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"STUDENTS' FRATERNITIES, GERMAN (Burschenschaften).

Different types of German students' associations have existed since the establishment of universities. As part and forerunners of the German national movement the specific German students' fraternities called Burschenschaften were founded in Jena in June 1815. Fanned by the reaction against Napoleon, the Burschenschaften rapidly expanded to include almost all German universities. The movement's outlook was essentially romantic, imbued with Christian, patriotic, and radical sentiments. However, at the beginning the organization was not overtly anti-Jewish in tone and Jews even took part in the foundation of some local Burschenschaften, as in Freiburg in 1816, and as so-called Alte Herren (Old Boys) were active members of the alumni organizations. Later, though, antisemitic agitation – particularly of the *Stoecker brand – found eager supporters among the student generation. The Verein Deutscher Studenten (VDST) (Union of German Students) aligned itself with the antisemitic petition demanding from the government the suspension of the legal emancipation of the Jews. It was also distributed by and among German students and handed over to Bismarck in April 1881. As early as 1878 the Viennese fraternity, Libertas, had passed a motion excluding Jews on racial grounds. By 1890 fraternities declared themselves judenrein, both in Germany and in Austria. In 1896 the member-fraternities Waidhofener Verband "dishonored" Jewish students by refusing to give them satisfaction in duels. By 1908 alumni associations also joined in ostracizing Jews. In Austria *Schoenerer emulated Stoecker by setting himself up as an anti-Jewish mentor to the students. Jewish students reacted to the increasingly antisemitic climate from the late 1880s by forming separate organizations. The first to be established was the Viadrina in 1886 at Breslau University, later part of the *Kartell-Convent der Verbindugnen Detuscher Studenten juedischen Glaubens. From the start Jewish fraternities were socially excluded and repeatedly dissolved by university administrations.

From 1900 to 1914 there was a recess in general antisemitic agitation, but the war and its aftermath reactivated Volk and racist fanaticism. In 1920, at their general convention in Eisenach, German fraternities extended their racial ostracism to all members who married Jewish or colored partners. Throughout the Weimar Republic German fraternities were predominantly right-wing, voelkisch, and antisemitic, as was the student corpus as a whole. After Hitler assumed power they widely embraced the new development, although they had to join in the National Socialist students' organization (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund) and hence give up their own organizational framework. After World War II the student fraternities reestablished their pre-war organizations, the umbrella organization of the German fraternities, the Deutsche Burschenschaft (DB), became active again in 1950. They are still predominantly politically conservative but are no longer openly antisemitic. There are still different kinds of student associations in the sense of fraternities to be found on German campuses." - from the Jewish Virtual Library.

"Fraternities of this particular type are present in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and (formerly) German or German-speaking areas and communities in Europe and Chile. They consist of the active students, who study any academic subject at a university, and the already graduated Alte Herren or Altherren (Elder Gentlemen or alumni) / Hohe Damen (High Ladies) that have once been active in the corporation.

The active students are commonly divided into four groups, with the Füchse (German for fox, the pledges), the Burschen (German for fellow, full members), and the inactive Burschen (having been members for a set time limit) forming the fraternity's actual core. The fourth group, the Chargierte are standard members elected by the former groups' democratic vote and outfitted with power of command over certain situations of everyday life. Common Chargierte are the Senior (signing his name with an x), Consenior (xx) and the Drittchargierter (xxx), charged with concerning themselves with representation, fencing and/or organization of festivities, and correspondence and diplomacy, respectively.

Active and inactive members of older fraternities, who often possess large mansions, reside in the Verbindungshaus. It usually consists of a small dorm and common rooms for festivities, the most notable of which is the Kneipe, where regular celebrations involving student songs and traditions are held. One of the many benefits of joining a fraternity in Germany is the especially low pricing of the often rich rooms. As Studentenverbindungen are much less present in campus life in comparison to US fraternities, many actively try to recruit new members through these low-priced rooms. After a certain period allowing these new members to learn the traditions, they are then usually offered full membership or asked to leave.

Once finished with education and starting a career, the inactive Burschen are asked to resign from the fraternity's core members and become Alte Herren or Philister. This involves losing influence and vote in the core fraternity's democratic process, allowing younger generations to take their place. Major decisions, though, are still made by an annual committee where every member, student or not, has one vote. Furthermore, they are commonly asked to pay a certain annual sum to help sustain the fraternity fiscally, to actively participate in democratic decisions concerning only Alte Herren, and to pay regular visits to the fraternity's festivities. The Alte Herren, too, elect representatives to take care of representation (Philistervorsitzender or Philistersenior), financial overview, supervising the Verbindungshaus, and so forth.

