Fraternity or Sorority in Europe?
 

Hey everyone,
I was wondering if there are any Fraternities or Sororities in Europe?
I am currently at an university in Germany and would like to join a Fraternity. There are "Fraternities" in Germany but they are mostly Catholic/conservative or kind of "nationalistic". (I don't want to be part of those)
Are there any international Fraternities? If this is the case, is there a possibility to found a chapter on my campus?

Trèves

Several European countries have sororities and fraternities.
I haven't heard of any international ones though, they all operate as locals.
Some US-founded fraternities have ties with Germany's student groups, and some have Alumni chapters in Germany.

Tau Kappa Epsilon has a program that works with the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent. That has over 60 groups, is there one on your campus? Is it an option for you to join a Studentenverein instead of a fraternity? I think I can guess which university you're attending and from a glance at the student organizations page it seems like there are a few groups currently at your university.

I have seen those "Studentenvereine" in my city already.
They are all strictly Catholic or are practicing the "Mensur" (traditional fencing without protective clothing).
I visited several Catholic Studentenvereine throughout the last year but I can't share the conservative ideology of those.
I was looking for a non political/religious/ideology fraternity which doesn't seem to exist in Germany.

PS:
The Weinheimer Senioren-Convent has a group on my campus but they are paracticing the "Mensur" like I stated above.

There are some NPHC chapters in Europe.

There are no NPC chapters in Europe of which I am aware.

There are some non-NPHC NIC fraternities who have chartered chapters (or at least started colonies) outside of North America. I do not know if any of them have chapters in Germany or even Europe. There are way too many of those groups for me to have any hope of keeping track of what they're up to.

I seem to recall that Zeta Beta Tau had started a couple colonies at schools in England, which doesn't help OP much but does answer whether there's non-NPHC NIC fraternities in Europe.

I could swear I saw something about this on GC recently but I couldn't find the posts.

There is Sigma Thêta Pi fraternity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Th%C3%AAta_Pi which was founded in France and has chapters in both France and Quebec. There is also Zeta Lambda Zeta sorority. http://www.zetalambdazeta.org/ which has chapters in France and Quebec.

I think that most of the NPHC fraternities had chapters in Germany as well as other countries with large US Cold War military bases. Not sure on the sororities.

I know AEPi started chapters in Israel...

This sounds like Fencing Fight Club.

I think Dekeguy also posted about DKE colonizing some chapters in the UK.

Found it:
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=142275

Wow. Thank you for all the answers over night. Its nice to see that the Fraternities are expanding to the UK and Scotland.
Maybe I am going to Warwick for my MBA? :rolleyes:
Sigma Thêta Pi and Zeta Lambda Zeta even have two chapters located in Belgium but they are french only.


@33girl
It is like a fencing fight club. Members have to practice and fight on a regular basis. There is a chance to get hit in the face or neck (They use real sabers).

Never knew, that many fraternities had chapters and connections in Europe. That's great. I recall hearing about one in London. Didn't one of their members post on here a while ago?



Fixed your post.


Maybe you can start up something like a fraternity or a social group at your university? Are there more people who don't want to join the more traditional groups but are looking for more than the debate/environmental/political groups your university offers?

Is there a lack of more modern groups because there is too little interest of is this something that would thrive at your university?

There is definitely a lack of modern groups at my university (but not a lack of interest).
I went to a bar that night with some friends and told them of US fraternities. Everyone agreed that it would be a great idea to found a new fraternity/social group at my university.
The problem is, that i dont know HOW to found such a group. Are there any websites, that could help me with this?
Is it a good idea to found a greek letter fraternity in germany or should i start off with a club/group?

What about Masonic organizations? They are somewhat similar.

You might want to contact the headquarters of one of the fraternities mentioned above that has already started colonies in the UK.

You could start a club/group first, that way you know for sure there is interest that sticks, and there are people willing to do the work. Some friends of mine have started a fraternity and a sorority in the Netherlands (I currently study in the Netherlands). Since all groups here are unhoused, local and small it's fairly easy to start one rules-wise, I have a feeling your university might be similar in that way. It just takes time and effort.

I agree with Sciencewoman, maybe contact one of the American fraternities already in Europe to see if they have and interest in a German chapter.

Just make sure you contact someone from the student activities office at the university to make sure you stick to their rules, being able to use university locations and being endorsed on their website helps a lot.

Did your friends start a whole new fraternity or are they working together with a American fraternity?
Are there any books or websites, that could help me to start a new group?
I dont know where to start.

Trèves, I don't know of any books about how to start a fraternity. You may find some info in threads here, however.

I guess the questions I would ask are these:

• What is it about North American-style fraternities that appeals to you?
• What specific aspects of North American-style fraternities are you drawn to that you think are lacking in groups that already exist at your university or in Germany/Europe?
• How have you learned about North American-style fraternities? First-hand experience? Friends? Books? Movies and TV? Internet research? In other words, how much do you really know about North American-style fraternities?

