A Burschenschaft ( German: [ˈbʊʁʃn̩ʃaft] ; sometimes abbreviated B! in the German Burschenschaft jargon; plural: B!B! ) is one of the traditional Studentenverbindungen (student associations) of Germany , Austria , and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence ). Burschenschaften were founded in the 19th century as associations of university students inspired by liberal and nationalistic ideas. They were significantly involved in the March Revolution and the unification of Germany . After the formation of the German Empire in 1871, they faced a crisis, as their main political objective had been realized. So-called Reformburschenschaften were established, but these were dissolved by the Nazi regime in 1935/6. In West Germany , the Burschenschaften were re-established in the 1950s, but they faced a renewed crisis in the 1960s and 1970s, as the mainstream political outlook of the German student movement of that period started leaning more towards the left. Roughly 160 Burschenschaften exist today in Germany, Austria and Chile.
30-592: The very first one, called Urburschenschaft (" original Burschenschaft "), was founded on 12 June 1815 at Jena as an association drawn from all German university students inspired by liberal and patriotic ideas. Like the Landsmannschaften or the Corps , a student association based on particular German region, the Burschenschaft members also engaged in duelling. However, its main purpose
60-572: A German nation based on language, thought and culture, the NeueDB favors defining Germany as the political Germany established by the German Basic Law (constitution) in 1949 and altered by the 1990 unification . Many Burschenschaften are not organized at all since they do not see an organization that represents their values sufficiently. Because of the German emigration into Chile in
90-518: A severe crisis, as one major goal had been achieved to some extent: German unification . In the 1880s, a renaissance movement, the Reformburschenschaften , led by the ideas of Küster, arose and many new B!B! were founded. It was also during this time until the 1890s when many members turned increasingly towards anti-Semitic outlook believing it provided an approach to achieving the fraternity's fundamental goal. Such members viewed
120-534: A stately house". A verse from the song is, "The ribbon was cut, it was black, red and gold, and God suffered it, who knows what he wanted!" This cemented the association of these colors with the fraternity and the German democracy movement. Later, the Urburschenschaft flag's colors were the basis of the national colours of Germany . One of its first members was Heinrich von Gagern , the president of
150-853: A third of the Burschenschaften . Others are organized in the Schwarzburgbund Schwarzburgbund (Schwarzburg League), the Neue Deutsche Burschenschaft Neue Deutsche Burschenschaft ( NeueDB , New Germany Fraternity) or the Allgemeine Deutsche Burschenschaft Allgemeine Deutsche Burschenschaft (General German Student Union). While the DB still insists upon Fichte 's idea of
180-511: A united Germany. This was a concept promoted by Jakob Friedrich Fries , a lecturer at the University of Jena at the time. Urburschenschaft had 859 active student members, about sixty percent of all the students at the University of Jena from the summer of 1815 to the winter semester of 1819–1820. At other German universities, Burschenschaften were founded in the early 19th century as associations of university students were inspired by
210-589: Is prohibited in Chile). Most Burschenschaften are pflichtschlagend , i.e. their members must sustain a number of Mensuren . Academic fencing is still an important part of their self-understanding as well as political education. Many Burschenschaften , often found in certain "umbrella" organisations (such as the Burschenschaftliche Gemeinschaft ), are associated with right-wing or far-right ideas, in particular with
240-579: The Frankfurt Parliament from 1848 to 1849. Deutsche Burschenschaft Defunct Defunct The German Burschenschaft (DB) (Deutsche Burschenschaft) is an association of Burschenschaften (comparable in some respects with fraternities ); a co-operation of student associations of a certain form in Germany and Austria . It was created in 1881 as a General Deputies Convent (ADC) and received its current name in 1902. It goes back to
270-632: The German wars of liberation against the Napoleonic occupation of Germany . Its motto was “honor, freedom, fatherland” ( German : Ehre, Freiheit, Vaterland ), and the original colors were red-black-red with a golden oak leaves cluster, which might be based on the uniform of the Lützow Free Corps , being a corps of volunteer soldiers during the wars of liberation. The Burschenschaften were student associations that engaged in numerous social activities. However, their most important goal
