Mensur (Academic Fencing)
Fencing with sharp weapons called Schläger, practised by German student fraternities. Its present form settled in the 19th century, and a court confirmed its legality in 1953.
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About Mensur (Academic Fencing)
Mensur is the fencing of student fraternities in Germany and Switzerland. According to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, the so-called Bestimmungsmensur, a knightly combat game without a prior insult, was usual from the last third of the 19th century. Kiermayer (Acta Periodica Duellatorum) describes how the university fencing master Friedrich August Wilhelm Ludwig Roux promoted, from 1839 in Jena, the shift from thrusting weapons to cutting ones. After several deaths in student duels, the Jena senate declared duels with thrusting weapons punishable on 16 November 1840.
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Fencing is done with weapons called Schläger. Kiermayer states that the Roux family preferred the Korbschläger, which is still widely used in student fraternities today. As the Mensur developed, protection increased, first bandages for the wrist and neck, then aprons or padded trousers and bandages for the whole arm, and finally the lunge disappeared. Keller's dissertation from Regensburg (2017) describes student fencing as fencing at a fixed distance with fixed rules that leave little freedom of movement. According to Keller, the fraternities re-established after 1949 revived the Mensur, and its legal status was secured only by the Federal Court of Justice. In its ruling of 29 January 1953, according to the Research Services of the Bundestag, it recognised injuries from the Mensur as dangerous bodily harm, but with the participants' consent and in accordance with good morals. It expressly did not concern Mensuren for settling matters of honour. The Deutsche Burschenschaft association, in its own words, reintroduced compulsory Mensur in 2024 after 53 years.
History
Kiermayer (Acta Periodica Duellatorum) states that a special form of civil duel in 19th-century Germany was the student Mensur, and the works of the Roux family revolve mainly around it, because most of its members worked as university fencing masters. Friedrich August Wilhelm Ludwig Roux (1817–1897) became a university fencing master in Jena on 1 July 1839 to introduce the Hiebcomment, rules permitting only cutting weapons in place of the earlier Stosscomment for thrusting weapons. After several deaths in Mensuren, Roux and Karl Hermann Scheidler sought to replace thrust fencing with the less lethal cut fencing, and on 16 November 1840 the Jena senate declared duels with thrusting weapons punishable.
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Roux wrote two books on cut fencing, Anweisung zum Hiebfechten mit graden und krummen Klingen and Deutsches Paukbuch (1857). Ludwig Caesar Roux (1843–1913), university fencing master in Leipzig from 1865, was according to Kiermayer a founding member of the Association of German Fencing Masters (Frankfurt, 20 August 1884), and his book Die Hiebfechtkunst became the basis of academic fencing throughout Germany. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland states that from the last third of the 19th century the Bestimmungsmensur, without a preceding insult, was customary. According to it, fencing student fraternities founded the Schweizerischer Waffenring in Olten in 1928, which still existed at the start of the 21st century. German Wikipedia states that the Kösen congress of 1859 approved the principle of the Bestimmungsmensur on a proposal from the Marburg Corps. Keller's dissertation from Regensburg (2017) says that with the revival of many student fraternities after 1949 the Mensur revived too, and its legal standing was secured only by the Federal Court of Justice ruling of 1953.
How it differs
The Federal Court of Justice stated in 1953, according to the Research Services of the Bundestag, that the motives of fencing students cannot be sought in sport alone. According to it, the Schlägermensur, is rejected, alone among sports, by broad sections of the people because of its historical link with the claim of individual estates to privileges. Keller's dissertation from Regensburg (2017) states that HEMA coaches barely rely on university fencing masters, because they are too close to fencing with the Schlägermensur with a fixed distance and fixed rules.
Technique
Most German manuals of cut fencing, especially the early ones, work according to Kiermayer (Acta Periodica Duellatorum) with the Glockenschläger. The Roux family preferred the Korbschläger, which is still widely used in student fraternities today. F. A. W. L. Roux had fencers hold the point down and to the side so that the opponent would not run onto it. He introduced horizontal cuts and a fully symmetrical scheme of cuts, whose terminology has remained in academic fencing to this day. He also adopted protection with a protective arm bandage (Paukstulp). Protection increased during the development of the Mensur. Kiermayer states wrist and neck bandages, aprons or padded trousers, bandages of the whole arm and finally the complete abolition of the lunge, by which the Mensur moved ever further from real combat. Keller's dissertation from Regensburg (2017) describes fencing with the Schlägermensur as fencing at a fixed distance with fixed rules that leave little freedom of movement. The Research Services of the Bundestag (2014) state that in the Göttingen case of 1953 the blades were sharply honed, but the fencers were protected against life-threatening injuries by dressings, bandages and other protective equipment.
Training
Most German manuals of the 19th century agreed, according to Kiermayer (Acta Periodica Duellatorum), that training should begin with a lighter rapier and only after some mastery move on to the heavier sabre. German Wikipedia states that a participant prepares for the Mensur by practising pure technique called Pauken, and that some non-fencing fraternities had fencing training without the Mensur until the nineteen-thirties. At the Corps, according to their joint website, a new member goes through a probationary period as a Fuchs, and the Mensuren fall within it.
Today
The ruling of the Federal Court of Justice of 29 January 1953 (5 StR 408/52) concerned the so-called Göttingen trial over three Mensuren from early 1951 and, according to the legal website Legal Tribune Online, is the benchmark to this day. According to the Research Services of the Bundestag (2014), the court recognised a Mensur injury as dangerous bodily harm, but accepted the participants' consent and rejected a breach of good morals. It expressly added that its reasoning do not concern Mensuren for settling matters of honour. Later case law, according to the Research Services, changes nothing in assessing the Mensur while fencers are protected against life-threatening injuries. The associations state various requirements about themselves. According to its press release, the Deutsche Burschenschaft in May 2024 in Eisenach reintroduced the compulsory Mensur by a wide majority after 53 years. The Coburger Convent states it requires two Mensuren of each member. The Kösener and Weinheimer Corps call the Mensur a test and an indispensable form of strengthening character.
Did you know
The University of Heidelberg, according to Keller's dissertation from Regensburg (2017), already in 1386 forbade students in its statutes to attend fencing schools. German Wikipedia states that on 8 April 1953 fencing associations confirmed to President Theodor Heuss that they renounce settling matters of honour with weapons. According to it, the Allied Control Council abolished section 210a of the Criminal Code in 1946, and because of the unclear legal situation the Mensuren were fenced secretly for years.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Mensur legal in Germany?
The Federal Court of Justice, in its ruling of 29 January 1953, recognised that an injury from a Mensur is bodily harm with consent that does not violate good morals. This does not concern Mensuren for settling matters of honour.
What weapons is the Mensur fenced with?
With weapons called Schläger. Kiermayer (Acta Periodica Duellatorum) names the Glockenschläger and the Korbschläger, which is still widely used. In the Göttingen case of 1953 the blades were sharply honed.
Since when has the Mensur been fenced in its present form?
The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland states the Bestimmungsmensur as customary from the last third of the 19th century. The transition from thrusting weapons to cutting ones was pushed in Jena from 1839 by the university fencing master F. A. W. L. Roux.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.