The Historic Punishment Cell for Disobedient Students at the UL – Come and See!

Anyone interested is welcome to take a look at the cultural heritage of the Russian Empire period, the Riga Polytechnic (1862–1896) and the Riga Polytechnic Institute (1896–1918). It is a confinement cell, a small, narrow space with two meagre windows and equipped to meet the basic necessities of the incarcerated student – a wooden table, a hard bed and a chamber pot that was washed daily by the caretakers and supervisors.

The punishment cell was utilised for about 30 years, from 1875 to 1905. It was a place for students to be reformed after trespassing of internal rules. “The use of alcohol, speaking against the teaching staff, disrespect, not attending lectures and even failure to deliver books on time could be punished,” explains Rūdolfs Rubenis, Mg. Hist., curator of the University of Latvia Museum’s History Collection.

Students might even be put on a waiting list because of the high number of offenders. “The student had to spend time alone in a confined space of the cell. He was not allowed visits from friends, not permitted to talk. The main task was just to study and reconsider the wrongdoing,” says R. Rubenis.

The supervisors were very strict. This is evidenced by the students' historical testimonies left on the walls of the cell. On one of them is a cartoon – a supervisor in the gallows, with the sun nearby and the inscription „Da hängt die alte Schpurhund” or “There hangs the old dog's muzzle”. These walls store many more examples of unique historical evidence – student drawings, inscriptions in Latvian, Polish, German, Russian, French and Latin, jokes, mathematical formulas, reflections on university professors and memories of beloved girls.

"Theoretically, the cell was a place to reform students, but in reality, it turned into a place to receive a study fee discount, because those incarcerated received free tuition, paid meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner," tells the UL Museum’s curator. “This cell was in no way similar to the prisons or penal servitude that existed during the era of the Russian Empire.”

A similar student punishment cell was established at the University of Tartu, also during the period of the Russian Empire. Although it is the oldest university in the Baltics, the cell there has been established much later than in Riga, the historic main building of the Riga Polytechnic, today – the University of Latvia main building.

The UL Museum invites visitors to attend the event, pre-booking the visit by telephone 67034566 or e-mail: muzejs@lu.lv.