STUDYING IN GERMANY. 351 



who are usually adults and specialists? In their case most of the 

 foregoing objections do not hold ; in fact, the situation is nearly- 

 reversed. We have no institutions which are the original fountains of 

 scholarship, as are the German universities. The character, language, 

 habits, of the men who study in them are in a measure formed. From 

 observation I should say that the average age of Americans studying 

 at the German universities is twenty-five. A graduate of one of our 

 colleges or leading academies is ready to get and appreciate the best 

 that the universities offer, as well as to observe and weigh the politi- 

 cal and social elements in which he moves. His vacation travel is 

 itself a delight and an education. The benefits of such study to men 

 are so well understood that to point them out more in detail would be 

 needless. But practical information as to the conditions of study, as 

 to courses and degrees, is so vague, and in newspapers and magazines 

 often so erroneous, that some facts may be given here. The graduate 

 of any American college may matriculate, in full standing, at a Ger- 

 man university on the presentation of his diploma and a passport. 

 These take the place of the certificate of maturity {Maturitatszeiig- 

 niss) from the gymnasium or real-school, which the German candidate 

 must submit. Men who have no college diploma may attend lectures 

 and have access to all privileges, but they may not become candidates 

 for a degree. There is an impression that American students must 

 encounter special difiiculties in seeking a degree, and that few suc- 

 ceed in gaining it. This is an error. Many students do not choose to 

 take the required subsidiary studies, lying perhaps outside of their 

 special field, and hence do not try to get the degree. But it is a fact 

 that fewer difiiculties beset the American in this quest than the German 

 himself. The university is the regular and essential avenue to the pro- 

 fessions and many civil careers, and competition is very keen. But the 

 faculties well know that the American does not seek promotion on 

 German soil ; they recognize the compliment of his long pilgrimage to 

 their shrines, and they are willing to encourage him, avoiding the 

 appearance of anything like a protective tariff. In the range of my 

 acquaintance, as many as nine Americans have won the coveted title 

 of Doctor of Philosophy, the degree now common to all departments ; 

 in some cases it has seemed that they met fewer difficulties than the 

 German candidate, and in no case were the tests severer. The usual 

 time necessary for this sort of graduation is six semesters, or three 

 years. The student may spend each semester at a different university 

 or all at the same one, if he chooses. And he may stand for a degree 

 at any university he may select. The system is like that of a great 

 society having many co-equal chapters. He must fix upon a special 

 department of learning, and must follow two subordinate branches 

 closely related to the main subject. During two or three years he 

 "hears" lectures in the faculties dealing with his specialty. There 

 are no examinations whatever before the final examination for the 



