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"To Serve My Fatherland." Apart from sorely needed new science and medical buildings. Heidelberg's thorniest problem these days is the rise of some old-style student societies that once were hotbeds of extreme nationalism. The faculty is hopeful that more prosperity—and ridicule—will tone them down. The goal is the liberal spirit of the new student oath, introduced in 1945 by postwar Rector Karl Heinrich Bauer: "I vow to . . honor the spirit of science in the service of truth for the benefit of all mankind, and thus also to best serve my fatherland."
One night last week 1,000 torch-carrying students marched up from the Neckar River to sing songs and orate in the university square. Next morning maroon-gowned Rector Gottfried Kothe led a bright-plumed academic procession into the great auditorium jammed with 2,500 dignitaries from all over the world. There were fireworks, a gala ball, and a learned address by famed Philosopher Jaspers on "Memories of Heidelberg." And everywhere there was music, from Bach and Beethoven to the obligatory lieder swelling from a 1,000-man chorus. Once again Heidelberg's motto, ''Living Spirit," was a living theme.