Singers Arion-Old Prussia
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| Basic data | |
| State: | Lower Saxony |
| University location: | Goettingen |
| Universities: | Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen (PFH) , University of Applied Science and Art (HAWK) |
| Foundation Day: | May 12, 1849 |
| Foundation location: | Leipzig |
| Association: | German Singers (Weimar CC) |
| Color : | colored |
| Colours: | Red-green-gold |
| Position to the scale: | optional striking |
| Motto: | Freedom, strength and love! (after Theodor Körner ) |
| Website: | www.arion-goettingen.de |
The Arion-Altpreußen choir is a student union in the umbrella association of the German Choir (DS) and unites students and alumni of the Georg-August University of Göttingen and the other universities located in Göttingen. It is colored , facultative and neither confessional nor politically bound. The Arion-Old Prussian Choir continues the traditions of the Leipzig Arion Choir and the Königsberg Old Prussian Choir in Göttingen. The members are called "Göttinger Arionen".
History of the Leipzig singers Arion
Founding as a Pennal choir
In 1849 a choral society was formed at the Leipzig Thomasschule , which initially consisted exclusively of Thomas students. § 1 of the first statutes laid the main purpose of the association that ". The company should employ to awaken the coziness and socializing excellent singing" From this like the desire for cohesion and mutual support speak of from the uncertainty of the revolutionary days of 1848/49 resulted. The first director was Richard Müller . It was also on whose initiative the founding and naming of "Arion" was based. The first joint rehearsal on May 12th is considered the foundation date. The association received support early on from Carl Friedrich Zöllner ( honorary member since May 12, 1852), who was then a singing teacher at the Thomas School. The red, green and gold club colors were also chosen in the first year of the club.
Division into pupil and student arion
In the winter semester of 1852/53, the association split into a school and a student department. This was made necessary by the change of the first members to the Leipzig University. The pupils were not allowed to visit the restorations of the students. The students had been banned from further rehearsals in the music hall of the Thomas School because they had smoked in the school premises despite the ban. The student department was initially called "Arion Student Choir", but was soon renamed "Arion Academic Choral Society". Its own statutes also allowed non- thomanians to be accepted, which was first used in the summer semester of 1853. Also in 1853, the saturday motets from the Thomaner were adopted for the first time . During the summer holidays, the Arion then regularly took over the Saturday motets in St. Thomas Church as a substitute.
Development towards a student corporation
The development towards a student corporation was slow but continuous. A few steps should be mentioned: The introduction of pub evenings in 1853, acquisition of parade bats ( fencing weapons for representative purposes) 1855/56, first mention of the motto “Freedom, strength and love!” 1862, consecration of one's own flag in 1863, introduction of the red velvet hat as Corporation badge 1871, replacement of the lyre in the coat of arms by a helmet in 1888 and introduction of mandatory fencing courses and the post of fencing warden 1892/93. The acquisition of their own, so-called “heavy weapons” in the winter semester of 1892/93 made it possible to clean up honorary trades without having to rely on the so-called “weapon protection” of other associations. Further steps were applying the tricolor ribbon (red-green-gold) and the tricolor ( three-colored cap ) 1898/99, the anchoring of the principle of unconditional satisfaction in the statute in 1901, the introduction of Fuxenband and Fuxenmütze (red-green) 1904 and finally the renaming to "Arion Singers" in 1907.
Your own house
The ongoing problems with the rented public transport facilities (at the time mostly a bar room in the “Thalia” bar ) and the desire for a place where both rehearsals, bars and numerous performances could be held, led to a growing effort towards one own corporation house. The first concrete efforts at the turn of the century finally led to a house at Elsterstrasse 35. On February 22, 1911, the specially founded “Arionenhaus Association” acquired this property for 140,000 marks. The house was rebuilt for 50,000 marks and furnished for a further 15,000 marks: A hall extension of "228 square meters ... with 392 seats", " modeled on the Wartburg singing hall ", was built and had its own stage. Elaborate stained glass and an artfully carved bay window in the hall created the necessary atmosphere. A parlor with a bowling alley was set up under the hall. In the house there was a large pub, renaissance and billiard room, on the first floor the honorary council and old gentlemen's room, rooms for the " first charged ", above the "economist's apartment" for faxing and "six airy student stalls". On October 14th and 15th, 1911, the house was inaugurated and handed over to the active.
