AV Berchtoldia Bern

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AV Berchtoldia

coat of arms Circle
The AV Berchtoldia flag with the coat of arms of Berchtold V. von Zähringen after the depiction on the Zähringer fountain The AV Berchtoldia circle
Basic data
University / s: University of Bern
Founding: May 29, 1917
Corporation association : Swiss student association
Colours:
Fox colors:
Type of Confederation: Mixed union
Position to the scale : not striking
Motto: Vitam Impendere Vero (" Dedicate one's life to the truth")
Total members: about 300
Active: 16 (as of: summer 2012)
Website: www.berchtoldia.ch

The Berchtoldia Academic Association is an academic student association of the University of Bern and a section of the Swiss Student Association . It was founded in 1917 as the first so-called reform association and is the only German-speaking association of the University of Bern that is open to both female and male students.

history

The founding time

The founding of Berchtoldia must be viewed in the light of the history of the Swiss Student Union and the situation in it at the beginning of the 20th century . Various reasons such as excessive liaison operations, excessive emphasis on external forms, overestimation of the comment , compulsory drinking , glamorous appearance among financial sacrifices, neglect of science and utilization of members with a great loss of time are to be mentioned. There were voices in the association that wanted to turn away from this activity and increasingly turn to the original values ​​of the Swiss Student Association. This return to the central elements and demands of the Swiss Student Association was the driving force behind the reform movement. Associated with this was the desire to deepen science and religiosity again and to become politically and socially active.

At the general assembly of the Swiss Student Union in Zug in 1916, after a lengthy dispute, the so-called Zug resolutions were passed. The resolutions were intended to implement the reforms that had already been decided on, for example with regard to compulsory drinking, excessive forms and the cultivation of science and religion:

  • no student may be denied entry or residence for financial reasons
  • no hindrance to successful studies
  • no neglect of religious duties
  • Maintaining academic activity alongside studying
  • only the sections are responsible for the reform

The last point in particular became a major problem because not all sections were willing to take the reforms in hand. So far, efforts of the entire club had often failed due to the connections.

In this environment, Berchtoldia was the first association established in the light of the Zug resolutions in 1917. It all began with Jean Gressot and Joseph Brielmann, both members of the AKV Burgundia , who campaigned against the "comment dragging" on the trunk and for the Zug resolutions. They presented their position to the Central Committee of the Swiss Student Union, for which they had to answer before the Burschenkonvent of Burgundia. On this occasion they also announced their intention to found a second section of the Swiss Student Union in Bern. This view led to the exclusion of the two "rebels". In December 1916, the two Jurassians, together with several like-minded people, submitted the application to found a "Séction Romande" using the Zug resolutions. The Central Committee fundamentally supported the establishment, but rejected a purely French connection. A little later, in January 1917, the Central Committee granted provisional permission for the establishment of Berchtoldia despite massive opposition from Burgundia. At the general assembly of the Swiss Student Union in Lucerne (1917), Berchtoldia was finally accepted into the Swiss Student Union and allowed to wear color. As a qualitative separation from Burgundia, Berchtoldia must be described as its younger sister.

November 17, 1916 Exclusion of Brielmann and Gressot from Burgundia
December 1, 1916 Request to the central committee of the Swiss Student Association to establish a new association
January 24, 1917 provisional license for incorporation
May 29, 1917 Constitutional meeting of Berchtoldia
August 29, 1917 Confirmation of the foundation by the general assembly of the Swiss Student Association in Lucerne

Because the Zug resolutions were not well received by the sections of the Swiss Student Union at other universities, new sections were soon established there too, with the aim of implementing these reforms. So in Freiburg the AV Fryburgia and in Zurich the AV Welfen . The reform as a new type of connection now took concrete shape. The enthusiasm that inspired the founders had a high level of community-building within the association and gave the young association that external push that it needed to be meaningful and robust at the same time.