A very peculiar characteristic of this structure is that the link between active members and Alte Herren is usually so direct that already the youngest members are asked to address even their most decorated Alte Herren by Du, the intimate form of salutation in German, or even by their first name. This commonly includes referring to one another as "brother". As it is possible for any Verbindung to forge treaties with another,this may be extended to members of other fraternities.

Tradition

To laymen, the most well-known tradition of Studentenverbindungen is the Mensur, a special form of very strictly regulated, fixed-stance fencing only known in this context. The Mensur is practised with sharp blades, and although the body is well-protected, it allows for deep (cosmetic) facial and cranial wounds, which often result in a scar called Schmiss. The Schmiss was once regarded as the passport to a better future, as the Mensur strives to educate physical and mental strength by confronting the combatants to a rare and extreme situation. In modern times, opinions differ, although the principle stays the same: Whereas one would formerly engage in a Mensur to be hit, many fencing students of today will rather engage in combat in order to prove their competence by not being wounded, instead focusing on reinforcing the bond to one's brothers by sharing hope and fear. While the Mensur is the most central principle to some Verbindungen and especially the Corps, Landsmannschaften and Burschenschaften (DB) organizations requiring their members to take it up, many digress, with some of them practising it voluntarily, and most forbidding their members to fence. In particular, Christian fraternities decline the Mensur from general ethical perspectives, with Catholic fraternities even being formally restricted on the ground of the 5th commandment You shall not kill, which includes the integrity of the god-given body in general.

Visually, the most discerning characteristic of many Studentenverbindungen is the so-called Couleur, which can consist of anything from a small part of ribbon worn over the belt, to elaborate uniforms with riding boots, sabres and colorful cavalry jackets, depending on circumstances and tradition. Most commonly, a sash displaying (usually) three distinctive colors is worn in everyday life. Such display is officially prohibited at many universities, in part on grounds of fear of potential controversy (see below). Other visual characteristics are manifold. The Zirkel, a cryptic symbol containing the fraternity's name and the letters v, c, and f for lat. vivat circulus fratrum ("the circle of brothers may live") or lat. vivat, crescat, floreat ("live, grow, flourish") may often be found on clothing or other personal items. Sometimes, the fraternity's coat of arms is also incorporated into such objects. Finally, a good portion of fraternity members can be identified through Zirkelor involuntary, but less obvious codes; this includes a certain style of dressing, or rare figures of speech found only in fraternities in modern days.

More elaborate uniforms are usually worn at Kneipe or, more formally, Kommers, a kind of gathering only still preserved at Studentenverbindungen. Such events usually take place during holidays, such as to celebrate Christmas, to commemorate a deceased brother, or in remembrance of historic events or important date in the fraternity's history. During these gatherings, the crowd of members and guests present is presided over by the Chargierte (see above), with the Senior executing certain rituals, from as simple to formalized greeting of guests present to as elaborate as the so-called Landesvater ("father of the country"), in which a ceremonial sabre is pierced through the Couleur-bearing hats of the participants in a complex ritual, accompanied by a ceremonial chant. While such rituals as the latter are only performed on the most solemn of occasions and thus very rare, a Kneipe commonly involves the lighter sides of life, such as rampant beer consumption and uninhibited singing of traditional student songs, many of which are quite bawdy for the standards of the time. Thus, this allows for the possibility to experience otherwise daunting members on a personal level." - Wikipedia

A bit of background on the old "frat-boys" and their relationship to German history and culture. I think it would be fair to say that many of the student's who belonged to these societies and fraternities went on to make up a good part of the military officer-class, during both World Wars.

I thought these colorful Burschenschaft fobs might be of interest to some, especially those who collect medals and awards. The quality-level of these in general is very high. Many are silver-content marked and the castings are quite good, normally hand-finished, nicely engraved with names and dates and sometimes enameled, too. Often they come from the same companies and jewelers that produced medals and awards for the military, so in other words, no junk allowed!

Hope everyone has a good collecting year this 2012.

Best!

Bill

Bill:

Great items and a superb look at a unique subset of German culture in the early part of teh last century.

Thank you for sharing and for spending the time to tell us about this.

Are you planning to be at the SOS?

John

JZ,

Thanks, my pleasure!

Lots of tasty tidbits of information in there. As the good majority of us are primarily interested in '33-45 edged weapons, some might say, "why should this early history stuff matter..?" Well, to me this 'old history' is very important. It relates directly to the thinking processes of future generations of Germans, including the hierarchy of government officials during the National Socialist years.

