Papers of Heinrich Simon, University of Manchester : The Student: Berlin. Breslau

Papers of Heinrich Simon, University of Manchester

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The second volume covers Heinrich Simon's time as a law student at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Berlin and the Königliche Universität, Breslau (Wrocław). The volume contains material related to university, several personal accounts and general correspondence. Documents recording the years Heinrich Simon spent at university include several printed papers such as matriculation certifications, statutes, laws, receipts for fees paid to lecturers and lecture timetables, in addition to notes and exercises. Some of the material and most of the official papers are printed in Latin.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'><b>Berlin, Michaelmas 1824 to Easter 1826</b></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Notable material from this period includes: Heinrich Simon's matriculation certificate from the Law Faculty, dated 21 October 1824; the certification of Heinrich Simon's matriculation number (1826); a matriculation charter, dated 20 October 1824; a short treatise by the Vice-Chancellor and Senate, dated 19 January 1818; a publication of the Department for Public Teaching at the Ministry of Religious, Teaching and Medical Affairs, dated 4 October 1818; an excerpt from the legal digest for the Royal Prussian States concerning the Carlsbad Decrees, signed 20 October 1824 by Heinrich Simon, pledging not to join a student society (Burschenschaft); regulations of the Ministry of Religious, Teaching and Medical Affairs concerning the lending of books from the Royal Library, dated 24 November 1824; an edict by Frederick William III, King of Prussia, banning student societies (Verbindungen), dated 20 October 1798; and, an excerpt from the regulations of the Royal Library concerning its usage by students Berlin University. Also included are printed lecture timetables/lists in Latin, translations of Sallust's <i>Catiline Conspiracy and The Institutes of Justinian</i>, and further lecture notes.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'><b>Breslau, Easter 1826 to Summer 1827</b></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Noteworthy items from this period include: a student card for August Heinrich Simon; a matriculation charter and certificate from the Law Faculty, dated 8 April 1826; statutes for the students of the Royal University, Breslau (1824); lecture timetables and receipts of lecturers' fees paid by Heinrich Simon as well as further notes; Heinrich Simon's draft application to sit the first law examination, dated 10 August 1827; and, his curriculum vitae which was submitted with it.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The volume contains a considerable amount of personal documents such as income and expenditure books, notes, together with thoughts about staying in Berlin or Breslau, diary entries and calendar pages. Other pieces include a colourful travel diary written during a hiking holiday that Heinrich undertook with friends in autumn 1825, when they visited many places in Prussia and Saxony, including Potsdam, Wittenberg, Dresden, Leipzig, Göttingen, Kassel and Magdeburg, as well as Saxon Switzerland and the Harz Mountains. Additional pages itemise travel expenses. The journey is also chronicled in other items such as Heinrich Simon's passport, a dried bunch of flowers, several theatre programmes, an accommodation and meal bill from Kassel, the business card of the owner of the hotel in Kassel, a coach ticket, as well as a version of the above mentioned travel diary and letters written by Heinrich Simon for his family. Other material comprises a handwritten extract from the <i>Hamburger Correspondent</i>, dated 12 November 1824, a poem signed by Carl Curtius, a poem entitled ‘Der Bursche’, a puzzle game, and notes written in Latin and French.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>More than half of the documents fall within the category of correspondence, involving several people: Heinrich Simon, his parents, his brother and sisters, his uncle Heinrich Simon the Elder in Berlin, his uncles Lütke and Lewald in Breslau, fellow students and other friends. Most of the letters were written collectively, though some written by Heinrich Simon were addressed to only one member of the family, while some letters to him were written by a single person. One letter often consists of different parts written over several days, or by more than one person, or addressed to more than one person. Some letters are incomplete and some are drafts, while in some cases the name of the addressee or writer is abbreviated or missing.</p>