First steps

The Berchtolders set up their first tribe in 1917 and soon afterwards gave their patrons an honorary philistination, as there were still no old masters. Admission to the Corporationen Convent Bern (Association of the Bern Square Connections) failed in 1918 due to the strong tensions between Burgundia and Berchtoldia. In 1920 the first connecting flag was inaugurated. Scientific activity was given a large place in the life of the association from the very beginning. Every Tuesday there was a lecture evening, which was given either by a liaison member or an outside guest. Thursday evening was made sociable, every fortnight the Berchtold published the humorous newspaper "La Meule" ("The Heap").

In 1923 a "peace agreement" was drawn up with the Burgundians after the relationship had eased in the 1920s . In order to strengthen the idea of ​​reforming alliance, the Berchtolders suggested the establishment of a delegates' convention , consisting of Fryburgers, Welfen and Berchtolders. Also in that year Rudolf Diethelm wrote the Berchtold Couleurstrophe.

The difficult circumstances in the 1930s also had an unfavorable effect on the couleur students. It was during this time that the new hat was purchased: a white cross on bright red to clearly distinguish itself from brown and black extremism , which underlined the commitment to Switzerland and its democratic ideals. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Alma Mater Bernensis (1934), the old gentlemen of Aktivitas donated a full wicker set for representation purposes . This led to heated discussions, as this purchase was in a certain contradiction to the reform idea. Unrest also arose when the Berchtolders declared their own comment to be official in 1944, because in terms of development it went against the reform and its tradition, but also against the spirit of the founders.

The red cap with the Swiss cross and the red-white-green ribbon

The years after the Second World War

In 1945, a patronage campaign was carried out in the Swiss Student Union, in which the connections of the Austrian Cartel Association were helped in their distress after the war . The idea came about during a visit to the Central Committee in Austria. Berchtoldia took over the sponsorship for the KÖHV Leopoldina Innsbruck . Finally, in 1946, Berchtoldia distanced itself from the delegates' convention of reform associations, as they did not want to belong to an "anti-bloc association". (The Federation of Academic Commentary Associations, or "Block" for short, is the collection of conservative associations in the Swiss Student Union as a reaction to the reform efforts at the beginning of the century).

In 1951 the "HOB" was created, the aid organization for Berchtolders to support financially weaker Berchtolders with their studies and young old men with their career entry. In the same year Federal Councilor Josef Escher was accepted as an honorary member. In 1955, Federal Councilors Thomas Holenstein and Giuseppe Lepori were also welcomed as honorary members. In 1958 the "Kurier der Alt-Berchtoldia" appeared for the first time.

The 1960s and 1970s

At the beginning of the 1960s , the tension in the delegate convention of the reform connections intensified and the attempt to redesign and strengthen them failed, so that the Berchtoldia finally left in 1966. In 1967, the Berchtoldia held the so-called "Flüeli-Ranft-Tagung" and created the Flüeli principles, which are supposed to be the link to the color-student conceptions of the founders. Within the framework of these principles, the Berchtolder Weekend, the Berchtolder Souper and the forum discussions are brought into being to achieve the desired goals.

In the mid-1960s, there was another attempt at a reform alliance: the Bern Group , which for 15 years had a strong impact on the Swiss Student Association. Her two greatest successes were the opening of the Swiss Student Association for women in 1968 under Urs Altermatt , who was Berchtold as central president, and the opening of the Swiss Student Association for Reformed fellow Christians in 1977, also through a Berchtold at the head of the association.

In the winter semester of 74/75, the question of whether female students should also be admitted to the Berchtoldia was raised through a corresponding application. In general, the mood was more in favor of accepting women, so Aktivitas felt compelled to change the statutes at their next AC. The application for admission could then be processed and on January 29, 1975 the first woman was admitted to the Berchtoldia.

The 1980s and 1990s

In November 1983 the reform became active again and founded the reform group . The Berchtolderkeller in Postgasse was inaugurated on July 12, 1984, and has been an important place for the connection ever since: meetings and lectures, as well as parties and pubs, take place there. Since then, Berchtoldia has been regularly represented in the commissions and the central committee of the entire association.

