An informative story about Studenten Karzer (Student Solitary confinement) of 19th Century Alma Mater Rigensis in the main building of the University of Latvia which hold visual historical evidence about one of the first Baltic German, Polish, Russian and Latvian Student corporations (fraternities) of the Baltic region in 19th Century. The main building of the University of Latvia was built in 1869 for Alma Mater Rigensis which was known as Riga Politechnikum (1862-1896), later Riga Politechnical institute (1896-1918).

Alma Mater Rigensis was founded in 1862 as a Technical graduate school that specialized in architecture, engineering, mechanics, agriculture, chemistry, etc. The necessity of this institute was due to the industrial development of the Baltic provinces (modern-day Estonia and Latvia) of Imperial Russia (1721-1917) – one of the 19th Century European empires. During the Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920) Alma Mater Rigensis (at that time Baltic Technical school from 1918 till 1919 was reorganized into the University of Latvia - the national Alma Mater of Republic of Latvia. Today the Legacy of Alma Mater Rigensis lies in the hands of Riga Technical university (renewed in 1958 as Riga Politechnical institute) which continues the German tradition of preparing the technical specialists for the development of the Baltic region. The Alma Mater Rigensis was founded by Germans from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland due to fact that Baltic Germans, a German Speaking community that lived for generations in the territory of modern-day Estonia and Latvia from 13th Century till 1939, was the social and intellectual elite of Baltic provinces. The Russian tsar Peter the Great gave them Cultural autonomy that turned Imperial Russian Baltic provinces into the part of the German-speaking cultural sphere in the 18th-19th Century. The German build Alma Mater Rigensis is the Cradle of Higher education of the modern-day Republic of Latvia. Alma Mater Rigensis not only was the Temple of technical knowledge, but also a site of Student solitary confinement known as Studenten Kaizer. An essential part of the studies, both before the First World War (1914-1918) and today, is the careless enjoyment of youth, which often, unfortunately, ends in taking responsibility for its actions. In German universities, one of the most common punishments was a Student Karzer sentence. This punishment starting in 1866 was also applied in Alma Mater Rigensis. In the 1873-1874 school year, a principle was introduced whereby the Director of Alma Mater Rigensis could order punishment for the student in Student Karzer for 24 h, the Disciplinary Commission – 3 days, and the Plenary Conference – up to 4 weeks. This punishment was applied to non-compliance with the various rules of higher education, but particularly the traverses that were carried out during student entertainment. Students were sentenced in Student Karzer from 1869 till the 1905 revolution in Imperial Russia that brought certain democratic changes in autocratic Imperial Russia by forming the National council, the Duma. The small, 6.6 x 3 m wide and 4 m high, room walls are almost covered with a variety of inscriptions, drawings and other evidence left by the students who studied at Alma Mater Rigensis. The inscriptions are in four languages (Polish, German, French and Russian), yet the most “memory of imprisonment” is in Polish; these memories are left by Polish students who studied at Alma Mater Rigensis. The names of prisoners are also common, indicating their affiliation with the Polish nationality. Decoration, which is a kind of creative expression, cannot be called drawings in the direct sense of that word because they were carved, drawn or painted. The variety of techniques used is surprising. Despite the use of pencil or chalk, some of the inscriptions are made with paint. In terms of content, graphite is mainly related to the causes for which the sentence is served and the duration of the sentence. A common element of decorations is the insignias of the oldest Polish Student Corporations Arkonia and Welecja (founded in Riga and continue to exist in Warsaw, Poland), one of the oldest Baltic German Student Corporation Concordia Rigensis (today exists in Hamburg, Germany) and one of the oldest Latvian Student Corporations Selonija (still exists today in Riga, Latvia) of which the students were turned on. Corporation Members decorations include monograms, bands with fraternity colors and other symbols.

European dimension: Student Karzer of Alma Mater Rigensis is one of the Historical evidence that connects Latvian, German, Polish and Russian history forming a common History for centuries. This is one of the oldest Student Karzer’s in the Baltic region which, despite the hard times in Latvian History (First and Second World wars, Soviet and Nazi occupations), has remained mostly untouched. It keeps evidence of first Polish Student Corporations formed outside of the modern-day territory of the Republic of Poland. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain and collapse of the Soviet Union Latvians, Poles, Germans, and Russians once again can make a cultural and national exchange through Student Corporation relations. Latvia, Poland, and Germany are one of the European countries where traditions of Student Corporations are still alive and maintained from generation to generation, despite the hard times of the 20th Century. Student Karzer has become a very interesting Historical evidence not only to student fraternity members but also to mainstream foreign students, lecturers and visitors from European and Asian countries and the United States who visit the University of Latvia. Especially Student Karzer is visited by Germans and Poles who seek to search and understand the historical legacy left by the old Ancestors of German or Polish descent.