Die Marburger Nachtwächter

They were awake when others slept and were overtired when others were awake. It's no wonder that night watchmen were generally considered sleepyheads and somewhat clumsy. In Marburg, they were mocked for their supposedly simple minds and had to endure many coarse jests from the academic youth. It is all the more astonishing how the old "night watchmen," who had almost been forgotten, have transformed into a symbol of the "good old days" and become a nostalgically idealized landmark of Marburg. This book tells the story of the rather rough life of the night watchmen, their arduous duties, their calls and songs, as well as the anecdotes surrounding them. It reveals many previously unknown facts about a security institution that always led a shadowy existence yet played a significant role in the long history of Marburg.