One year in Germany completing a Master's degree in Law at the University of Marburg, Germany Jura - University of Adelaide. 1997/98 Greg Taylor

Marburg, where I was based, is one of the smaller university towns in Germany. Its University was founded in 1527 by Landgraf Philipp of Hessen as the world's first protestant University. Marburg, although small, is quite beautiful. Having no major industry (the nearest approach to industry I saw there was a rubber-stamp factory), it was hardly bombed at all in the World War II. Many of its buildings, therefore, are not post-War reconstructions (as, for example, is the case in Nürnberg), but the real McCoy.

Although small, Marburg, as a university town, has a good selection of student pubs, but, as far as I could tell, not much nightlife. However, those for whom the evening does not begin until midnight can find a wide selection of clubs in Frankfurt, an hour's train ride from Marburg. Marburg was in fact an excellent base from which to see Germany, as it is almost exactly in the centre. And students receive, for about 110,- DM, a ticket for the train, bus and tram services in the region, including nearby large cities such as Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt. This is a common, but not universal arrangement in German Universities.

The two principal concerns of most Anglo-Saxon students going to Germany are the language and the cost of living. Both fears are generally exaggerated. Obviously, some knowledge of German is essential. But do not think that you have to be brilliant at it before you go. Your German will improve simply because you are there. At any rate, the Germans are a didactic lot and conscious - indeed, proud - of the complexity of their language and of the fact that only they can ever speak it flawlessly. That being that case, they are ever ready to prompt you and to tolerate errors, stumbles and pauses while you try to formulate what you are going to say. They do so even in examinations.

As far as money is concerned, many people do not know that there are no tuition fees at German Universities, neither in postgraduate nor in undergraduate courses. Day-to-day living expenses, therefore, are all that one needs to worry about. It is possible to live cheaply in Germany. I managed easily on 220,- DM per week, including rent. The collapse of the Euro makes Germany even cheaper for Anglo-Saxons. Thanks to the unbeatable German bread and the wurst, you can eat cheaply and well at home; and you can eat cheaply at the University refectories, and mostly well too! As far as rent is concerned, make sure that you plan far enough ahead to reserve a place in one of the student dormitories, where an adequate room will cost you about 300,- DM/month.

Students with E.E.C. passports can, of course, work as much as they like. My year-long visa in an Australian passport permitted me to work during the University holidays, which I did (as a translator). There are holidays of about two months' duration after the semesters, which generally run from October to February (with a break at Christmas) and April to July.

Finally, there is the small matter of the study itself. Masters' degrees differ, of course, from University to University. Mine took two semesters, which is quite usual. In that time, I was expected to write a Master's thesis of about seventy pages in German - a German friend kindly offered to read it through and point out the typing and grammatical errors - and to attend a number of lectures also offered to undergraduate students and to sit tests in what I had heard. I had to pick two of three areas here : Public Law, Criminal Law and Civil Law. Undergraduate students taking part in an exchange had a fixed programme of study; they did not have to write the thesis, of course, but did have to write a final essay of twenty pages or so.

I should be pleased to receive enquiries from students who might be thinking generally of studying in Germany, or who like to know more either about Marburg or about the University of Adelaide's Master of Comparative Law degree, offered - in English - jointly with the University of Mannheim.

Greg Taylor
University of Adelaide
greg.taylor@adelaide.edu.au