300-563: The University of Jena in Jena , Thuringia , in Germany . It formed when the university's existing Seniors' Convention of Landsmannschaft dissolved the convention and reformed as the first Burschenschaft . Its founders wanted to abolish regional student groups and organize all students ( Burschen ) into a unified Burschenschaft. The group supported liberal and nationalistic ideas such as abolishing Germany's small states and creating
330-457: The "General Deputies Convent" (“Allgemeiner Deputierten-Convent”) was founded by 35 fraternities in Eisenach , renamed "German Burschenschaft" in 1902. The members agreed on commonalities in general student and student affairs, but in a number of other matters the individual fraternities should decide for themselves. A recording of Austrian Burschenschaft was initially rejected for the reason that
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#1732765850454360-543: The 1990s many Burschenschaften that had left Eastern Germany in the 1940s and 1950s returned to their traditional home universities in the East. Roughly 160 Burschenschaften still exist today and many are organized in different organizations ranging from progressive to nationalistic. Among the latter is the Deutsche Burschenschaft organization ( DB , German Burschenschaft), which represents about
390-566: The Burschenschaften unite the German fatherland. In a number of participating Burschenschaften antisemitism was common; all members had to be Christian . Jewishness was not seen as being religious, i.e Judaism , but was racialised. Resulting from several disputes at the annual Burschentag (fraternity day) in 1920 it was established that membership was not open to Jews or descendants of Jews or people whose fiancées had Jewish ancestors. In addition, many Burschenschafter were against
420-610: The Jena Burschenschaft had been fighting in the Lützow Free Corps during the Wars of Liberation ; uniforms of the Royal Prussian Free Corps von Lützow were black, with red trim, and golden-colored brass buttons. Its flag was Red-Black-Red with a gold oak leaf in its center and gold fringe on its edges. When Urburschenschaft became defunct in 1819, Daniel August von Binzer wrote the song "We had built
450-480: The Jena Landsmannschaft reformed in 1820, including Corps Franconia-Jena zu Regensburg, Corps Saxonia Jena, and Corps Thuringia Jena. Originally, Urburschenschaft's couleurs were from the state flag by the elder Reuss noble line in 1778 , because the group used that flag. Having no known connections to that event, Urburschenschaft changed its couleurs to Black-Red-Gold. Many founding members of
480-915: The Jews as a problem that hampered the unification of Germany and the achievement of new values the organization advanced. There were members who resigned to protest a resolution adopted at an Eisenach meeting declaring that Burschenschaft "have no Jewish members and do not plan to have any in the future." In 1935/36, most Burschenschaften north of the Austrian Alps were dissolved by the Nazi government or transformed and fused with other Studentenverbindungen into so-called Kameradschaften (comradeships). Some Nazis (e.g. Ernst Kaltenbrunner ) and Nazi opponents ( Karl Sack , Hermann Kaiser) were members of Burschenschaften . Theodor Herzl , an Austrian Jewish journalist who founded modern political Zionism ,
510-527: The SPD and a fraternity, which is organized in the umbrella organization Deutsche Burschenschaft. SPD reacted to the ongoing radicalization of DB and the "increasingly nationalist and Greater German program". That is incompatible with the values of social democracy. Traditionally there were two wings in the German Burschenschaft: conservative on one side and völkisch or extreme-right members on
540-486: The Second World War, and many Burschenschaften from East Germany also tried to find a new home. The allied victors had forbidden refounding Burschenschaften originally, but this could not be upheld in a liberal surrounding. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Burschenschaften , as many other student fraternities, underwent a crisis: a lack of new members and strong attacks by the leftist student community. In
570-623: The association at that time "basically rejected the active participation in political issues" according to the statement on the website of Deutsche Burschenschaft. When in 1919 the Treaty of St. Germain was made and the unification of Germany and Austria into a Großdeutsches Reich was ruled out, the Deutsche Burschenschaft merged with the Austrian " Burschenschaft der Ostmark [ de ] ". In its understanding, at least