The First World War
Development came to a standstill with the First World War . However, Hohlfeld also describes the time of the First World War as a time in which the cohesion between the members increased significantly. The number of Arions drawn in was considerable. The figures from December 18, 1915 say: Of 1130 arions, 498 were drafted into army service (of 245 active soldiers 226), 392 of them with the field army (the so-called "field arions"). Despite the temporary ban, the field arions had a red, green and gold field identification mark on the lower left sleeve of their skirt. Singing evenings were held at the front, which the officers tolerated in order to raise morale. During this time, the house was a meeting place for those who stayed at home, returnees and Arions on leave from the front. The contact to Leipzig was actively maintained. By the end of the war, Hohlfeld had archived over 10,000 field letters. The support of the Arions in the field was also considerable. So the house formed the starting point for aid packages for the field arions. The dispatch of 2,600 parcels was organized in the first 14 months. A total of 123 arions fell victim to the First World War. In 1920, Hohlfeld dedicated a memorial book “Ecce Arionis” to them and, in addition to a usual votive plaque, a separate memorial in the form of a sculpture in the Arion House. The artist won for this was the Leipzig professor Felix Pfeifer .
After the First World War
The period between the two world wars was marked by financial difficulties, the trauma of the First World War and the question of the direction of the corporation . Although the number of active members recovered quickly after the war, it was not possible to build on the time before the First World War. The number of 64 Füxen in the winter semester 1918/19 disguises the fact that these came from a whole decade and were also marked by the impressions of the war. In place of the cheerful student body, there was the will to start a career as quickly as possible and secure one's own existence. A novelty was also appearances in front of non-academic audiences. In 1922, for example, a concert was held “in the Krauseschen machine factory in front of the salaried and workers”. In the mid-twenties, the activitas began to receive the singing movement . The singing lessons in the Arionenhaus were made available to the general public. What was serious was the fact that the singing movement denied almost everything that was still a natural part of corporate life in the German Empire : drinking and dancing together, singing at Kommersen and at concerts. About the singing lessons it says: "Because we sang ourselves here to the joy and not driven by any concert tradition or any concert ambition that is strange to us."
The end of the Leipzig Arion
However, a fundamental change in the Arionic tradition occurred very soon under the National Socialist regime . The endeavors of the NSDAP and its branches, especially the SS , SA and HJ , to make it impossible to belong to these branches and an old-style corporation at the same time, became more and more apparent through various decrees of their leaders. Already at the extraordinary Bundesführertag in Leipzig, the resolution was on 20 October 1935 DS decided to each performer machinations as fellowships integration into the National Socialist German Students' League (NSDStB) to lead closer. With that, the resolution on the future of the Arion was in your own hands. At the general assembly of the old men on December 15, 1935, it was decided that a comradeship of the NSDStB at the Arion House should continue to cultivate the main ideas of the Arion. In January 1936, the so-called “Arion newspaper” reads: “The old form of the corporation , the form of singers that emerged from decades of efforts by the Arions , has been abandoned. [...] The National Socialism has never an organization that disappeared through the development or its claim to power, resurrect, and it never will. "On May 15, 1938, the official takeover was the Arion house for the fellowship by the NSDStB place . On November 11, 1938, this comradeship was given the name " Volker von Alzey ". How many Arionen took these steps with conviction and who remained skeptical or resisted is no longer verifiable today. The house was confiscated by the Soviet military administration after the Second World War and later not returned. The whereabouts of the archive is uncertain. However, the "Arionenzeitung" gives an insight, albeit not representative. There it says in February 1938: "The Arion, our Arion is dead and there is no new, no successor."
