EDW: Duelling scars

A scar on the face is the way to win a lady's affections, according to a study. What the scientists responsible neglected to say, though, is whether or not the scar becomes even more alluring with the addition of a pickelhaube or other suitably Teutonic accoutrement. However, unless the study is complete rubbish (and it is unthinkable, surely that it would have been so widely reported if that were the case, then the flower of German manhood between roughly 1880 to 1920 must have been on to something good.

You see, this era was the heyday of the Mensur, when young men of the right sort liked nothing better than gathering together to drink beer and hold duels. It was all highly organised, of course, and based around student guilds and societies. The point was not to kill, of course, but the custom was laced with a peculiar concoction of machismo and masochism in which the highest proof of manhood was the giving and receiving of facial scars.

The cheeks were pretty much the only part exposed to the blade of the Schlägers, swords that were pretty much only good for this sort of scarring, and it was even suggested that the wounds would be stitched in a deliberately clumsy fashion (or that the medical student doing the stitching would be filled up with beer beforehand) to accentuate the appearance of the wound.

It was an era in which no self-respecting German of the right sort would venture out into manhood without a slash or two across his face. As we now know, they only did it to impress girls. Doubtless any female readers of this blog will now be weak at the knees from seeing the results, but there are more pictures available elsewhere. There's also a pretty comprehensive article about student duelling if you wish to know more, certainly I would not presume to improve upon a website with a name like pickelhauben.net.

Hitler, being something of a spoilsport, took a dim view of the whole business and the practice never really recovered from his disapproval (and I suppose the slowly dawning realisation that Prussian-style militaristic swagger might have a downside to it). Though as the image to your left shows, some of his minions had enjoyed the practice in their youth.

However, I understand German students of a certain type still enjoy formal duels; although the scarring seems to have fallen by the wayside, which might be an error on their part.

So, ladies, just for you, today's Elegentlische Deutsches Wodenstag (this is almost certainly grammatically wrong, but there you go) features some prime specimens of German manhood from an era when for pointless and ritualised violence their upper crust rivalled even the British public school system itself. Form an orderly queue if you please.

The type of man before whom all Europe trembled