I certainly haven't made a study of it, but my impression is that efforts to establish North American-style fraternities in Europe have not, as a general rule, been particularly successful in the long-term. As best I can tell, this is partially because university life and culture in Europe is so different from university life and culture in North America, where Greek-letter organizations developed and have thrived, and partially because Greek-letter organizations are, in many ways, distinctly American/North American institutions. Distance from governing councils, HQs and other chapters has also been an issue, though the internet ameliorates that challenge somewhat.

Given that, I wonder if you might not be more successful identifying the aspects of North American-style fraternities you are drawn to and adapting them to a more European-style context rather than trying to "import" a GLO. This may be an opportunity to create something completely new—something that blends the strengths of European-style student societies with the strengths of North American-style fraternities.

Just a thought. Good luck!

Will Germany allow single-sex organizations?

@MysticCat
Regarding your questions:

• The fascinating thing about american-style fraternities is how they connect people. All members are working together on this "project".
• If you join a german "fraternity" it is more like joining a club/group. You dont see the members in everyday uni-life because they stay for themselves.
  Have a look at this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEBI5NK70iU (it is a german documentary but you'll maybe have a little insight through the pictures). Their aim is to maintain the tradition without charitable or educational/social goals. Furthemore they are in very bad standing because they are often associated with national socialism.
• First i have seen fraternities in movies (for example animal house, american pie, social network). After this i began with internet research.

That is a great idea. The greek letters would be more like a marketing aspect to attract people i guess.

PS.: It is hard for me to express myself because I am a miserable english speaker.

Thanks, Trèves. This is helpful, and I think you're doing very well with English. Trust me—your English is much better than my miserable German!

Let me ask a follow-up question and make a follow-up comment. First the question: When you say "All members are working together on this 'project,'" what do you mean by "project"? Connecting people?

And second, the comment: As much as I love "Animal House" (and I really do love "Animal House"), I would not take it as a truly accurate representation of what fraternities are about—though in some ways, it actually does come closer than many other movies do. You might want to check out some other sources to get a more well-rounded picture of what fraternities are about and what makes them different from other clubs and societies. As a generalization—perhaps a significant over-generalization—I'd say that traditionally the things that have set fraternities apart from other clubs include:

• An emphasis on brotherhood (hence the name "fraternity");
• An emphasis on specific values and principles that are intended to be guides for members' interations with each other, interactions with society, education and/or life in general;
• A coherent system of rituals, particularly initiation rituals, and symbols (usually including the Greek letters themselves), the content and meaning of which is usually known only by members, that express and reinforce the values and principles central to the fraternity;
• An emphasis on providing for some kind of common life—social life, mutual support, service to others, and/or room and board—to members;
• Exclusive membership, meaning membership by invitation only, and usually (though not always) single-sex membership; and
• At least for national or international fraternities, connections with students at other universities and with alumni after university.

Frankly, I think it would be really interesting to see what a group that combines some of these traits with the traditions of European student societies might look like.

That would look like most Dutch fraternities and sororities.
One of the things I noticed about "Greek" life when I got here (the Netherlands) is that it resembles the American Greek system a lot. They just have local, city-wide groups and the setup is different between universities to suit the scale and style of the city. They don't have Greek letters, but a name instead. Some groups are on their own, some are part of larger associations and that is where you really see the old European traditions (no fencing though). But at their core, they're all pretty similar to the Greek system.

Rituals, alumni-involvement, leadership, specific values, friendship, recruiting, activities, pledging, parties, mixers, formals, traditions? All there.
The tent-talk and the gossip are present. Even the tales about hazing are the exact same stories I heard in high school.


Trèves, my friends founded new groups so they could found them to fit in with campus culture and make sure it was something that could grow and thrive. I agree with MysticCat that it would be a good idea to look at those things you like about the American fraternities and adapt them to something that suits your group and would work at your university.

@MysticCat
By 'project', I mean the whole organisation/fraternity.

I am aware that those movies are not an accurate representation but it was the first time I heard about fraternities when I watched them.

@Tulip86

I visited some websites of fraternities in the Netherlands (Maastricht). They look very similar to American fraternities.

I will do some more research and maybe I am going to start something like that at my university.

Really interesting. Thanks for the info. Are these groups single-sex?

And as for the bolded, that's certaily not without precedent in North America. While the vast majority of fraternities and sororities use Greek letter names, not all do, or did. Consider Triangle, Acacia, FarmHouse, Ceres, . . . . And, of course, there's the case of Sinfonia, a name which our tradition says was taken from the name of a German student organization that the Director of New England Consevratory, George W. Chadwick, had been initiated into while studying at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. ;)

Most are single-sex, there are a few mixed groups. The larger associations are even same-sex in a few cases, though in a lot of cities two same-sex groups have formed a larger coed association (up to 2700 members in some cases :eek:). It seems so work very well here. Membership has been growing steadily in the past 10 years.

I completely blanked on the non-Greek letter fraternities and sororities in the US. Their names are very similar to those in the Netherlands. There's even a group here called Ceres, though it's a larger association not a sorority but it is associated with a university that specializes in agriculture.

Good luck, if you need any more info feel free to send me a PM.