Meaning of the Arion in Leipzig and the surrounding area
The importance of the Arion is based on several factors: The high proportion of students at Leipzig University due to the high number of members, the scope and quality of the performances and the musical repertoire, as well as the trips, the so-called “injections” to the Leipzig area and also further into the state of Saxony with corresponding appearances on site.
Membership numbers
The number of members of the Arion grew rapidly after it was founded. “In 1856 there were 40 singers, in 1872 there were already 57.” In the years 1872 and 1890, 70 to 200 members are said to have been active. At the 50th foundation festival in 1899, the Arion already had 165 active members and 700 so-called " old men ". The Leipzig University Choir at St. Pauli had 210 active members in the summer semester of 1898 and 251 5 years later. The Arion's share of the entire Leipzig student body is only noted in connection with " Paul ". “Around 1860 they had around 150 students, about 17% of the entire student body.” The proportion fell to 10% in the first decade of the 20th century. The highest number of new members was achieved in 1902 with 57 Füxes, 37 of them in the summer semester alone. The last figures about the total strength of the Arion come from November 1914. At that time, 1133 members were counted, honorary members and connoisseurs already excluded. The Aktivitas consisted of 82 active, 128 inactive and 41 de-registered inactive.
Events of the Arion
The club or corporation life of the Arion covered wide areas of life of its members. Not only rehearsals, bars and concerts, but also joint excursions, large celebrations, representative tasks in Leipzig, and since 1911 even living in their own house were fixed points in the life of the student singers. There were already events in 1864: the weekly singing lesson (since 1849), the syringes (since 1849), the foundation festival (since 1850), the Bummel (since 1850), the pub (since 1856), the winter concert (since 1857), the The beginning of the semester (since 1864) and the Christmas play (since 1869). The most well-known events were the Christmas plays. The principle of these pieces invented by Arionen and provided with song numbers was that "historical events were taken as a framework within which local and political events were subjected to great jokes and biting but mostly apt satire using the deliberately most blatant anachronisms." made available to the general public and were known far beyond Leipzig's borders. The reviews of the local newspapers regularly praised the performances in the highest tones.
New establishment in Göttingen
The Georg-August-Universität had taken over the sponsorship for the Leipzig University, and so it was obvious that the Arion reopened in Göttingen, now as "Arion Leipzig zu Göttingen". In 1951, young and old academics gathered for the first time in the "Drei Lilien" inn, who dared to take this step with great difficulty. A short time later, a domicile on the second floor at Weender Strasse 37 was available. From here it was not far to the maximum auditorium and the “Ratskeller”, where the traditional “ Bullerjahn ” took place twice a week . Contact with other corporations came about very easily here. Three years after the re-establishment, the convent decided to introduce the conference censorship as an option. In 1960 the Arion was awarded the Zelter badge by Federal President Heinrich Lübke .
History of the Königsberg singers Old Prussia
Since the founding of the Association of Colored Singers, the attention of the DS has repeatedly turned to East Prussia in order to gain a foothold in Königsberg . In 1920 the Arionen Gerlach succeeded through an appeal to win about 180 active, inactive and old men of the DS for the singers to be founded in Königsberg. They chose the colors of the old empire to emphasize the unity in their covenant. Another explanation of the choice of colors is based on heraldic principles. They are originally the colors of the North German Confederation, composed of black and white as the colors of Prussia and the red of the Hanseatic cities . The name Old Prussia was chosen and the main part of the coat of arms of the singers was the order shield and order cross of the Teutonic Knights Order . After all the preparatory work, the founding day was celebrated on January 11, 1921 at the Arionenhaus. In the summer semester of 1921 the first active people went to Königsberg. The economic crisis and the peak of inflation at the beginning of the winter semester of 1923 had a strong impact on the active business, as the foreign support largely ceased. The Arionen coming to Koenigsberg to study had to leave it again, and only a boy and a Fux remained. Only in the summer semester of 1924 could operations be resumed with 10 active members. Since then, the active life has developed steadily, so that the average number of active and inactive people present was kept to the appropriate number for Königsberg conditions. In 1925 an own conductor was recruited. The end of the Old Prussian singers came with National Socialism . On June 24, 1936, the corporation's own premises were confiscated overnight by Nazi violence, and the evacuation took place almost overnight. There was no transfer to a Nazi comradeship.
