Leather crack
The leather jump in Austria an initiation ceremony or ceremony for relatives and friends of the Mont property . Today it is a fixed ritual part of the study at the Montanuniversität Leoben and is in the tradition of the student associations there . The rite of the leather jump is intended to express and strengthen the feeling of togetherness among all those working in the mining and metallurgical industry.
history
The custom of the leather leap can be classified in the series of rites customary in medieval guilds . It is believed to have spread from the Schemnitz Mining Academy (today Banská Štiavnica ) in Slovakia after the revolution of 1848/1849 when students moved out of the German language. This made the ritual known at other mountain schools, including Leoben . In the former imperial-royal Montanlehranstalt in Leoben under director Peter Tunner , the ceremony was particularly well cared for in the second half of the 19th century.
Probably the largest event of this kind still takes place every year at the Montanuniversität Leoben. With this custom, young students should be raised to the status of miners .
procedure
The date of the celebration is the last Friday before December 4th, the name day of St. Barbara , patron saint of miners.
In the morning of the leather jump, the ceremonial handover of the so-called matriculation certificate takes place. The rector of the university gives the first semester students a certificate that identifies them as members of the educational institution - an academic custom that can only be found at the Leoben University.
The celebration itself takes place in a public event hall in the evening. The beginning of the festive process is the entry of the candidates. During the actual jumping ceremony, each candidate has to answer four questions: “Your name?”, “Your origin?”, “Your status?” And “Your motto? ". The chosen field of study counts as the status. Then the request follows: "So jump into your stand and always hold it in honor!" Then the person to be admitted has to drink a glass of beer in one gulp and then jumps down from a beer barrel over an ass leather that is held by two miners. Usually these are the oldest miner present and the rector of the university. The ass or mountain leather - formerly a necessary part of the work clothes of miners for health reasons and today part of the miner's costume - is a symbol of miner's honor, and the jump is an expression of personal courage.
Every student who jumps over the leather becomes an “honor miner”. This title is also awarded to personalities who do not belong directly to the mining industry, but have made a contribution to it. Associated with the title is the honorable right to wear the mountain smock - also part of the miner's costume.
Social relevance
Student life at the Montan University Leoben is characterized by a number of student connections. The ritual of the leather jump is carried out by these too. Already at the ceremony as part of the handover of the matriculation certificate, not only the rector, who appears here in a mountain smock, and other representatives of the teaching staff and representatives of the Austrian student body are present, but delegations from all student corporations are also represented.
The organizational implementation of the evening ceremony is the responsibility of a different student association every year and is organized as a Kommers . Before the actual jumping ceremony, representatives of all corporations and the university rector give speeches, some of a cheerful character, and miners' and student songs are sung. The student jump candidates can either be members of an association or participate as guests. After the joint ceremony, the celebration continues in the individual fraternity houses. In this respect, the leather jump is considered a typical student festival.
The city of Leoben, with its history of mining and metallurgy, still sees itself as a “mining town” and the leather jump is part of this tradition. Therefore, this celebration is also seen in public as part of the Leoben calendar of customs and always attracts non-academic visitors.
literature
- Gerhard Sperl: Text "History" on ledersprung.at . (Retrieved August 27, 2017.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leoben Academic Burschenschaft Cruxia ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Corps Montania