Education, art and the natural sciences played a vital part in German history and culture since the early eighteenth century. Since the reign of Fredrick the Great, Germany turned itself around from being a 'backwater' nation of loosely connected sovereign states, to a nation of immense power and influence on the European continent, like France, previously. The first steps on the road to this recovery were most importantly the fine universities that sprang up in Germany and lands under her sphere of influence.

So that might lead to ask the question, "Why was Fredrick of Prussia one of Hitler's favorite historic characters?" He must have been one hell of a leader if old Adolf thought so highly of him, eh? Any way you slice it, it's always better to know a little something about what you're looking at, kind of gives it more substance.

Don't know if I'll make the SOS? I do have some extra time on my hands, but I'm still not sure? Will advise ...

Best!

W~

Bill

Fantastic write up and explanation, a lesson to be learn't there by anybody taking the time to read this thread. These fobs look great and can still be had for next to nothing, there's loads out there and most are different in some way and they are all personalised.I'm happy every day I learn something new.

Thanks

SfK

Very cool and great write-up, thanks for sharing

James

Hello,
Bill, thanks for this interesting thread. It's always nice to learn the history of items that we collect in addition to seeing the items themselves. By the way very nice fobs you show. Thanks again for the history.
Duzig(Bill)

My pleasure gents, thanks!

B~

Chaps,

Listed in the company's 1925, 50 year anniversary catalog, number 190 - "University Student Fraternity Cap by Carl Roth,
- Studenten - Utensilien - Fabrik Würzburg, Kneip-Cerevise cap, or Biertonne, (beer barrel) cap, 5.50 DM." Also known as a "pub-cap," this example carries the insignia of the Bürschenschaft, (fellowship) Teutonia. The monogram represents the motto, "sie's Panier," or in other words, "true to the flag."

Though not in big demand by collectors, this is by far one of the better examples I've seen firsthand in quite a while. Most of those found at shows look like they were trampled on by a herd of wild buffalo ... not so with this one! This Biertonne belonged to a friend's father who was a 'Zahnartzt,' or dental physician, in the Heer during the Second World War. I'm hoping to get some photos of him in his officer's tunic. If I do I'll post them back here in future ... for now we can take a look at this nice little beanie.

I wish I could have captured the gilded bullion-work a tad better - still working the bugs out of a new camera. Just think, this is only the tiniest fraction of the embroidery-work to be seen on old German club and military flags. For anyone who hasn't seen a good example of German flag handwork before, try to see some of the imperial and TR regimental standards, swallowtails, etc. You'll literally be at a loss for words ... maybe someone who reads this might help us out with some good photos of bullion sewing..?

Best!

Willi

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Interesting topic Bill.
The fobs are small works of art.

--dj--Joe

"Though not in big demand by collectors, this is by far one of the better examples I've seen firsthand in quite a while. Most of those found at shows look like they were trampled on by a herd of wild buffalo ... not so with this one! This Biertonne belonged to a friend's father who was a 'Zahnartzt,' or dental physician, in the Heer during the Second World War."

DJ,

As a follow-up to my friend's father's drinking-cap, I've got a few additional snaps and details.

Turns out her father first served in the Heer, Pionere, an engineering outfit. Here we see him as Spiess, a master-sergeant. In the second later shot, he's wearing a summer white police tunic, regulation six button with collar patches and shoulder boards reflecting dark colors. On his left sleeve is the officer-quality police eagle and on his right sleeve there looks to be the chevron of the party old fighter. He is wearing on his belt the M36 SS dagger with portepee. His hat is a standard police officer visor in police green material. Tough to positively id the ribbon bar above the pocket, though, his badge looks like the Sportabzeichen. The colors of the shoulder board and collar tabs might reflect the fact that he is a dentist in the police?

He was originally from the city of Speyer, in the south Rhineland. The third photo is of the Kreisleitung building there, after allied bombing. I'm fairly certain the first two pictures were taken in Poland, outside of Warsaw.

I have to extend a personal note of gratitude to Mr. Joe Wotka, for helping me to identify and properly describe the Polizei/SS uniform. For those who may not know Joe, he's as keen as a razor when it comes to the subject of the German police, as well as a good many other things. His contributions to the hobby over years are too numerous to mention, he's also contributed to many of the finest reference books we have available in our collecting libraries. Sincere thanks and best wishes Joe.

Hope some of our SS-collectors might enjoy this, too.

Best!

Bill

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Quite interesting Bill. Many thanks for all your contributions this year.

A happy New Year to you.

--dj--Joe