Merger of Arion and Old Prussia
The merger of the old gentlemen's associations of the singers Arion and Old Prussia took place in 1962. At this time, the Arion had already gained a foothold again and built up an active business. The name of the Fusionsbund was set to "Singers Arion-Old Prussia". The purchase of his own house took place in 1963.
Naming
The classical, humanistic trained Thomaner named their choral society after a figure from Greek mythology : Arion of Lesbos . They followed the usual procedure of other Leipzig male choirs, such as "Merkur", "Asträa" and "Apollo".
Motto and coat of arms
The motto of the Arion since the summer semester of 1862 has been "Freedom, strength and love!" And comes from Theodor Körner .
In addition to the colors of the connection, the coat of arms shows two reaching hands, a lyre , the covenant symbol, and a heart shield with the circle of Arion. The joining hands represent solidarity and community. The winged lyre symbolizes the relationship to the musical principle. The federal symbol is represented by a laurel wreath, two crossed bell strikers and the inscribed date of foundation. The motto of Arion is around the coat of arms . In addition, the colors of the Arion and the Old Prussians are shown on the basis of the flags. Instead of the helmet there was originally a lyre . This was replaced in 1888 in the course of efforts to adopt corporate trains.
Quotes
- 1899: “The social life and the close cohesion had disappeared from the Thomas School. In order to promote the friendly relationship among the members of the alumneum and to raise the sociability again, the three primary school students Richard Müller , Richard Feine and Lothar Hahmann decided to found an association which, after singing, should have friendship at least as its main purpose to honor small circles again. "
- 1912: “Not only that the ennobling addition of the quartet singing robs the pubs of the desirability of a desolate and desolate drinking session, as the pubs of other corporation students must all too easily appear to the impartial; the idealizing influence of the singing, which accompanies the Arions every step of the way in corporate life by constantly bringing them together for weekly rehearsals and, above all, their energies for weeks and months at the bigger festivals, the winter concert, the Christmas play, the summer concert , takes, exerts its beautiful, mind and spirit-forming effect on each individual and, by stimulating their common interest in good musical achievements, the common goal unites hearts and spirits in the service of the corporation to love it wraps the solid Tie them all to unity. "
- 1912: "And if the liaison student from other associations may be able to impress even more in his outward appearance, nowhere can the young student find genuine, freshly pulsating, happy studentism and an upbringing for a decent, noble disposition than in the Arion."
- 1924: "The young student seeks and finds the right counterbalance to sober science in the Arion and could one find something more sacred than the cultivation of art and happy sociable hours with like-minded friends?"
- 1924: "And for the student his home is the corporation."
- 1947: "The Arion made me feel as a human being, what ethically and practically later meant for the mature man working for a community."
literature
- Wilhelm Külz : Life and striving of the Academic Choral Society Arion during the 50 years of its existence . Festschrift for the 50th anniversary. Anniversary. In: History of the Arion Singers . 1899, DNB 574812237 .
- Ludwig Fuhrmann, Walter Meyer: The history of the Arion in its 6th decade . May 1899 to May 1909 from 50 to 60 years. Foundation festivals. Leipzig 1912, DNB 573189307 .
- Johannes Hohlfeld : History of the Arion singers (singers in the DS): 1909-1924 . Festschrift to celebrate her 75th anniversary. Existence. Leipzig 1924, DNB 573818983 .
- EH Eberhard: Handbook of the student liaison system. Leipzig, 1924/25, p. 88.
