Joseph Robinson
19 September 2006
Draft 4 |
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We have all seen these pictures. Students with swords
generally dismissed as some sort of university fraternity.
The intent of this article is not academic, but merely
to bring collectors some knowledge about what this was
all about. I certainly did not know and have had a lot
of fun looking it up. There is not a lot of data in
the pickelhaube references on this subject.(There was
one short article on page 16-19 of the June 1998 issue
of the Uhlan.) Nonetheless the pictures abound, and
seem to come up often when looking at photographs. With
the exception of military officers, almost every prominent
man in German public life has belonged to a student
fraternity, from the great chancellor downwards. However,
these fraternities were male bastions where one could
prove himself and show that he was not afraid of bodily
harm and would not flinch when his honor was tested. |
Each of us has a doctrinal view of what
dueling is all about. A pistol duel can be easily visualized
with two antagonists, each one trying to harm the other
or even kill the other. Sword duels can be visualized
two antagonists dancing back and forth in a ballet of
thrusts. What the student dueling societies did was
something entirely different. In dead earnest the students
entered into something known as the Mensur. Dueling
was a social institution in Germany. The honor code
of nobility must be maintained. Wilhelm II declared
that he would punish any officer who fought a duel,
but would dismiss from the army any one who refused
to do so. Satisfaction in dueling was showing the world
that you had no fear just great honor. |
Student societies can trace their roots back to the
Middle Ages. For our purposes, we will talk about three
kinds of student fraternities extending from the mid-1800s
to the start of World War I. Remember that almost nobody
went to the university. Of those that did about 25%
were in fraternities. The others were "savages".
The expense was immense and the requirements rather
stiff. Applicants needed to have an Abitur certificate
before attending. Therefore, the students we are talking
about are the upper crust of professionals both aristocratic
and upper bourgeois. The students were destined to fill
the ranks of professionals throughout Imperial Germany.
While these individuals did not directly enter into
the military, there was still a great social value into
proving one's worth and bravery. In order to do this
students would go to university, and frequently join
a group of fellows. Known as a Burschenschaft, this
group of fellows or a fraternity, took on three general
forms. The first kind was a Landsmannschaft. They tended
to be regional fraternities based on geographic location
and tended to be more liberal. The second kind was a
more normal Burschenschaft. These were national in nature
and tended to be more right wing politically. The third
kind was called a Korps. These tended to be more aristocratic
in nature, and a discussion of politics was strictly
prohibited. Amongst these three levels. There were dueling
fraternities and non-dueling fraternities. The Catholic
Church had prohibited the Mensur and generally the Catholic
fraternities did not duel. there were a lot of fraternities.
At one point it was noted to be more than 4000 different
fraternities. The Stein collectors have in general given
up in trying to identify all of the different branches.
There was a book written in the 1930s that actually
listed 1400 different coats of arms. |
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The use of Landsmannschaft, Burschenschaft, and Korps
are often interchanged in literature. The different
groups can be separated by their style of uniform, hat,
and a brightly colored sash done in the colors of that
fraternity. However all three of these had several things
in common. There were generally three kinds of members.
Membership was lifelong and alumni played an active
role in the chapter. The first kind of member was irregular
member. Irregular members were those who were physically
unable to participate in a Mensur or whose parents refused
to allow them to participate in a Mensur. The second
type of member was a novice, also known as a pledge
in the English language fraternities. The novices were
also known as Foxes. They had not yet earned the right
to participate in a Mensur. Typically, a new fox/pledge
is not allowed to participate in the Mensur until after
having completed one and a half to two terms of study,
involving about one hour of fencing study daily instructed
by the Burschenschaft 'fencing master'. Some Burschenschaft
had a shorter period of being a novice. The third kind
of member, or Burschen, are full-fledged Korps students,
eligible to become officers. Once again, there are three
officers, called respectively the first, second and
third, 'in charge.' The first is the chief, who presides
at formal meetings and in the drinking-hall, where the
Korps assembles officially on two evenings of the week.
The second in charge manages all affairs relative to
fighting, and is personally responsible to the association
for all formalities relating to the duels of its members.
The third in charge is secretary and treasurer. In most
Burschenschaft, the president considered himself morally
bound to see that all the members attend their lectures
regularly. |
Each novice is considered to be personally under
the charge of one of the fellows, whose duty it is to
keep him out of trouble and to be a role model. In addition,
there was a position known as "Fox-Major".