After the couleur student customs were hardly maintained in the seventies, they experienced a new bloom in the eighties . However, part of the Aktivitas opposed this, citing the founding fathers and historical rejection of the comment. This countermovement was visibly distinguished from the outside by wearing a slouch hat. The initially low proportion of women in Berchtoldia grew to a good 50 percent in the 1990s, and the election of female members to the club management no longer represented any special circumstances.

The AV Berchtoldia flag with the coat of arms of Berchtold V. von Zähringen after the depiction on the Zähringer fountain

particularities

Cross on the cap

Red hats with the Swiss cross have been worn since 1933. At a time when brown and black extremism was slowly beginning to spread, this represented a commitment to Switzerland and its democratic ideals, as was the case in 1917.

Friendship with the KÖHV Leopoldina (Innsbruck)

After the end of the Second World War (1945) the Central Committee of the SchwStV launched an aid campaign in favor of the Austrian CV connections. AV Berchtoldia took over the patronage of the KÖHV Leopoldina and immediately sent a sack of potatoes to Innsbruck. This friendship continues to this day and is regularly cultivated for cultural exchange.

Commitment in the whole association

AV Berchtoldia was very much involved in the Swiss Student Association (SchwStV) from the start.

year Organ in the SchwStV
1919 Vice President (VCP)
1926 Central President (CP)
1933 Central President (CP)
1941 Central President (CP)
1968 Central President (CP) Urs Altermatt
1970 Central President (CP)
1976 Central President (CP)
1995 Middle School Central Committee (MCC)
1996 Vice President (VCP)
1999 Central President (CP)
1999 Central actuary (CA)
2000 Central actuary (CA)
2009 Central Committee (CC)
2017 Central Committee (CC)
2017 Central Committee (CC)

Known members

Television documentary

On July 11, 1996, Swiss television broadcast a one-hour documentary about AV Berchtoldia Bern.

Web links

literature

  • Bernard Rüegg (ed.): The history of the academic connection Berchtoldia in Bern 1917–1967 . Academic connection Berchtoldia, Bern 1967, OCLC 604105412 , p. 96 .
  • Peter Agner et al. (Ed.): Chronicle of the academic connection Berchtoldia in Bern 1967–1992 . Bern 1992, OCLC 601781247 , p. 99 .
  • Urs Altermatt (ed.): «To dare the huge fight with this time ...» Swiss student association 1841–1991 . Maihof Dr. Buchverlag, Luzern 1993, ISBN 3-9520027-2-0 , p. 425 .
  • Urs Altermatt: Out of the tower. Thoughts on Catholic associations and parties . In: Neue Berner Nachrichten special supplement . June 3, 1967. WerkErg = 50 years of Berchtoldia 1917-1967
  • Alexander Heussler (Ed.): Berchtoldia: Festschrift 1917/47 . Bern 1947, OCLC 603273958 , p. 65 .
  • Alois Hürlimann (Ed.): Balance of a quarter of a century . Bern 1945, p. 44 .
  • Dominik Feusi : Federal reconsideration: 100 years ago the reform association "Berchtoldia" was founded in Bern in response to German drinking habits, Basler Zeitung of June 2nd, 2017, p. 2.
  • Simon Gsteiger: "We like to drink and celebrate - but that's not the most important thing", interview with the organizer of the 100th anniversary of AV Berchtoldia, June 2nd, 2017, federal government, online edition .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Baumer: The Renaissance: Association of Swiss Catholic Academic Society, 1904-1996 . In: Religion - Politics - Society in Switzerland . Academic Press, Freiburg / Switzerland 1998, ISBN 978-3-7278-1183-8 , pp. 125 ( Google Books [accessed January 28, 2016]).
  2. ↑ Connection history on the homepage
  3. ↑ Rüegg 1967, p. 48.
  4. ↑ Rüegg 1967, p. 58f.
  5. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Review of the documentation . No. 166 , 1996, pp. 78 ( excerpt from the NZZ archive [accessed on January 28, 2016]).