- Rudolf Falk: History of the Arion singers in Leipzig 1849-1929 . In: Special issue of the Arion newspaper . Leipzig 1930, DNB 363591028 .
- Wilhelm Külz : Memories II . From the life of Dr. Wilhelm Külz, grandson of cantor Friedrich Külz, twin son of pastor Dr. Otto Külz. Berlin 1947.
- Wolf-Rüdiger Rudolph, Harald Ssymank, Wolfgang Voigt: Arion-Altpreußen 1849–1979 . In: Festschrift for the 130th Foundation Festival . Göttingen 1979.
- Harald Lönnecker : Johannes Hohlfeld (1888–1950) German singer, genealogist and politician. Koblenz 2000.
- Stephan Greiner: The Academic Choral Society Arion 1849-1936 . A singing student association from the heyday of the Leipzig choirs. Beucha; Markkleeberg: Sax-Verl., Leipzig 2010, DNB 1003135080 .
- Stephan Greiner: Singing students with hats and ribbons: The Academic Choral Society Arion among the Leipzig music clubs of the 19th and early 20th centuries , in: Leipziger Almanach 2009/2010, pp. 157–178. (Reprint from Singing Students with Cap and Ribbon: The Academic Choral Society Arion in the circle of the Leipzig music clubs of the 19th and early 20th centuries , in: Eszter Fontana (Ed.): 600 years of music at the University of Leipzig. Studies on the occasion of the anniversary. Stekovics, Wettin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89923-245-5 , pp. 123-237.)
Known members
- Paul Arras (1857–1942), teacher, archivist and local history researcher
- Martin Buchwald (1884–), Reich judge
- Arthur Bunde , District Administrator, Lord Mayor of Aschersleben
- Hanns Fleischer (1890–1969), tenor
- Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), conductor and composer (honorary member)
- Caspar René Gregory (1846–1917), theologian
- Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), Norwegian composer (honorary member)
- Walther Grützner (1881–1951), administrative lawyer
- Johannes Hohlfeld (1888–1950), historian
- Fritz Kaiser (1877–1956), lawyer and politician (DVP), MdL Saxony, Minister of State
- Paul Klengel (1854–1935), conductor and composer (honorary member)
- Walther Kühn (1892–1962), co-founder of the FDP
- Wilhelm Külz (1875–1948), Reich Minister of the Interior and founder of the LDPD
- Carl Reinecke (1824–1910), Gewandhaus Kapellmeister (honorary member)
- Franz Schob (1877–1942), neurologist and psychiatrist as well as university professor at the TH Dresden
- Hermann Tögel (1869–1939), religious educator
- Walther Weigelt (1877–1965), mining lawyer and university professor at the Freiberg Mining Academy
- Karl Theodor Wilisch (1847–1935), politician, honorary citizen of Annaberg, member of the first chamber of the Saxon state parliament
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Külz, p. 2.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 23.
- ^ Arion Newspaper, October 1895.
- ↑ Külz, p. 6.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 24.
- ↑ Külz, p. 26.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 75.
- ^ EH Eberhard: Handbook of the student liaison system. Leipzig, 1924/25, p. 88.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 35.
- ↑ Lönnecker, p. 17.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 64.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 76.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 69.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 106.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 66.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 106.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 112.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 108.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 152.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 99.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 101.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 101.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 43.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 44.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 35.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 35.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 36.
- ↑ Fuhrmann, p. 8.
- ^ Fuhrmann, p. 320.
- ^ Arion Newspaper, November 1914.
- ↑ Külz, p. 76.
- ↑ Greiner, pp. 51-58.
- ↑ Rudolph, p. 18.
- ↑ Rudolph, p. 12.
- ↑ Greiner, p. 23.
- ↑ Külz, p. 1.
- ^ Fuhrmann, p. 192.
- ^ Fuhrmann, p. 324.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 49.
- ↑ Hohlfeld, p. 114.
- ^ Külz, memories II, 2, p. 9.