600-520: The first German Republic, the so-called Weimarer Republik and they scattered to accept the defeat in the First World War . In 1996 some liberal-conservative Burschenschaften stepped out of Deutsche Burschenschaft and founded the “New German Burschenschaft”. In 2011 there were a debate at Burschentag in Eisenach about a so-called “ Ariernachweis ” for members. Two years later this proposal
630-487: The founding of a new organization, the Allgemeine Deutsche Burschenschaft . Urburschenschaft The Urburschenschaft ( German: [ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌbʊʁʃn̩ʃaft] ) was the first Burschenschaft , a form of the German student fraternity known as Studentenverbindung . It was founded in 1815 at the University of Jena and lasted through 1819. Urburschenschaft was founded in 1815 at
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#1732765850454660-417: The ideals of the liberal and nationalistic ideas of Urburschenschaft. Its motto was Ehre, Freiheit, Vaterland or “Honor, Freedom, Fatherland”. Despite its success at Jena, the group was unsuccessful in achieving its goal of establishing a single student fraternity for all universities. In 1819, Urburschenschaft split into three fraternities: Arminia Jena, Germania Jena, and Teutonia Jena. In addition,
690-597: The ideas associated with the founding of the native fraternetie ( Urburschenschaft ) in Jena in the year 1815. The ideal goals are outlined in the motto "Honour - Freedom - Fatherland". Today, the German Burschenschaft is considered to be a right-wing corps. This status was preceded by internal directional struggles from the 2000s onwards, in which the German nationalistic fraternities prevailed. According to their own numbers, Deutsche Burschenschaft has 7000 members in almost 70 fraternities. In 1881,
720-679: The late 19th century, there are also some Burschenschaften in Chile, organized in the Bund Chilenischer Burschenschaften in contact with the German and Austrian organizations. These are B! Araucania (Santiago), B! Andinia (Santiago), B! Montania (Concepción), B! Ripuaria (Viña Del Mar) and B! Vulkania (Valdivia). Contrary to popular belief, there is no precise political view point held by these Burschenschaften, in fact, they don't really mix with politics, mostly focusing on maintaining B! culture (still, fencing
750-521: The reactionary Carlsbad Decrees in 1819. Many Burschenschafter took part in the Hambacher Fest in 1832 and the democratic Revolution in 1848/49. After this revolution had been suppressed, plenty of leading Burschenschafter , such as Friedrich Hecker and Carl Schurz , went abroad. After the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, the Burschenschaften movement faced
780-437: The wish for a German state encompassing Austria . In 2013 one Bonn fraternity proposed that only students of German origin should be eligible to join a Burschenschaft . Reportedly half of member clubs threatened to leave in a row over proposed ID cards and a decision to label an opponent of Adolf Hitler a "traitor". Many of the Burschenschaften that left the Deutsche Burschenschaft following this were later involved in
810-517: Was also a member of a Burschenschaft . However, he resigned two years after he joined because of the fraternity's antisemitism. While in communist East Germany Burschenschaften were prohibited as representatives of a bourgeois attitude to be extinguished, in West Germany most Burschenschaften were refounded in the 1950s. Some of them had to be transferred into other cities, since Germany had lost great parts of its territories after
840-400: Was secluded. Nevertheless, some associations left Deutsche Burschenschaft and the numbers of members were cut in half. Some of the Burschenschaften stepped into “New German Burschenschaft” and some others founded in 2016 the “General German Burschenschaft”. In 2014 the executive committee of German Social Democratic Party SPD made a "incompatibility decision". It forbids belonging to both
870-451: Was to break down society lines and to destroy rivalry in the student body, to improve student life and increase patriotism. It was intended to draw its members from a broader population base than the Corps . Indeed, the group was known for its middle-class membership while the Corps' was mainly aristocratic. At first, a significant component of its membership were students who had taken part in
900-451: Was to foster loyalty to the concept of a united German national state as well as strong engagement for freedom, rights, and democracy. Quite often Burschenschaften decided to stress extreme nationalist or sometimes also liberal ideas, leading in time to the exclusion of Jews, who were considered to be un-German. Nevertheless, all Burschenschaften were banned as revolutionary by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich of Austria when he issued
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