Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudenten Verbond Gent

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coat of arms
KVHV-WapenPerf.png
Basic data
University location: University of Ghent , Flanders
Founding: 1887
Founder: Lodewijck de Bock
Association: KVHV
Colours: black-yellow-white

KleurenKVHVGent.png

Motto: Hou end trou!
Circle: ZirkelAct.jpg
Web presence: http://gent.kvhv.org/

The Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudenten Verbond Gent (KVHV) ( Catholic Flemish Student Union of Ghent ) is a Catholic-Flemish student association with a nationalist and conservative orientation. Founded in 1887, KVHV-Gent is the oldest KVHV local association and one of the oldest student associations in Flanders. The KVHV-Gent has a political and traditional student orientation and has been a member of the Catholic Flemish Student Union since 1911 .

General

The KVHV Gent is a colorful academic association with a national-conservative canon of values. For historical reasons, as a traditional Flemish connection, it is inconclusive and Catholic (both aspects are the legacy of the old Flemish Catholic student movement). Nevertheless, students of all Christian denominations and non-believing students can become members. As a local association with a political effect, KVHV-Gent is open to men and women. The connection is traditionally student-oriented and until 2007 was linked to the umbrella organization of Gents Student Corps (GSK). As a political association, it expects its members to be politically active in (Flemish) national and conservative terms. This political identity is also realized through clinging to national songs such as “ het Wilhelmus ” and “De Vlaamse Leeuw” as well as political actions. In addition to a circle of friends, the association also knows the principle of the life covenant.

history

Rodenbach's vrienden

Praesidium Rodenbach's Vrienden (1910-11). Below: Kluyskens, Storme, Debeuckelaere.

The first organization of Catholic-Flemish students at the then French-speaking University of Ghent was the Vlaamsch Katholieke Gilde ( Flemish Catholic Guild ), founded in 1887 by Lodewijck de Bock. The aim of this association was the unification of Flemish-oriented ( Flamingante ) and Catholic students against the Flemish, but very liberal academic society T Zal Wel Gaan on the one hand, and the Catholic, but French-speaking society Association Générale des Étudiants Catholique on the other. In 1889 the name was changed to Rodenbach's Vrienden , a reference to Albrecht Rodenbach , who ten years earlier laid the foundations of the Flemish student movement with his call to found a student movement similar to the powerful and triumphant fraternity , a Flemish fraternity or Knapenschap .

The early club culture was mainly inspired by the cultivation of a cultural Flemish identity and social awareness, and expressed itself in a pronounced zeal for literary education and living out a proper student culture. This pursuit is reflected in student literary pieces such as student songs (e.g. De Gilde Viert by Rene De Clercq from 1902) and strong criticism of other connections and their brutal meetings. Current socio-political issues such as the introduction of compulsory schooling were also dealt with, and of course Rodenbach's Vrienden were also a strong voice in the dispute for a Dutch-speaking university in Ghent. In contrast to German connections, clubs like Rodenbach's Friends were originally more literary-cultural clubs without a strong culture of connection, like their German neighbors, although early forms of the beer pub were known. Connection colors and compasses were not known in Flanders. The cap was a so-called crapuleuse : a (probably) green cap with faculty marks and gold stars for each academic year. The popularity of this hat until 1914 testifies to a stormy anti-French identity (against the calottes , as the Catholic French speakers were called). Contacts with similar associations had existed for at least ten years when, in 1911, President Jules Storme ( Rodenbach's Vrienden zu Gent) and Jozef Verduyn ( Vlaamsch Verbond zu Leuven) founded the General Catholic Flemish Student Association as an umbrella organization for Flemish Catholic societies and associations.

The First World War ended the activities of the clubs. Former members of Rodenbach's Vrienden and the Vlaamsch Verbond , however, remain politically and literarily active. In 1916, both associations were able to publish a special edition of the Löwener student paper Ons Leven as Hoogstudent op den Yser , with contributions from Flemish politicians and ideologues such as Frans Van Cauwelaert , Joris van Severen , Hendrik Borginon and Alfons Van de Perre. They also remained very active politically. Adiel Debeuckelaere, editor in 1911, is one of the founders of the so-called Front Movement, a radical Flemish group of soldiers. Joris van Severen (senior 1912) also remains active in radical social-nationalist soldiers' groups.

