German Student Corps - Characterization

Characterization

Corps are built upon the principle of tolerance: No corps may endorse a certain political, scientific or religious viewpoint. In addition, all members are solely chosen by their personal character. Neither national, ethnic or social provenance play a role.

Corpsstudenten (corps students) wear couleur (colored stripes and caps) and practice mensuren, academic fencing with razor-sharp blades that can result in bleeding face wounds, Schmisse. The corps are organized in two federations, the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) and the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent (WSC). Together, they comprise roughly 170 corps throughout Germany and Austria. The corps usually bear names that reflect their former origin from certain German regions, such as Saxonia (Saxony) or Guestphalia (Westphalia). Formerly, when a distance of a few hundred kilometres between a student's home town and his university meant weeks of travel, students from the same part of Germany traveled together and formed some kind of "new family". The distance, plus the fact that they carried the money for a complete semester with them in a bag, might also explain why students began fencing, simply for self-defence, for students, military officers and aristocrats were the only people allowed to carry arms.

Like all Studentenverbindungen, corps consist of two bodies: The active part contains all members, that still study and have duties for the corps, and are not part of the Altherrenschaft, those who graduated. A fundamental idea is that older students should help their younger fellows, and this principle dominates the relationship between the two bodies. The former keeps the everyday business of the corps alive, organizes gatherings, keeps the Corpshaus (Corps House) in order. The Altherrenschaft, graduates with regular incomes, provide financial support. This usually means quite cheap housing for the younger members among other things. The Altherrenschaft has the power to intervene in the business of the active members, typically to ensure the principles and spirit of their corps.

The active body is headed by a panel of three chargierte (charged persons), who are elected by all active, full members at the beginning of each semester (or at the end of the former one). Their functions are called senior, consenior and drittchargierter (meaning third charged person, also named subsenior in some corps).:

• The senior is responsible for all corps affairs in general, but leading and heading gatherings and events in special; he supplements his signature with a single cross (x) (in some corps withs three crosses (xxx)) as an external sign of his duties.
• The consenior teaches fencing to all members of the inner corps and assures the execution of the mensuren in coordination with the conseniors of other corps; his signature is enhanced by two crosses (xx).
• The drittchargierter (also known as Sekretär, Secretary) has administrative tasks like paperwork and often the task of a treasurer; his sign is three crosses (xxx) (in some corps one cross (x)).

Being the oldest of their kind, the corps tend to treat all other forms of German studentenverbindung with contempt; corps despise all mannerism and affectedness (e.g. the overly use of Latinisms) that other kinds of studentenverbindung, esp. Catholic corporations and burschenschafts show. This does not mean, that they understand other corporations as their natural-born enemies. This might happen occasionally, but also vice versa.

Even with the principle of tolerance being a central aspect in each corps' self-image, every corps student is urged to develop his own viewpoints and stand for them and to strongly participate in society, be it in politics, economy or social affairs. This encouragement for an ethical and self-confident behaviour on one side and the absence of a limitation to certain views on the other side let corps students often show up as the leading figures of the most diverse political directions. The emphasis on individuality brought many corps students in opposition to totalitarian regimes, such as the Third Reich.

The Weinheimer Student Corps also maintain a confederation with Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, a college Fraternity with over 270 chapters in the United States and Canada.