ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the historical development of student fraternities in Austria from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. It explains the change from an early democratic to a bourgeois-liberal and finally conservative-reactionary attitude. Student fraternities developed at medieval universities where students were grouped as “nationes,” and regional and national patriotism started to form. The ideological positions that the Burschenschaften upheld were directly connected with the principle of fighting duels, which led the members to a strong common identity and ideological strength. The concept of a unified German national state became for the Burschenschaften more important than a liberal state based on principles of freedom and liberty. While the Burschenschaften in part showed inhuman and radical reactions, the Corps tolerated “half-Jews” or Jewish members in their societies. The Austrian Burschenschaften considered the German fraternities as too “reeducated” and loyal to the Federal Republic of Germany.
