Of High and of Low Beds

The other day I stepped into a furniture store. A salesperson (a man) walked up to me. After the usual preliminaries, he eyeballed me and said firmly, "You need a high bed. How did the guy know my bed was only 45 cm (18") high?

Although I get older, between going to bed and waking up the following morning, I've still managed to climb out of it so far, and until further notice.

Nevertheless, when visiting the States two months ago, I savored the high beds of at least 60 cm (24"). They reminded me of those at my grandparents' farm in Westphalia. As a child, I visited them and sat on the beds; my legs were too short to reach the ground.

Admire the medieval student struggling with his high bed in the early days of Freiburg's university:

Looking at the picture, I understand the expression to climb into bed because there is even a footstep. In the States, they hung on to the tradition of high beds and the traditions of the medieval university too.

In the early days of Freiburg's university, students (freshmen, no women) had to study the seven free arts in the philosophical faculty for two years (college years?). The Greek philosopher Boethius (480-524) divided ancient knowledge into grammar, rhetoric (elocution), dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Students graduated in philosophy, earning the title baccalaureus artium (bachelor). Only then were they allowed to study theology, law, medicine, or continue in philosophy to complete those four faculties with a magister (master) degree.

In a manuscript from the second half of the XII century called Hortos deliciarium (Garden of Pleasance), the seven arts are depicted as women. Lady Grammar claims: From me, you can learn what the words, syllables, and letters are.

Complicated stuff not only yesteryear, such that the lady typically is shown with a birch in her right hand, ready to punish her pupils (naked). One sitting at her feet pretends to read his grammar book. I took this photo on the front porch of Freiburg's Münster, where statues of all seven arts are displayed.

Following a European directive but with lots of resistance, universities in Germany are now obliged to return to their roots in replacing the usual university degrees of diploma or state examination with bachelor's and master's degrees.

Coming back to the height of beds: How is it that, contrary to the beds, toilet seats in the States are so low, i.e., much lower than those in Europe? Kohler, was he a dwarf? 

 Well, this is another and completely different story.

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