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Dueling in Universities
Condensed Translation of Series of Articles
Published Exclusively in "Die Neue Zeitunrj
A DELEGATION OF DUTCH students visited the Federal
ARepublic recently to study German forms of student
community life. Their observations have been sum-
tn n ized in a report now circulating among Netherlands
universities, entitled "The Fraternities."
"It is somewhat difficult to form a general judgment
alboot German university fraternities," the report says.
'I hey are unwilling to let outsiders study their consti-
Ilions and minutes of meetings. They are camouflaging
iniicy of their activities, for instance, fencing.
''It is interesting to listen to conversations between
fralernity and other students. 'Why don't you become a
riiir'nii of our fraternity? It is a group where a former
oflicer can feel at home,' one fraternity member was over-
ho' id telling a fellow student.
''I Ln Marburg and Goettingen, fraternities sang Nazi
soigs toward the end of meetings, after drinking much
wine. A student who did not quite meet Third Reich
aral requirements was admitted to a fraternity after
loig deliberation and with the remark that this was
actually 'against the tradition.' One fraternity member
was officially told that be could not invite a British fel-
low student to a frateinity meeting."
The German "armed fraternities" are organized in
several associations, some of which, such as the Koesener
Senioren Convent Verband (CV), have become very
famous. These associations, in turn, comprise the "An-
dernach Working Committee of Dueling Associations,"
which is the principal fighter for the fraternities' aims.
The fraternities, the committee claims, became victims
of rightist radicalism in 1933, when Hitler outlawed them.
Actually, however, all fraternities-except Catholic
ones, which followed the political middle-of-the-road line
of the Center Party -pursued nationalist and anti-Semit-
ic aims. Some of them had anti-Semitic clauses in their
bylaws as early as 1920. Also, their authoritarian and
intolerant regulations made them pathmakers for Nazism.
Hitler's action was based on the fraternities' refusal to
join his Nazi student organization in corpore, and it is
no secret that most of them existed underground through-
out the 12 years of the National Socialist regime.
Photograph (below) shows alumni of "the good old days"
remonstrating dueling methods to young university stu-
dents. Both were adorned with colors. (Right) Encouraged
hv veteran alumni fraternity members, dueling has been
secretly revived and scenes such as that pictured again
(ire common. (Reinhold Lessmnann photos by cot iesy of ''HiEUTE')