This individual was in charge of all of the novices
and provide instruction about the fraternity on a weekly
basis. This individual wore a distinctive headpiece
regularly adorned with fox accoutrements and would forever
be allowed to use the initials "FM" after
his signature. |
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Fraternity life consisted of many jovial gatherings.
There were ritual meetings and methods for drinking
beer. One common device was called a Salamander. The
top officer would open meetings with a salamander, where
beer mugs would be slid along the table and then pounded
in unison three-times. This device was used for opening
and closing meetings as well as numerous toasts. There
were also such things as beer duels. A full glass two
opponents chug the brew and the winner is he who empties
the glass first. The President can order any member
to drink a quantity of beer as a punishment. Any full
member can direct a novice to do the same thing. (As
a side note, most fraternity houses had something called
a Kotzbecken or puking sink. This practical device came
up to just under chest level and had support bars on
the wall to hold you up.) Singing was another indispensable
part of every regular meeting. All members had song
books and the songs tended to be patriotic. |
Fencing |
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The student Mensur is completely foreign to the idea
of American doctrinal dueling. The two antagonists are
not enemies, and often become close friends after the
duel. There is no endeavor to kill one another. And
most different of all there is no movement. The only
allowed movement is the sword arm itself. The participant
is known as Der Herr Paukant. The duel is always between
two different fraternities. This is seldom conducted
to overcome some slight, but rather to fulfill the requirements
the fraternities place on dueling. Let us take a look
at a picture of the Paukant. |
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The first thing to look at is the sword.
This is known as the Schlager. The typical 'Schlager'
('basket racquet') used has a blade about 85 cm long
and at least 1 cm wide (last 8" sharpened). It
has a conspicuous 'basket grip' that protects the hand
and is typically decorated in the 'couleurs' of the
student Burschenschaft the 'Paukant' belongs to. It
is peculiar to a specific type of saber dueling. In
swordplay there are basically two types of damage systems.
"Impact" fencing (use of a blade to pierce
mortally) and "blow" fencing (use of a blade
to strike). The weapons used for the 'evolved' form
of 'blow fencing' ("schlaeger fechten") known
as the 'Mensur' came to be commonly known in Germany
as 'racqueten'. The dueling sword differed from the
Mensur racquet only in the nature of the blade, which
on the former was curved and somewhat heavier. These
two parallel forms of individual sword interaction grew
largely side by side. The first consisting of actual
dueling with sharp, pointed saber blades, the other
consisting of the 'Mensur' (or ritualized fencing),
with the 'basket racquet' ("Korbschlaeger")
or the 'bell racquet' ("Glockenschlaeger").
The picture below shows a normal duel. Notice that heavier
sword and the movement. This is often confused with
a student Mensur. |
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The Paukant also wore protective clothing that included
reinforced leather aprons, arm coverings, neck protection,
and steel 'goggles' to protect the eyes. The head and
face are left totally unprotected.
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Continuing on to the duel itself each
Paukant pair was separated by their seconds by one saber
length or about 3 feet. The seconds then stood to the
left of the Paukant. This distance was known as the
Mensurabstand. A Paukant was not allowed to shorten
or lengthen this distance. A Paukant was not allowed
to back off or shift position. The left hand was placed
behind the back, and the right hand held up in one of
two general positions. The offensive position (left
hand Paukant above.) was known as the Hochquart or high
quart. This allowed one to strike down from a position
of safety. The defensive position (Paukant on right
above.) was known as the steile Auslage, or Steep Ward.
Both of these positions protected the right side of
the face. It was very possible to go through an entire
Mensur completely protected. However, that required
almost perfect execution. A major fault of the picture
above is that the participants are too far apart. They
should be separated by only one sword length and then
also have the length of their arms. This brings up an
interesting physics problem that the point of the sword
is often several feet behind the opponents back. |
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Much importance is placed upon the perfect maintenance
of stance of the participant, since moving to avoid
blows with the body or foot is forbidden ("Mucken"
or ducking.); moreover, such movement is considered
cowardly and may be cause for premature cessation of
the Mensur. 40 courses are considered the norm for completion
of the Mensur, 15 courses for a Fox. A "course"
(Gang) is a predefined amount of strikes. Always under
ten and usually around four. The seconds kept track
of them. If either of the 'Paukant' receive 'Schmisse'
that are particularly serious, the contest may be considered
satisfactorily completed at the discretion of the attending
physician (known as 'Bader'). In that event the 'Schmiss'
will be sutured on site, although without local anesthetic!
