Corps Rhenania Heidelberg
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Corps Rhenania Heidelberg is a member
Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
of the
Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband The Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (abbreviation: KSCV) is the oldest association of German, Austrian and Swiss Studentenverbindungen. It comprises roughly 105 German, Austrian and a Flemish (Belgian), Hungarian and Swiss ''Corps'', all o ...
, the oldest association of student
fraternities A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...
in
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,
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and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Corps Rhenania is "pflichtschlagend", which refers to the fact that it requires of its members, that they participate in several ritual, organised duels with members of other specific student fraternities. Eligible applicants are those students, both current and former, of the Ruprecht Karl University in Heidelberg, Germany. Members of Corps Rhenania are colloquially referred to as "Rhenane".


General

Rhenania Heidelberg is one of the oldest fraternities in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
. In its current form it was founded on January 15, 1849; its roots and predecessor fraternities date back to 1802, if not earlier. Rhenania means "area of the Rhine", where most of the founding members came from. Consequently, they chose the colors of their home area, which are blue, white and red. Following the open-minded principles of Corps, Rhenania traditionally is counting many foreigners among its members, including members from the U.S., Spain, Japan, Sweden, Greece and Turkey. Vice versa, members of the fraternity may be found in many different countries. While the vast majority of the members study medicine, law, economics, chemistry or theology, in fact, all different professions are represented, including academics, politicians, writers and authors, journalists, officers, public officials and members of the diplomatic service, to name a few. One of their most important and guiding principles is the strong bond of friendship and support that links its members. A unique aspect of the friendship is the almost immediate understanding across generations, establishing a true bond between young members, not older than 20 years, with the most senior member, well in his 90s.


History


Rhenania I-III, Hassia, Nassovia

The oldest proof of foundation of Rhenania Heidelberg is dated July 23, 1802 (Rhenania I) by members of Rhenania Giessen (Hesse, Germany). Rhenania I was based on territorial filiations and aimed to counteract the
freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
influenced student orders coming up within the second half of the 18th century. Around 1804, Rhenania I was undercut by members of the Heidelbergian Order of the Constantists (Heidelberger Constantisten-Orden). Rhenania and Franko-Badenia (founded in 1803) joined in 1803 to form the first Senior Convent (SC) and established the oldest bequeathed rules (SC-Comment). After the conflicts between students and the military in 1804 both Corps were significantly engaged in the walkout of the student body of Neuenheim. In December 1804 it came to tumultuous blow-ups between Heidelbergian Renonces and Constantists. Due to investigations of the academic authorities Rhenania I and Franko- Badenia dissolved themselves. On May 19, 1805 three members of Rhenania (Morgenstern, Wenz, Bayer) participated in the foundation of territorial filiated Palatia (I). The remainder of the old Rhenania founded the - in the beginning - closely linked territorial filiations of the Oberrheiner (Upper-Rhiners; Colors: red-blue-white-silver) and Niederrheiner (Lower- Rhiners; Colors: red-blue-white-gold) in August 1805. After the re-organization of the university by the elector and Grand Duke Karl Friedrich von Baden, numerous non-residential students immigrated to Heidelberg from 1805 onwards and founded new – but often short lived – fraternities (Suevia, Guestphalia, Curonia, Vandalia, Hannovera, Holsatia, Helvetia, Saxo-Borussia). The term ''Corps'' came up the first time after the partition of the Heidelbergian SC and was used for a group of territorial filiations, including the Niederrheiner (Lower-Rhiners), which later returned to the name Rhenania and dissolved themselves after the wars of liberation. 1818 the Corps Hassia I was founded which two years later renamed itself into Rhenania II. It was explicitly mentioned in the foundation journal that Rhenania II understands itself as the continuator of the Rhenania Corps of 1802. The phase of Rhenania II plunged into the politically heated-up time of the
Vormärz ' (; English: ''pre-March'') was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848 March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation. The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after the ...
. Many Badenese and Palatine liberals belonged to Rhenania II at this time, such as: Friedrich Wilhelm Knoebel (participant of the
Hambach Festival The Hambacher Festival was a German national democratic festival celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle, near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The event was disguised as a nonpolitical co ...
),
Friedrich Hecker Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker (September 28, 1811 – March 24, 1881) was a German lawyer, politician and revolutionary. He was one of the most popular speakers and agitators of the 1848 Revolution. After moving to the United States, he served as ...
(revolution leader in Baden) and Joseph Martin Reichard (President of the provisional government of Palatinate). Due to the assault on the
Karzer A Karzer was a designated lock-up or detention room to incarcerate students as a punishment, within the jurisdiction of some institutions of learning in Germany and German-language universities abroad. Karzers existed both at universities and ...
and the walkout of the student body of
Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...
(after disagreements with the Heidelberger Museumsgesellschaft (Museums Association) about the status of students on August 14, 1828), a declaration of disreputability valid for three years was decreed against the university but revoked again by the SC only a short time later. Rhenania II existed until November 3, 1833. As on behalf of Rhenania II the members of the 1829 founded Hassia II endowed Corps Rhenania III (until 1842). Due to external Corps students, notably members of Nassovia Göttingen the foundation of Corps Nassovia II resulted in 1838, which primarily recruited its procreation at the Gymnasium (High School) in Weilburg. Nassovia created close relations not only to Nassovia Göttingen but also to the other territorial filiated Corps Hasso-Nassovia in Marburg and Nassovia Würzburg. They also used to have an active exchange with the Corps Rhenania in Bonn.


