Hood of the Month

PhD, University of Erlangen

This hood was owned by the late Gerhard Krodel (1926–2005), former Dean of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1977–91). Krodel was born in Saxony and graduated as Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Erlangen in Bavaria. He moved away from Germany and was ordained in the former American Lutheran Church in 1952. Krodel taught at the Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, and at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before moving to Gettysburg.

This hood was not sanctioned by Erlangen itself; instead, it was made for the wearer, by robemaker E. R. Moore of Chicago, according to specifications approved in the United States. The lining is made up of several parts. The black, white and red tri-chevron denotes the imperial German flag in use until 1918. The white above the chevrons and the Bavarian blue beneath denotes Erlangen. The velvet edging is blue, the faculty colour for Philosophy, although this is difficult to see against the black of the cape.

According to Haycraft (3rd edn, p. 65) and based on information provided by the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume which was in the United States of America, ‘this custom was inaugurated in 1895 at the University of Chicago by a conference of Professors of German and other nationalities who were outfitting under the American system and who designated this symbolism to indicate the source of the degrees which represented so much of German modern research.’ Interestingly, this provision was not limited to those resident in the United States.

By the 1920s, the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume had approved a host of hoods for ‘foreign’ universities but the German ones seem to have been a precursor. Although the German flag changed over time, the tri-chevron prescribed in 1895 remained. The Academic Costume Code, which succeeded the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume, ceased effect in 2022 (see TBS vol. 23, p. 13). Today, the institution represented by this hood is called the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Such hoods approved for graduates of foreign universities would likely make a suitable topic for a submission for the fellowship of the Society. If you are interested in pursuing this, please contact the Dean of Studies: dean@burgon.org.uk

Photograph by Chris Williams courtesy of the Burgon Society

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