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For a student and all of German Society, the badge
of courage was the Schmiss (The dueling scar, or sometimes
called the Renommierschmiss, or bragging scar), mostly
on the left side of the face, where blows would fall
from a right-handed duelist. This was borne by a generation
of doctors, jurists, professors and officials, certifying
the owner's claim to manly stature. The dueling scar
was certain to attract attention because it signified
courage and breeding. There are stories that students
would resort to self-infliction with a razor. Those
who received their Schmiss in this less honorable way
would frequently enhance it by pulling the wound apart
and irritate it by pouring in wine or sewing horse hair
into the gash.
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A picture of a famous Nazi showing a horrible scar
on his left cheek. It was a Schmiss. |
Another example of a Schmiss, this one from the collection
of Mike Huxley. Stories relate that females were attracted
to people with such a scar. Somehow I doubt that. I
just cannot imagine my wife waking up next to this face
and thinking it is a bonus. |
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Comments by Readers |
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A few corrections have come from various sources.
This first one is from a former Fox Major. |
"You should add to different groups of
student societies the TURNERSDCHAFT. The Turnerschafts
were establishes about 1819 and form a fraternity of
patriotism, not nationalism and not chauvinism. The
Nazis dissolved all student societies in order to establish
their ideology. Duels and fencing was not allowed any
longer. After 1950 most student societies founded their
tradition again. By the way I fought seven duels and
still have some scars on my head (with hair over) My
corporation's name is Turnerschaft Salia Jenensis, as
you will remember." |
From an American observer. |
I recall visiting XXXXX at Gottingen University
and there was a formal vote taken by both corporations
involved in the duel to allow me to be present as an
observer. Because I had just returned from infantry
and cavalry combat in Vietnam they invited me to watch.
My memory was of how sharp the swords were and that
the blades had to be straightened after each series
of blows. During the duel of rapid blows it seemed I
saw a piece of hair fall to the floor followed by a
flow of blood from the head wound. Time out was then
called and a doctor examined the wound. It was necessary
for all the corporation members to vote to end a duel
should their entrant be badly wounded. |
A German citizen here in modern times. This was posted
in AHF |
I'm a member in a "Corps" named
"Corps Cheruscia" Berlin in the WSC "Weinheimer
Senioren Convent" , one of the German wide umbrella
organisations for duty Mensur.
I have fought 6 "Mensuren" from 1991 to 1994,
without a "Schmiss" in my face, but the fights
were hard on the other side - yeah, I was the winner
in 3 fights, I lost 1 fight and 2 fights ended in a
draw. I can describe every aspect of the student "Mensur".
a little mistake:
your picture "Fencing" is not a fencing.
Its a "Landesvater- Stechen" - take your
student cap and hold it, that your best friend in
the Corps can transfixing your cap with his "Schläger",
our swords. You can do the same thing with his cap.
Than clasp his hand to pledge troth.
This is a old ritual to pledge troth to the leader
of the German countries in the middle age, because
the students at the universities were associated in
country groups till the end of 1815/ 1830. After the
"Landesvater" you can request your girlfriend
to embroider the slit in the cap with silver or gold
yarn.
A Landesvater is a special event all 5 years.
Please note that every town has a special
fight rule. You have to learn the typical town rule
to fight in this town.
Or the opponent have to learn my rule in Berlin to
fight with me.
We are hard fighters in the Corps Cheruscia, hard
rules, strict against "Mucken", but there
are other towns with soft rules.
And there is a big change in this generation - only
a few young business man from a modern university
are prepared to fight after the old rules today.
The German fencing is dying - I'm a member of the
last hard generation - 10 years in the future there
is only beer in the student societies. I see this
- its a shame.
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We have two catalogs with many items for sale for
students. I was surprised that there were not as many
pictures as I would have liked. it seems as though the
restrictions on dueling restricted the amount of kitsch
available for sale. |
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