Siste April Spring Celebrations are about to start in Lund.
Busy and unable to attend the celebration? Join us virtually.
Lund University Foundation created this page especially for International Alumni & Friends so that you can participate in the fun. Simply relax, click on the links below and enjoy!
Lunds Studentsångare – Lund Student Singers
Talented. Well-dressed. Iconic.
Lund Student Singers was founded in 1831 and is one of the oldest choirs in Sweden. With a long tradition and history, the choir has maintained its vitality over the years thanks to a combination of professional and dedicated directors and invigorating new talent. Today the choir features around 50 active singers.
The concerts are well attended and the citizens of Lund feel a special ownership of these traditions. The choir is famous for its annual May Day performance on the steps of the main university building. The performance is broadcast live each year on Swedish television.
Enjoy these amazing performances:
Lundaspexarna – Student Theatre
Witty. Farcical. Hilarious.
Spex is one of Lund’s more eccentric traditions and dates back to 1886. Humor and talent are combined to produce Lundaspexarna student theater – farcical comedy/musicals based on historical events.
It all started 1886 when the spex Gerda was performed at Lund for the first time. Today around 100 students are members of Lundaspexarna, performing two spex a year: on the last day of April and the last day of November.
Enjoy these two funny videos:
The word ”spex”, once short for ”spektakel”, can be translated into ”farce” and is described as:
1. A pure amateur theater production, written, staged and performed by university students.
2. The storyline is often taken from history but re-interpreted in new ways. Music is part of the performance, new creative lyrics are often written for popular songs.
3. The script is often in rhyme, filled with satire, puns, double-entendres, witty remarks and random sillyness. The audience is expected to shout out loud their appreciation and/or discontent.
Mösspåtagning – Cap Ceremony
Inspiring. Traditional. Celebratory.
Students wear dark student caps during winter and white ones during summer. Each year on April 30th after the official spring speech at 5:55pm, which always contains the words ”Där ute står majnatten blånande blå…”, Lund’s students remove their dark caps and put on white ones to mark the start of spring.
Rektorsuppvakning
Unique. Prestigious. Historic.
Rektorsuppvakning ceremony starts at 12:20 pm on May 1. Students carry their “Nation” flags from AF Borgen to the University main staircase. Once they arrive at the stairs they call out to Lund University’s Vice-Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor steps out on the University stairs, listens to a speech by the Student Union Chair and then delivers an inspiring reply speech.
Photo from Rektorsuppvakning in 1937:
Scholarship to Lund University
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O, gamla klang- och jubeltid!
Melodi: O alte Burschenherrlichkeit
O, gamla klang och jubeltid,
ditt minne skall förbliva,
och än åt livets bistra strid
ett rosigt skimmer giva!
Snart tystnar allt vår yra skämt,
vår sång blir stum, vår glam förstämt;
O, jerum, jerum, jerum,
O, quae mutatio rerum!
Var äro de som kunde allt,
blott ej sin ära svika,
som voro män av äkta halt
och världens herrar lika?
De drogo bort från vin och sång
till vardagslivets tråk och tvång;
O, jerum, jerum, jerum,
O, quae mutatio rerum!
Den ene vetenskap och vett
in i scholares mänger,
den andre i sitt anlets svett
på paragrafer vränger,
en plåstrar själen som är skral,
en lappar hop dess trasiga fodral;
O, jerum, jerum, jerum,
O, quae mutatio rerum!
Men hjärtat i en sann student
kan ingen tid förfrysa.
Den glädjeeld som där han tänt,
hans hela liv skall lysa.
Det gamla skalet brustit har,
men KÄRNAN finnes frisk dock kvar,
och vad han än må mista,
den skall dock aldrig brista!
Så slutet, bröder, fast vår krets
till glädjens värn och ära!
Trots allt vi tryggt och väl tillreds
vår vänskap trohet svära.
Lyft bägarn högt och svinga, vän!
De gamla gudar leva än
bland skålar och pokaler,
bland skålar och pokaler!
”Där ute står majnatten blånande blå…” Thanks for joining us today!
To receive more updates from Lund University Foundation please email bianca.blake@lunduniversityfoundation.org