The origins of all Studentenverbindungen (“Fraternities”) can be traced back to medieval times. At the universities that time, like Padua, Bologna, Paris and Prague, students were allowed to create private groups and they lived in so called
Bursen (sort of Dorms). Out of these, the
nationes were born (think of it as
territorial associations). First mentioned 1477 in Padua and 1514 in Leipzig. In the second half of the 18th century it is handed down, that these
nationes created a constitution, which for example regulates the general life of these
nationes, the installment of a Senior (President), majority votes, joint appearance in public.
However only loose bonds between the members existed and the affiliation to those
nationes or
territorial associations ended with graduation from university.
In second half of the 18th century, so called “
Students Orders” arose as a counterpart to these
territorial associations. The Students Orders saw their origins in Masonic Lodges and they copied some ideas out of the Age of Enlightenment. Some basic principles of todays fraternities can be found here:
- Lifelong Membership
- complicated and sophisticated rituals
- defined selection process of their members
- Secrecy of their rituals and guidelines.
- “Zirkel” as external symbol
With the successful infiltration of the
territorial associations by these
Students Orders, they were made irrelevant. However this victory did not last long for the
Students Orders.
Because they were influenced by the ideas of the French revolution and had political objectives, they were pursued by the government and several years later they nearly disappeared. This vacuum was filled in by
Kränzchen or “new territorial associations”. They basically copied the principles of the former Student Orders, but without having a official or public political agenda.
The first confraternity is dated back to 1786 at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). From there the idea spread on to other universities and around 1800, the name “
Corps” emerged. So it can be said that the Corps represents the oldest type of fraternity in Germany.
The oldest still active fraternity in Germany is currently Corps Onoldia, founded in 1798.
So what was the reason to join these types of fraternities at that time? As influenced by the french revolution, they wanted Change. They saw themselves as the intellectual elite of the people and therefore qualified to propose and push for change. The main objective was to get rid of
Absolutism, towards a constitutional monarchy, german unity with a democratic constitution and to remove the restriction of the universities patronizing and dominating behavior.
However these efforts were thwarted by the Napoleonic invasion. The following Liberation War was the foundation of a new german nationalism, which of course found its way into the general student life. In this spirit and with the previously mentioned political ideas many students joined milita formations (Freikorps Lützow) in the fight against Napoleon and the king(s)/duke(s) etc. promised reforms in exchange.
But after the Congress of Vienna, which reintroduced the old order, many students and volunteers of the war found themselves betrayed. Despite this fact they wanted to pursue their ideas. This was manifested in the foundation of the so called “
Ur-Burschenschaft”, which deduced the basic fraternal principles from the Kränzchen/Corps/Students Order.
To underline their political claims, on the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, 300 actives
marched towards the castle of Wartburg in 1817, to show resistance towards the re-introduction of the
Restauration. Inspiring speeches for reforms and a removal of the old order were delivered and in the end books, which defended the old order,
were burned.
However this was also noticed by the governments and they saw in the meeting a direct attack towards the governmental order. Burschenschaften (as fraternities) were prosecuted and prohibited. In 1819 the freedom of press was retrenched and each university got a governmental supervisor, who actively looked after subversive elements on campus.
This ends Part 1.