Erlangen Westphalia (1794–1809)

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Federal symbol of the Erlangen Westphalia

The Erlanger Westphalia were from 1794 to 1809 country team student associations (with appropriate membership election) in Erlangen, the first 1794–1795, the second 1798–1809. From autumn 1798 they formed the Erlanger Senior Citizens' Convention with the Erlangen Märkern and Ansbach family . Although they are listed in the Kösener corps lists from 1910, they were not yet a corps . Its old country team principle forced its dissolution in 1809.

Orders and compatriots

In the 1780s, only the Black Order and the Inseparabilist Order existed in Erlangen, which dissolved in 1786 and with its remnants merged with the Black Order. With its intellectual effects on the German student body, the French Revolution put the country teams behind. The orders that had represented the new ideas flourished. The black medal, which existed in Erlangen alone in 1790, was no longer sufficient for the needs. Therefore, the Amicist order (1791) and the Constantist order (1792) were established from Jena . The remaining compatriots of the Ansbacher, Bayreuth and Franconians sank to insignificance. Her seniors were also friars. The medals were in control. The reign of terror in France brought about a change of opinion among the Germans, especially among the students. Hans Peter Hümmer writes about the importance of the orders and compatriots in the history of ideas :

“Two forms of connection are considered to be the forerunners of corps students, the country teams of the 18th century and the“ secret ”student orders. The latter are often related to Freemasonry. Despite proven personal relationships and numerous borrowings from customs, the student orders cannot be classified as offshoots of Freemasonry. There are fundamental differences. The student orders, for example, stuck to the student comment and the old concept of honor, and even contributed significantly to improvement. For this reason alone, echoes in "country team" constitutions and those of the later corps are no coincidence. The religious associations grew partly out of the still very loosely organized country teams; they did not want to destroy the country team structure of the 18th century. They chose their members according to their suitability and without regard to their origins, unlike the wreaths of that time. Similar to the Freemasons, they were open to the thoughts of the Enlightenment. People were enthusiastic about the intellectual foundations of the French Revolution until they were overtaken by political reality, by Robespierre and the armies of Napoleon. "

- Hans Peter Hümmer

Prussia

On December 2, 1791, Karl Alexander (Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth) ceded his lands to Prussia. Erlangen became a Prussian university and suddenly the national composition of the student body changed. Berliners, Prussians, Märker, Westphalia, Silesians and other North Germans stepped alongside the traditional groups of Franks, Ansbachers and Bayreuthers. A group of wealthy nobles were the Swedish Pomeranians . They gathered in December 1793. They called themselves Toussaintians after the host of the meeting place. The predominantly aristocratic members came from Stralsund, Rügen, Braunschweig and Magdeburg. After 1794 they were all in the Westphalian Kränzchen that Ludwig von Vincke had founded.

Wreath

Samuel Gottfried Borsche had v. Vincke urgently advised to unite with his Westphalian compatriots and to work against the order. The occasion was a dispute with the Erlangen Constantist Lodge. A preliminary meeting with the born Westphalians took place on March 17, 1794. Vincke drafted a deed of foundation for the (first) Westphalian Kränzchen. When Vincke returned from a trip to Vienna, the foundation near Cappell was completed on May 27, 1794. Among the founders were at least three brothers of the black order. The Swedish Pomeranians also joined the Westphalians. The “Westphalia” therefore claimed the whole of northern Germany as a recruiting area . Only the core came from the county of Mark , the former diocese of Minden and the county of Ravensberg .

Zeitgeist

The new wreath not only inherited the membership of the Toussaintians, but also the whole hatred of the Constantists. Serious insults and violence with the whip culminated on August 15, 1794. Supported by “liberal” Erlangen, the Constantists held a protest rally in the evening. The Stadtkapelle Scherzer played the popular revolutionary songs such as Ah! Ça ira . All wore the Coquarde the Jacobins . The clashes damaged all Erlangen corporations. Toussaint deprived the Westphalians of the right to host his whale and the university imposed prison penalties and years of relegation against some participants. The new Kommershaus of the Westphalia was the blue bell. In November 1795 there was a great renunciation and the end of the Erlangen liaison system.

Reorganization in societies

Circle of the Erlangen Westphalia

In the summer of 1796, the Erlangen student body was reorganized into four loose inns; Constitutions are not recorded and most likely did not exist. A newly established Berlin or Märkische Gesellschaft worked closely with a Westphalian wreath newly founded by Gisbert von der Leithen. The other two societies were dominated by the religious. One was the Franconian Landsmannschaft with the Amicists as the core of the order, the other the supraregional Braunsche Society with the black order.

End of the order

In May 1798 the Braunsche Society split into core and non-members. The Westphalians and the Berliners supported the opponents. This constituted itself on July 1, 1798 as the Ansbacher Landsmannschaft. Since autumn 1798 there is only the name "Society of Anspacher". Like their predecessor, the Braunians, they did not adhere to any cantons and accepted students from all over Germany and other European countries from the start. The only order that had survived the clashes of 1798 was the Amicist order in the Franconian country team. It disbanded in the winter semester of 1799/1800 and the Franks, which also rejected cantonment, established themselves as a Franconian society that only existed until 1802.

