““Under the Republic dueling was forbidden, but it was not in the German character to forego a custom so dear to our young fire-eaters and the authorities usually closed their eyes to the affairs. I attended one of Rudolph’s duels at a little beer hall near the university one evening. This was not to be a friendly Mensur but a duel with sabers, for Rudolph had happily managed to get himself grossly insulted. The heavy swords were ready, the opponents were just preparing to strip off their shirts when the outer door opened and in walked three stalwart members of the police. We all looked at them guiltily and Rudolph’s face grew as long as a hound’s, for he had been counting eagerly on this fight. The leader of the police came over to our table and bowed to us. “Gentlemen,” he observed gravely, “we have been notified that you are conducting a duel. We shall come to investigate. We shall be here in half an hour.””
![“A duel, whether regarded as a ceremony in the cult of honour, or even when reduced in its moral essence to a form of manly sport, demands a perfect singleness of intention, a homicidal austerity of mood. [The duel]” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cdb/joseph-conrad-336_duel_a-duel-whether-regarded-as-a-ceremony-in_1029768.jpg)
