Shuxin Chen, Internship report. 实习报告：

 Shuxin Chen

   As a student of the University of Heidelberg, it might sound ridiculous that he/ she does not know who the founder and who the headmaster in presence is. Also, it is me in the past semesters. I believe there are many foreign students studying at Heidelberg University do not know about it, either. Heidelberg University Archives did offer me a chance to get more familiar with the oldest University in Germany. Weeks after being done with my relative short-term internship in Heidelberg University Archives, I started thinking over my time spent there.
    Heidelberg University Archives was founded right after the foundation of the University, it grew and developed together with the University. All documents related to the University are well preserved in the Archives in different categories from the 14th century on.  Studying American Studies, a major requiring skill to do research in different disciplinaries, especially for history, the internship in University Archives, in this sense, is of enhanced significance. There are considerable old documents related to the history of Heidelberg University, including correspondence between professors, faculties files, student files, pictures, film clips and many others, which are valuable to people who study history. And I felt inspired that I could have a chance to touch them with my hands. 
    My duties ranged from three main categories: collating and correcting of the categorized documents, answering emails about research queries on former professors or students, and translating homepage from German to Chinese. In between, working with the correspondence between professors who were related to the faculty of Eastern Europe history, I read every letter they wrote and summarized the key information, in which I gained a new perspective of the history after WWI and WWII in Europe. It brought me to know how influential of the previous historical events were on the seemingly segregated academic world.  Besides, I also went through the files on Asian students at the Heidelberg University in the mid-20th century, presenting a rough picture of their lives at that time in my mind, which was totally different from today’s Asian students’ in Heidelberg. Reading and summarizing their letters written in Germany, I am aware of my poor German vocabulary must be extended. Fortunately, the staff always helped me when I did not understand what the letters were about. Though, if you are considering taking your internship at the University archive, it would be better that you mastered the German language. 
    Furthermore, the most exciting moment of my internship was searching files which the research queries needed in the “Magazin” underground. Every time I held the keys to unlock its door, I felt as though I was opening a treasure buried under the seafloor. “Magazin” was a basement filled up with old documents, containing files of former registered students, faculties, and previous university presidents. When I open the file- box in the basement, it resembles how historians unraveling the secret of the past. Turing from page to page of the student files, it made the oldest University in Germany more authentic to me. 
    Nevertheless, sitting all day long reading the past may not sound inspiring for people who are not enthusiastic about history. Therefore, I recommend taking the internship at Heidelberg University Archive for those who are obsessed with history.

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实习报告：

不久前我结束了在海德堡大学档案馆为期八周的实习。做这份实习之前，我只了解到海德堡是德国最古老的大学，至于创办人和历任校长，我真的对此一无所知。而在档案馆的实习，让我挖掘到了更多海德堡大学的背景以及各种历史事件对大学的影响。

大学档案馆作为一个隶属于校长工作室的部门，保存了所有与大学历史有关的文件，包括官方文件、个人书信来往，图像和影像资料。 并且部分文件可追溯到十四世纪初。以致当我听说，在我实习期间内我有机会去翻阅这些资料的时候，作为一个人文学科专业的学生，是非常激动的。

在实习期间，我的工作内容主要是给已经分类好的档案查漏补缺并将内容简化记录到电脑里、翻译网页，和回复咨询邮件。其中我负责修正的档案是关于海德堡大学东欧历史系和二十世纪中后期海德堡大学亚洲学生的书信来往。在翻阅教授们的书信来往中，不难发现一战和二战对德国和整个欧洲的影响之大，也给我带来了对这段历史的新的认识。除此之外，在修正关于海德堡大学的亚洲学生的书信来往中，我发现那个年代的亚洲学生的生活和学习方式和现在在海德堡大学的亚洲留学生的生活方式是截然不同的，包括：家庭背景、出国目的、经济状况，学习热情和师生关系。完成这些资料的二次整理之后，我也意识到了自己德语词汇之匮乏。也幸亏在档案馆的工作人员都十分热情友好，每当我看不懂档案内容的时候，他们都会主动过来解释给我听。尽管如此，如果你想在档案馆实习的话，德语基础还是要过硬的。

在回复关于研究海德堡大学前教授和学生的咨询邮件时，我经常要去到档案馆的地下收藏室里取相关的学生和院系文件，记录了海德堡大学每个学生的入学记录、课堂出勤，和毕业档案。这些文件就像被人遗忘在角落里的被尘封了的宝藏一样，每当我打开档案箱的时候，都能感受到它们历史的厚重感。到地下室翻阅这些古老的文件成为了实习期间最让我为止激动的时刻。

我的工作内容也许听起来很枯燥，但是这些历史资料本身就已经足够有趣了。如果你也是以为对历史研究充满热情的人，那么你一定会在海德堡大学档案馆的实习项目中获益匪浅。然而，如果你对于历史研究没有兴趣的话，海德堡大学档案馆的实习项目可能并不适合你。