Guestphalia II

The question of cantoning led to hostile attitudes and the endeavor, especially of the Westphalians, to regain lost ground. In order to be able to establish a new society, according to the SC-Comment valid since 1796, it was necessary to dissolve one of the societies. The students from the Principality of Bayreuth rubbed against the downfall of their country team (1794), while the Ansbacher society, the old and eternal competition, continued to exist in a different form. The Westphalians took hold of this lever. From 1801 onwards, the numbers of native Bayreuthers among the Ansbachers increased. In the summer of 1802 there were so many that the break that led to the dissolution could be dared. The resulting fights went down in student history as “bullfighting in Erlangen”. In July 1802 there was a fight between Westphalia and Ansbachern. Thirteen native Bayreuthers stayed with the Westphalians from then on (until July 1803). The then senior of the Westphalia was Fritz Rautert . The differences that arose during the disputes were resolved by the new SC comment from Michaelis in 1802. It expressly states that the societies only recognize each other as societies, not as a compatriot or order.

In 1802 the Franks were dissolved. The Bayreuthers, who were constituted on June 14, 1803, immediately filled the gap. Onoldia strictly rejected country team tendencies. This dispute dragged on for two years, when it was resolved by the great politics in the spirit of the Ansbach: The French era began, Erlangen became a French university. The Prussians stayed away and on June 22, 1806 the Berlin Society had to disband because only two Poles remained. Westphalia still came to Erlangen, but in far fewer numbers. They recognized the danger and agreed with the Ansbachers that no cantons should apply. Only the Bayreuthers insisted on it. They could afford it because their recruiting area wasn't in danger; but they were in the minority and could no longer assert themselves in the senior citizens' convention. The turnaround was of little use to Westphalia. In 1807 the influx dried up. In the winter semester of 1808/09 only three “Westphalians” - Culemann, Martini and Hildebrandt - remained. On March 6, 1809, the Westphalian Society dissolved. Culemann went over to the Bayreuthers. Martini went into the Fifth Coalition War with the Austrians . Only Hildebrandt, son of a professor from Erlangen, stayed behind.

Colours

Large federal emblem of the Westphalian Society of Erlangen (from 1799)

The colors of the Erlangen Westphalia were green and white from 1794 to 1799. On the initiative of the Jenenser Westfalen Schlemm there was a close cartel of the Jenenser, Halle and Erlanger Westfalen in 1799 . The characters were standardized and adjusted, the colors for all three were set to green-black-white. In addition to the uniformly managed circle, the Westphalians also used a point fraction, which was also written 5/7 in open numbers. The 7th letter in the alphabet was G = Westfalia (Guestphalia), the 5th from backwards was V = Vivat. Such point breaks were not religious symbols and were carried out by many connections at the beginning of the 19th century. In addition, the Westphalia led four points between the crossed clubs. The motto was g [ladius] v [index] N [oster]. The letters JHE for Jena Halle Erlangen were used in the large federal symbol.

Members

Meyer-Camberg (1979) lists 166 members. The information in the Kösener corps lists from 1910 are "extremely unreliable".

literature

  • Ernst Meyer-Camberg : The Erlangen Westphalia 1794-1809 . Once and Now, Yearbook of the Association for Corps Student History Research, Vol. 24 (1979), pp. 74-94.
  • Hans-Otto Keunecke : A register as a historical source. On the history of the Westphalian Landsmannschaft in Erlangen 1794–1809 . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 27 (1982), pp. 139-154.
  • Hans Peter Hümmer: The family records of the Erlangen Westphalia Davidis [1796–1799]. Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 46 (2001), pp. 99-152.

Web links

Commons : Erlanger Westfalen (1794–1809)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Partially published in Academische Monatshefte 24 (1907/08), p. 126ff.
  2. ↑ Before the Westphalian Crown was founded, Margarete Luise Doppelmayer, the landlord's only daughter, had married Westfalen CF Wiethaus. The daughter Luise, who emerged from this marriage, married Friedrich Rückert .
  3. ^ The company was initially only called the Berlin Society. It was not until 1799 that the Märker circle appeared in the Erlangen family records.
  4. ↑ The point fraction 2/5 in Baruthia means Vivat Baruthia and has nothing to do with the sacred number of harmonists; because they were always written 4/3 and not 2/5. Franconia Jena led the point break 3/6 as Circulus Franconiae in 1810.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rudolf Körner: The influence of the French Revolution on the orders and corps . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 9 (1964), pp. 113-127.
  2. ^ A b c d e Ernst Meyer-Camberg: The Erlanger Westphalia 1794–1809 . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 24 (1979), pp. 74-94.
  3. ^ HP Hümmer: Spirit of the Corps and Customs . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 36 (1991), pp. 105-117
  4. ↑ Ernst Meyer-Camberg: The fall of the order in Erlangen [1. Part]. Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 16 (1971), pp. 47-61
  5. ↑ Ernst Meyer-Camberg: The fall of the order in Erlangen [2. Part]. Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 17 (1972), pp. 95-112
  6. ^ Corps Baruthia, timetable
  7. ↑ Ernst Meyer-Camberg: "The bull fight" in Erlangen. From the early history of Erlanger SC . Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 9 (1964), pp. 35-51.
  8. ↑ Baden-Württemberg State Archives
  9. ↑ Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung
  10. ^ Kühne, Ludwig Samuel (NDB)