Heidelberg Photo Gallery - University Studentenkarzer (Student Prison)

Heidelberg is an easy day trip from Frankfurt and well worth it for its beautiful Baroque architecture. Its university is the oldest in Germany, founded in 1386, and is still dominant today. Tucked in a side street is Studentenkarzer, the prison that was established in the 1780s and used until 1914 to hold students convicted of various minor misdeeds. Back then, offences included loud singing at night and freeing the pigs. However, it became a rite of passage where students wanted to experience being imprisoned, and it was a comfortable and entertaining experience by the 1880s. Prisoners could leave to take their classes, have food delivered to them, and receive visitors. 151 prison sentences were imposed in 1885, and many who passed through left their mark on the walls. These often show the fraternities' coat of arms. Even Mark Twain wrote about this place in 1878 and noted how odd it was. To help preserve the works, you are asked to store your backpacks in the locker and not to touch anything. Luckily, I arrived fairly early in the morning shortly after it opened and had the place mostly to myself. It's a fairly confined space so I can understand why they don't want any loose items possibly pressing against the walls and damaging the graffiti.