This Month

Guided tour in May - Mark Twain in Heidelberg

by Heidelberg's Association of Tour Guides 

Theme tour devoted to Mark Twain, who spent three summer months in Heidelberg in 1878 and wrote the book that was to link his name to Heidelberg forever: "A Tramp Abroad."

"Beginning at the Student Prison and the Alte Aula of Heidelberg University, we trace the footsteps of Mark Twain as described in his humorous book, "A Tramp Abroad." Mark Twain enriched Heidelberg's image worldwide as a multifaceted city of culture, thus contributing to its becoming some 140 years later Germany's first UNESCO City of Literature."

When? 
Saturday, 23rd May, at 15:00 hrs  in English language

Duration: about 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Cost:  €15,00 (adults) / €10,00 (students or pupils)
A surcharge will be added should it be possible to enter the Student Prison and the ancient Alte Aula lecture hall; otherwise, the two institutions are explained and shown from without. 

Where?  The meeting point is the Lion Fountain on University Square (Grabengasse, with a bus stop directly across from the fountain) 

Please send an E-Mail to c.m.frey@gmx.de if you wish to attend.

Talk on 29th May

by Prof. Dr. Catherine Marshall

Topic:  "Deference in Politics"

When?  Friday, 29th May, at 19:00 hrs

Where?  "Zum Achter" Heidelberger Ruderklub, Neuenheimer Landstr. 3a,  69120 Heidelberg 

Synopsis:
This talk revisits the concept of “political deference” and explores its potential to help repair the British constitutional system in the face of recent democratic and institutional strain. Often reduced to a vague notion of respect for authority or the monarchy, deference is here redefined through the work of Walter Bagehot, who saw it as a rational and stabilising force within a hierarchical but liberal constitutional framework. The paper traces the historical evolution of this idea from the late 18th century to the present, drawing on Edward Shils’s sociological account of deference as a universal civic need—even in democratic societies. Marshall argues that political deference, properly understood, has been eroded in recent years, particularly through populist appropriations of constitutional language under Boris Johnson. Far from advocating codification, she calls for a renewed civic ethic based on trust, restraint, and historical awareness. In uncodified systems like Britain’s, political deference functions as an essential support—alongside the rule of law and parliamentary sovereignty. Recovering its meaning is not about restoring hierarchy, but about preserving the moral foundations of democratic governance in Britain

Biographical Notes:
Catherine Marshall is a Full Professor of British Studies at CY Cergy Paris University (France). A specialist in the intellectual and political history of the Victorian period and its legacy in 20th and 21st century Britain, her research has examined the ideas and influence of Walter Bagehot, led to the discovery and publication of the papers of the Metaphysical Society (1869–1881), and explored the evolution of political “deference” within the British constitution in her book “Political Deference in a Democratic Age: British Politics and the Constitution from the Eighteenth Century to Brexit” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). She currently leads the research axis “History of Political and Economic Ideas”, one of the three core research areas of the AGORA Research Centre at CY Cergy Paris University. Her ongoing research explores the historical foundations and evolution of British Conservatism from the nineteenth century to the present, with particular attention to its intellectual and ideological dimensions.