Rhenania IV

The revolutionary year of 1849 also represents the endowment year for the – as of today existing – Corps Rhenania IV. In renunciation to sectionalism and a system of mini-states in Germany the members of Nassovia dissolved their Corps by January 15, 1849 and endowed on the same day a new Rhenania IV. Constitution, motto ("Virtuti semper corona!") and tradition were inherited from Nassovia. In the following years their recruitment area extended over the whole of Germany. Also students from European foreign countries (Switzerland, Greece, England, etc.) and from overseas (United States, Canada, South Africa, etc.) became active at Rhenania. Corps Rhenania is member of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) since its endowment in 1848. The period during the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
can be accounted for the greatest time of prosperity for the Corps by far. Contrary to the SC-Corps Saxo-Borussia, Guestphalia and Vandalia, which were dominated by East-Elbian, Hanoveranian and Mecklenburgian capacious landowners and civil servants, Rhenania developed during this time frame to the Corps of the large scale industrials and the capital with the focal point of recruiting in the areas of Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and in the mid-German industrial zone. Rhenania therefore belonged to the Corps' which were perceived as extraordinary exclusive. The first printed Corps chronicles (semester reports) were sent out to the external members in 1875. The last living Alte Herren of Rhenania II acknowledged the existing Corps in 1882 as the legitimate successor of the old Rhenania of 1802/20. Living members of Rhenania II and Nassovia II were integrated in the Corps. The German novelist
Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...
used the death of Rhenanian Emil Hartwich (1843- 1886; district judge in Düsseldorf) during a duel with Baron Léon Armand von Ardenne as guideline for his novel
Effi Briest ''Effi Briest'' is a realist novel by Theodor Fontane. Published in book form in 1895, ''Effi Briest'' marks both a watershed and a climax in the poetic realism of literature. It can be thematically compared to other novels on 19th century mar ...
in 1894. The active Corps was suspended during 1914-1919 due to World War I. An effect of politicization of the student body during the early days of the Republic of Weimar was less significant among the Corps, as the SC of Heidelberg had chosen a self-imposed isolation and bulk headed off against the influence of the rest of the student body. Also the takeover of the National Socialists (Nazis) did not have any influence on the Corps operation in the beginning. On September 8, 1935 the termination of the association (KSCV) was inducted by the Head of the
Reichskanzlei The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...
,
Hans Heinrich Lammers Hans Heinrich Lammers (27 May 1879 – 4 January 1962) was a German jurist and prominent Nazi politician. From 1933 until 1945 he served as Chief of the Reich Chancellery under Adolf Hitler. During the 1948–1949 Ministries Trial, Lammers was f ...
by excluding the KSCV from the "Gemeinschaft studentischer Verbände" (Community of Collegiate Associations). After the finalization of termination of the KSCV also Corps Rhenania decided to suspend. Participation at the Heidelberger SC-Kameradschaft (SC-Comradeship of Heidelberg) "Axel Schaffeld" was retained and limited financial contribution; the participation was ceased by the end of World War II in 1945. Different from other university cities there were no personnel or organizational interfaces between comradeships' and Corps. The celebration for the 100 year anniversary by the Alte Herren in 1949 took place within a frame appropriate to the circumstances of the post war time. Shapes of the previous Corps Rhenania in correlation with new approaches for contemporary collegiate cohabit were led by the Rheinländerkreis (Rhinland circle) which was sponsored by the "Verein Heidelberger Rhenanen" (Association of Heidelbergian Rhenanians) in the same year. On May 3, 1951 the decision was made to take over the "Rheinländerkreis" by the Alte Herren of Rhenania, leading to the reconstitution of Corps Rhenania. In the 1950s Rhenania was the initiator of establishing the "Heidelberger Interessengemeinschaft (HIG)" (Heidelbergian Community of Interest), a special purpose association for measure batting fraternities in Heidelberg. Due to a separate agreement between the SC and the university the breach of who with the HIG in 1958 was inevitable. Since then the SC has been going its own ways.


