Ehre, Freiheit, Vaterland !

Honor, freedom, and fatherland are the motto of Germany's student fraternities (Deutsche Burschenschaften).

 
Red Baron's apartment block neighbors two of Freiburg's fraternities. Teutonia has its fraternity house beside Franconia on the other side of the street. As a friendly gesture, these two Burschenschaften regularly invite their neighbors to their events, such as lectures and garden parties. Red Baron reported previously on a lecture.

Last Saturday, I followed an invitation to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the foundation of a Burschenschaft in Freiburg on October 10, 1818. At that time, Freiburg had 10,000 inhabitants, and 200 young men studied at the university. Today, these figures are 220,000 and 20,000, with more women than men.

For the celebration, Teutonia, as the organizing host, had combined its efforts with the two other Freiburg fraternities, Franconia and Saxonia-Silesia.

The initial Urburschenschaft (original fraternity) founded at the University of Jena on June 12, 1815, pursued the idea of abolishing the then-existing compatriot fraternities and bringing all students together in a "general fraternity." As a side effect, following the Napoleonic Wars, the then-50 German states were to be abolished in favor of a united Germany. The colors adopted by the Urburschenschaft were black-red-gold, which later became and are still the colors of Germany.

A warm welcome

When I arrived at the Historisches Kaufhaus, I was greeted by a cordon of riot police protecting those willing to attend the celebration against about one hundred protesters of the Antifascist Left. They were shouting and drumming against the allegedly reactionary and elitist behavior of the Burschenschaften.

Inside the historical Kaisersaal, all orators were anxious to stress that their fraternities stand firmly on the ground of Germany's democratic Grundgesetz (constitution). They were neither looking backward nor right-wing, but entirely devoted to a Germany in a united Europe, not to a German Europe. Burschenschaften were not nationalist but rather patriotic, which the word patria (Vaterland) implies.

So apparently none of the protestors had listened to or understood French President Macron's critical words addressed to the self-proclaimed nationalist POTUS*: « Le patriotisme est l'exact contraire du nationalisme. Le nationalisme en est la trahison. En disant « nos intérêts d'abord et qu'importent les autres ! », on gomme ce qu'une Nation a de plus précieux, ce qui la fait vivre : ses valeurs morales. » ("Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying 'our interests first; who cares about the others! ', we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life — its moral values.")
*You know what I am? I am a nationalist.

We listened to music.

The Keynote speaker in the morning was Professor Werner Münch, former Ministerpräsident (Governor) of the state of Sachsen-Anhalt, a right-wing Christian Democrat and a harsh critic of Chancellor Merkel's relatively liberal policies. The title of his talk: Freiheit und Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der Demokratie - Chancen und Gefahren (Freedom and the Rule of Law in Democracy - Opportunities and Dangers).

Professor Münch in full action

During his lecture, my emotions were roller-coasting. He rightly said that there is a mainstream of political correctness in Germany, and those who do not follow it feel excluded. But then, all his examples to make his point were right-leaning, e.g., when he lamented that same-sex marriages in Germany were now regarded as normal while, at the same time, traditional family values were eroded.

He continued to look at all controversial topics in Germany through his conservative glasses, as there are refugees and immigration, energy transition, atomic energy and climate change, digitization, social media, fake information, etc. He was rubbing salt into hardly healed wounds of German society. Instead of building mutual understanding, he was deepening the trenches between various ideologies in German society. He was just an angry old white man. While a few applauded him frenetically, others spent only muted applause; Red Baron did not applaud at all.

As one of the first guests, Red Baron left for home disappointed and stirred. When I arrived at the cloakroom to fetch my coat, a young Burschenschafter approached me, recommending that I go in a group or leave through the back door. Marauding leftist groups might attack single persons. 

With my head high, I left the building through the front door. I noticed that riot policemen and -women were not only protecting the perimeter of the Historisches Kaufhaus but were stationed throughout Freiburg. What an effort to protect 200 people against groups ready to use violence, and what a big expenditure to assure the freedom of association and speech.

In the evening, the colors of Freiburg's fraternities were still flying at the Historisches Kaufhaus.
On the right-hand side, a few bored riot policemen and -women. Left in front of the entrance,
 a few fraternity students inhaled their last cigarettes before joining, singing, and drinking
 at the illuminated Kaisersaal on the first floor.

Red Baron felt reconciled in the evening when he went to the Festkommers (festive commercium) in the same building, drinking beer and singing student songs. Although Rainer Wieland's* fest speech on the future of Europe was too long, I enjoyed the evening, flushing with beer, and singing the old traditional songs such as there are In allen guten Stunden (All those good hours), Burschen heraus (Come on, fra students), and Freiheit, die ich meine (The freedom that I claim).
*Vice-president of the European Parliament

To my pleasant neighbors Teutonia and Franconia, a strong vivat, crescat, floreat!

**