Katholischer Studentenverein Arminia Bonn
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's oldest Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
male student societies.
History
Arminia is a student corporationCorporation (university)
Corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide.Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin corporatio meaning a body or group...
founded on 6 November 1863 at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. The name was chosen in reference to Arminius
Arminius
Arminius , also known as Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
, the chief of the Cherusci
Cherusci
The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabrück and Hanover, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD...
who drove the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
out of Germany and thus became a symbol of the – not yet unified – fatherland
Fatherland
Fatherland is the nation of one's "fathers", "forefathers" or "patriarchs". It can be viewed as a nationalist concept, insofar as it relates to nations...
in the 19th century. In 1865 Arminia, among four other Catholic corporations, became the founder of the Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine
Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine
The Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine) is a German academic corporate association with ninety member corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
(KV), Germany's oldest umbrella organisation of Catholic male student societies.
In accordance with the Roman Catholic faith and teachings, Arminia strictly refuses academic fencing
Academic fencing
Academic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and to a minor extent in Kosovo, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Flanders.- Technique :Modern academic fencing, the "mensur," is neither a duel nor a sport...
. Its members do not wear couleur
Couleur
Couleur is the expression used in European Studentenverbindungen for the headgears and ribbons worn by members of these student societies....
. Arminia's motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
is Treu, frei! (English: Loyal, straightforward!). Arminia's principle
Principle
A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed...
s are (Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) religio
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, scientia
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and amicitia
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
.
Because of its history and its large number of prominent members, Arminia is one of the most distinguished student corporations. Like all German student corporations Arminia is much smaller than American fraternities
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
usually are; it has approx. 350 members, including "Aktive" (students) and "Alte Herren" (alumni
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
).
German Chancellors
- Konrad AdenauerKonrad AdenauerKonrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
(1876-1967), first postwar German chancellor, German Minister of Foreign Affaires, Father of the House (Bundestag)Father of the HouseFather of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers the longest-serving member.The...
, President of the Parliamentary CouncilParlamentarischer RatThe Parlamentarischer Rat was the West German constitutional convention that created the current constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany...
, President of the Prussian Council of State
- Georg Count Hertling (1843-1919), Chancellor of the German Empire, Minister President of Prussia, Foreign Minister of PrussiaForeign Minister of PrussiaThis page lists Foreign Ministers of Prussia. See also Foreign Minister of Germany and Prime Minister of Prussia. After the creation of the German Empire in 1871, the Imperial Chancellor was normally also Foreign Minister of Prussia...
, Minister-President of Bavaria
- Wilhelm MarxWilhelm MarxWilhelm Marx was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was Chancellor of the German Reich twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and also served briefly as minister president of Prussia in 1925, during the Weimar Republic.-Life:Born in Cologne to...
(1863-1946), Chancellor of the German Empire, Minister President of Prussia, Minister of Justice of the German Empire
Others
- Adolf Fritzen (1838-1919), Archbishop of StrasbourgRoman Catholic Archdiocese of StrasbourgThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France.The archdiocese is unique in France as it has no suffragans and is immediately subject to the Holy See in Rome....
- Karl Trimborn (1854-1921), Secretary of State of the Ministry of the Interior of the German Empire
- Hans Müller (CSU)Hans Müller (CSU)Hans Müller was a German jurist, administrator and politician and a member of the CSU.Müller studied law and economy in Bonn, Freiburg im Breisgau and Munich, and was promoted in 1910 to Dr. jur. et rer...
(1884-1961), President of the Federal Finance Court of GermanyFederal Finance Court of GermanyThe Federal Finance Court is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the federal court of appeals for cases of tax and customs law, hearing appeals from the Finanzgerichte ....
- Joseph Schneider (1900-1986), first President of the Federal Social Court of Germany
- Ludwig Pastor Baron Camperfelden (1854-1928), one of the most important Catholic historians, ambassador of the Republic of AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
to the Holy SeeHoly SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
- Rainer Ludwig ClaisenRainer Ludwig ClaisenRainer Ludwig Claisen was a famous German chemist best known for his work with condensations of carbonyls and sigmatropic rearrangements. He was born in Cologne as the son of a jurist and studied chemistry at the university of Bonn , where he became a member of K.St.V. Arminia...
(1851-1930), famous German chemist
- August EverdingAugust EverdingAugust Everding was a German opera director and administrator. He studied at the Universities of Bonn and Munich, where launching his career in the 1950s...
(1928-1999), outstanding German opera director and administrator of the 20th century whose productions were performed in all major international houses
- Karl Albrecht, director of AldiALDIALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
, son of Karl AlbrechtKarl AlbrechtKarl Hans Albrecht is a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo. He is among the richest men in the world, with an estimated net worth in 2011 of $25.5 billion according to Forbes, which ranks him 12th in its 2011 list of billionaires - making him...
(b. 1920), the wealthiest man in Germany
- Heinrich Weitz (1890-1962), President of the German Red CrossGerman Red CrossThe German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
A number of members participated in the Widerstand (English: resistance) against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
; two of them, Leo Trouet and Benedikt Schmittmann, were arrested and killed.
Quotation
"Last week Adenauer's college days became a topic of national discussion. Addressing a nostalgic reunion of Alte Herren (old grads) (note: at Arminia's hundredth anniversary celebration), the Chancellor defended Germany's tradition of fraternities, which are widely accused of fostering authoritarianism. Though at 87 Adenauer has seen most if not all of his old fraternity classmates die, he is still a loyal member of Arminia. […] Adenauer is supposed to confine himself to being […] the oldest surviving member of Arminia." (Germany. The Oldest Grad, in: Time MagazineTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
(Atlantic Edition) 82 (1963) No. 4, July 26, 1963, 26-27.)