this capacity drew a good salury. He brought the problems of industry into the university, and his research students helped to solve them while working for their degrees, Good students had no difficulty in securing positions for research work with firms throughout the country. This linking of the universities with industry had a wonderful effect on building up the industries of the country, and in making the universities an important factor in national life, Like most of the other students T was offered a position in one of the skilled industries at the couclusion of my

course, but was unable to accept it. "- Most of the English students, however, did so for experience; a few of them later got similar work in England, but most of them were attracted to the United States, where research men are much in demand. Social Life. FOUND little organised social life in the universities as a whole, since they were non-residential, and one met few students except those in one’s own department. In the neighbourhood of each university one finds often whole blocks of rooms let to students. These students usually have their morning coffee in their rooms, dine at a restaurant, and buy food at a delicatessen shop and make the evening meal in their own rooms. Such a life is free and Bohemjan, and has a number of advantages. There were usually a few sport clubs run by university students, but they covered only a comparatively small number of students, for at that’ time many Germans took part in no at ies. I understand that there has 4 late vears a radical altération ingrhis

respect. Hven at that time tennis promised to become a popular game in Germany, and in every town one saw acres of tennis courts. In winter they were flooded with water over-night and used as outdoor skating rinks the following day and evening. The Corps. : ‘(HH most interesting student bodies were the corps. Members were bound in a bond of brotherhood, for their mutual benefit, this being the i. owed purpose of each corps. Members. of the corps spent most evenings together either in their own club. house if the corps was very wealthy, or in a2 special room in a cafe set aside for the use of that corps only, Their time was usually spent in talking, singing and drinking beer, Members of a student corps wore the distinctive cap of their corps and a ribbon of the corps colours as a sash over one shoulder. It was a great sight when the members of all corps met in a gathering or a procession as they did on special occasions, Duels were arranged between individuals from different corps and were fought with heavy sabres in special places known to corps members. The combatants >

wore heavy goggles, and their necks and chests were well protected, and as thrusting was not allowed, it was hardpossible to injure any part but the cheeks, but these were often cut deeply. ‘The scars on a student’s cheek were marks of high distinction, and they were not allowed usually fo heal too smoothly. Most of the university prot sors bore marks of duels from their stident days: one I remember particularly had three beautiful parallel slashes on one cheek each extending from nose to ear. I never saw a duel. but privileged spectators described them to me as gory affairs with a doctor in close attendance. Nominally duels were, forbidden by law, but they were commo.u both in army and in university circles, It was quite unusual for anyone tc be killed while duelling: killing was not the object of the duel. My mention earlier that university students were regarded as a privileged class raises the interesting point of class distinction and social status. All students attending a university were required to have passed satisfactorily (Continued on -page 22.) Y

Mr. R. McKenzie a well-known Dunedin Rugby enthusiast, who carries out a running description each Saturday afternoon from Carisbrook of the Rugby games. My. McKenzie also reviewed, from 4YA last Friday evening, the following day’s match, New Zealand versus New South Wales, at Sydney. He will speak again on Friday evening, July 18, his subject being "Tomorrow’s Match-New Zealand yersus Australia," and he will also speak on the eve of the. Third Test, on Friday, July 22. These talks will be broadcast by 4YA, at 10 o’clock.

German University Life.

(Continued from page 2,) through an approved secondary school. The full secondary. school course in Germany is a stiff one, extending to the age of about 19 years, and it is no wonder that many schoolboys broke down there. As I held the. masters’ degree of the New Zealand University I was regard-ed-as sufficiently qualified to be entered as a matriculated student.

Titles. [N social status the army held highest place in those days and the university came next. It was a little uncertain to me who came next, but medicine, law and commerce probably followed more or less in that), order. There was no false modesty in regard to titles in Germany: every university student had his faculty printed on his visiting card. It was usual to find all civil as well as military titles well displayed on cards and used in correspondence and in conversation, eg., Mr. Captain Sehmidt, Mr. First Lieutenant Espenhahn, Mr. City Councillor Hertz, Mr. Councillor of Commerce Engels, Mr. Solicitor Hahn, Mr. Head Tailor Scheutzel, Mr. Head Waiter Bunte, and so on. To omit the use of these titles in addressing a perso? was a cause of grave offence, and I an afraid that in my easy-going New Zea-~ land way I was not prepared for these formalities, But my sins were still worse when it came to addressing the ladies, but I discovered fairly soon that every lady must be addressed by her husband’s title, so that soon I was accustomed to using the titles: Mrs. Professor Knorr, Mrs. Captain Schmidt, Mrs, Master Blacksmith Vogel, and so on. How many people I offended in my early ignorance I cannot guess, but I found that Englishmen were not supposed to have quite all the essentials of good manners, (Il was always regarded as an HPnglish-man-the existence of New Zealand was almost unknown in Germany 20 years ago.)

[Owing to heavy pressure on space, we have been compelled to withhold the remainder of this article from publication until next week.-Ed.] 4