Bardophonia
The Gymnasiale Gesangsverein Bardophonia is a colored, non-striking student association for male students in Münster . It was founded on December 18, 1858. Its members call themselves bards or bardophones .
History and structure
The history of the association can largely be traced on the basis of the so-called Kladden , i.e. chronicle books, which have largely been preserved . The GGV Bardophonia was founded on December 18, 1858 by seven students at the Paulinum grammar school in Hiltrup as a (never registered) choral society. According to the statutes, the purpose of the association was to maintain polyphonic male singing and comfort . Although the association was colored from the start , the self-image of a student association developed slowly. Rather, the colors come from the tradition of the Abitur colors of the Paulinum grammar school. There, the individual graduates still wear ribbons and schoolchildren's hats, each with their own, usually three-tone color combination. The colors of Bardophonia are taken from the gold-red-white city arms of the city of Münster.
Over the years there have been phases of official recognition of the bardophony by the school management of the Paulinum grammar school, as well as occasional official prohibitions ("prohibitions") by the association. The number of active members fluctuated accordingly, so that active operations had to be stopped at least once in the 1980s. In 1995 a so-called re-establishment took place, ie a resumption of active operations, later also officially as a student association. Although the reference to the Paulinum as well as the spiritual connection to the Catholic Church is also laid down in the current statutes from the 1990s, there is now a school and cross-denominational activity.
Due to its self-image, Bardophonia has always remained free of umbrella organizations . Due to little formal structures - certainly also due to the lack of a permanent seat or own house - there is no formally fixed financing structure of the association, as it exists with student associations in the form of annual contribution payments by the old men . The association is financed by donations and own contributions from the active, such as levies at events, and since 2003 also by low membership fees.
The liaison office
A fixed meeting place for the bards did not exist for a long time, rather they met alternately in the houses of the individual members or in restaurants. After the resumption of active operations in 2001, the Catholic parish of St. Lamberti made a basement room available in a community-owned residential and commercial building on Alten Steinweg, which is now used by Aktivitas as an event room.
reception
Augustin Wibbelt lets a student group Bardophonie appear in his story "De Strunz", which was published in book form in 1902 and which plays an important role in the life of the main characters incorporated there. The model for this was actually the Bardophonia Münster, as Wibbelt later confirmed personally in an exchange of letters with the association.