File on the exodus of students from Karlsruhe Polytechnical College to Ettlingen, 1848–1849, 30.5 × 22.0 × 1.7 cm. KIT Archives 10001/326.
The volume of files on display here documents the impact on Karlsruhe Polytechnical College of the unrest in Baden during the revolution of 1848. In March 1848, 192 of its pupils petitioned the Second Chamber of the Baden Assembly, demanding that the college’s technical schools be transferred to one of the state universities. They had been calling for fundamental changes in Karlsruhe. They issued a list of grievances opposing the rules of conduct and calling for the dismissal of certain teachers; the introduction of private lecturers and a broader range of courses; the establishment of a central school library; and reforms toward adopting university-style institutional self-governance. In April 1848, unrest in the Grand Duchy reached its first climax with the uprising led by Friedrich Hecker. Just two weeks after the military put down the Hecker march, students in Karlsruhe publicly displayed their concerns. On May 6, many of them demonstratively moved away to Ettlingen, “to defy concessions” — according to Carl Heinrich Albert Kayser (1798–1870), director of the Polytechnical College at the time. This type of student strike had been a common means of exerting pressure at universities for centuries. This campaign at the Polytechnical College did not meet with immediate success. Following the government’s instructions, the school management threatened the protesters with expulsion. Most soon returned to class, some only after the deadline had passed. By readmitting upon request those who had joined the exodus, the first student revolt in Karlsruhe came to an unspectacular end. Some of the demands made in 1848 were eventually met, albeit in some cases with a considerable time lag of twenty years. The introduction of the status of private lecturer, for instance, occurred in 1868. kn