External Relations

In the 1870s and 1880s Rhenania conducted an active policy of relationships and established contacts and socialized official connections to numerous Corps at other universities such as Bonn, Giessen, Marburg, Freiburg, Tübingen, Wurzburg, Munich, Jena, Halle, Breslau, Göttingen, Berlin, Strasburg and Zurich until the beginning of World War I. Since the Corps did not agree to a certain alignment within the KSCV, stagnation occurred as from 1900, and after World War I even turned into a downright isolation which was not to overcome just before a suspension. Today Corps Rhenania has friendly relations with the
Corps Suevia Freiburg thumbnail, Today's view on the Corps House from the Lessingstraße. thumbnail, Drawing of the Corps House 1910 thumbnail, The fraternity's crest is part of the building's front relief. The Corps Suevia Freiburg is one of the oldest German Studen ...
, Hasso-Nassovia Marburg, Nassovia Wurzburg and Tigurinia Zurich.


Corps Mansions

After Corps Rhenania celebrated in alternating taverns throughout Heidelberg (e.g. "Seppl", lastly in "Weinberg" at Marktplatz), a baroque city house at Hauptstrasse 231 was acquired in 1882 as a Corps-house and the foundation of the "Rheinländischen Gesellschaft" as the subject of rights and duties. The house had previously been owned by the theologian Carl Daub and his son-in-law, Wilhelm Theophor Dittenberger. As the old house did not comply with altered representation necessities, it was torn down and today's Corps-house was erected in the years 1906-1909 according to the plans of the königlich-bayerischen Hofoberbaurats (Royal Bavarian Chief Government Building Officer), Eugen Drollinger. Simultaneously, the house at Neckarmünzgasse 14 behind the garden of the Corps-house was bought and turned into a dormitory.


Notable members

* Sir William Phipson Beale (1839–1922), Baronet Drumlamford, member of parliament (UK) * (1792–1861), minister of foreign affairs,
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...
* (1802–1862), minister of state,
Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...
* Edward Eberstadt (1843–1924), businessman and father of Ferdinand Eberstadt * Emil Hartwich (1843–1886), judge and promoter of sports education, remembered for his tragic death in a duel *
Friedrich Hecker Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker (September 28, 1811 – March 24, 1881) was a German lawyer, politician and revolutionary. He was one of the most popular speakers and agitators of the 1848 Revolution. After moving to the United States, he served as ...
(1811–1881), lawyer, politician and revolutionary * Carl Heinrich Georg von Heyden (1793–1866), senator and entomologist * Alfred Kast (1856-1903), internist *
Ludwig Mond Ludwig Mond FRS (7 March 1839 – 11 December 1909) was a German-born, British chemist and industrialist. He discovered an important, previously unknown, class of compounds called metal carbonyls. Education and career Ludwig Mond was born ...
(1839–1909), chemist and business leader * Joseph Martin Reichard (1803–1872), lawyer, politician and revolutionary *
Heinrich Schnee Heinrich Albert Schnee (Albert Hermann Heinrich Schnee; 4 February 1871 – 23 June 1949) was a German lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official. He served as the last Governor of German East Africa. Early l ...
(1871–1949), Governor of
German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
, member of the
Lytton Commission are the findings of the Lytton Commission, entrusted in 1931 by the League of Nations in an attempt to evaluate the Mukden Incident, which led to the Empire of Japan's seizure of Manchuria. The five-member commission headed by British politicia ...
* Samuel Hanson Stone (1849–1909), Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts * Max Wirth (1822–1900), journalist and economist


References

*
Lees Knowles Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet (16 February 1857 – 7 October 1928) was a British barrister, military historian and Conservative politician. Early life Knowles was the son of John Knowles and Elizabeth Lees of Green Bank, Oldham, Lancashir ...
: ''A day with corps-students in Germany'' * Berthold Kuhnert, ''Geschichte des Corps Rhenania Heidelberg 1802–1869'', 1913, ND Heidelberg 1997 * Werner Lamprecht, Peter Kutter (Hrsg.), ''150 Jahre Corps Rhenania Heidelberg 1849–1999'', Heidelberg 1999 * Thomas Weber: ''Our Friend "The Enemy". Elite Education in Britain and Germany before World War I''. Stanford University Press 2008
GoogleBooks


External links


Archive and history on ''corpsarchive.de''
{{Authority control Rhenania Heidelberg Student organizations established in 1849 1849 establishments in Germany Heidelberg University alumni