After the First World War

Geert De Rijcker, Chairman of the AVHV (1928–1929) with flat

The First World War and the German Flemish policy ended in a marked split between activists (for collaboration and for Flemish rights) and passivists (against collaboration), including among students. During the war, a new student movement of the Dutch type of corporation emerged in Ghent with radical Flemish demands, with the support of the German occupier, the Gentsch Student Corps "Hou ende Trou" (GSC) , as a general association of Flemish university students at the Flemish University of Ghent (1916-18) . On the other hand, former members such as Adiel Debeuckelaere and Joris van Severen remain active for the Flemish but loyalist Belgian side. On February 10, 1919, the association Rodenbach's Vrienden was re-established by former members and new, Flemish radical students in the Den Rooden Hoed pub . There was a dispute between radicals and passivists, from which the Algemeen Vlaamsch Hoogstudentenverbond (AVHV) emerged as a Flemish, but non-denominational front of Flemish students in Ghent, Leuven, Antwerp and later Liege and Kuregem. AVHV defined its statutes as follows: “To maintain the cooperation of Flemish students born in the First World War and to get justice for the Flemish people as soon as possible.” The social side of the Flemish student movement (nationalism, women's movement) is expressed in the first active ones Women at AVHV Gent. Nevertheless, the KVHV was re-established in 1919 under the leadership of August De Schryver . The public approval from and by old men from GSC Hou ende Trou ended with bans and criticism from the university, French-speaking students and even from inns. Thanks to the help of old men, the students find a home in the Den Uylenspiegel pub . This KVHV was little active due to competition from the umbrella organization AVHV and the Catholic Society St. Thomas (° 1923). Although the AVHV chairmen from Ghent have always been very active in Flemish terms, it is impossible to say with certainty how active KVHV Gent was between 1919 and 1938.

Like other Flemish-oriented clubs and associations, the AVHV and KVHV 1918 also have the hat. The more German hats are replaced by red-brown berets, also called flat (te) . Although the German Loewe-style hats had no stars or faculty signs, you saw such badges again at Flat. As a non-denominational umbrella organization, the circle and band are little known, but the first Flemish-style connections have now emerged, often with the help of very active AVHV or KVHV members.

End of the interwar period

At the end of the interwar period, the situation was more favorable for a large and strong Flemish-Catholic connection. The Gentsch Student Corps , which had been an interdenominational united front of Flemish students since 1933, had been tough and weak for years due to internal disputes. The competition between Verdinaso and VNV students, and later between liberal, socialist and free-spirited students on the one hand and Flemish national students on the other, ended with the establishment of a new KVHV association against better organized enemies. As early as 1938, 350 students were active, at the end of the first year KVHV-Gent had 550 active students and was by far the largest and most active association in Ghent. In addition, numerous prominent professors and intellectuals joined the KVHV as honorary members, such as university professor and Nobel Prize winner Corneel Heymans .

On March 8, 1939, Oscar Bogaert, José Meiresonne, Ward Opdebeeck and Raf Van den Abeele re-found KVHV in Gent. Like the AVHV and GSC, they again sought contact with the old gentlemen's associations from the KVHV and GSC "Hou ende Trou" . During this short active period, KVHV expressed itself again as a radical Flemish nationalist, anti-communist (e.g. through Finland aid), social (through winter aid) and traditional (through the so-called model bar) connection. This generation probably founded the so-called Verbondswacht as a propaganda group and to protect against violence by the left, based on the Löwen model. With 550 active members and a strong political identity, KVHV grew in a few months to become the leading association of Ghent, despite constant criticism and disputes from socialists, communists and liberals. In November 1940 KVHV ended again due to the war. Most of the active remained active in the Gentsch Student Union (GSV), an umbrella organization of student associations and associations under German occupation control. The first GSV Praeses was Raf Van den Abeele, former KVHV Praeses.

After the Second World War

New establishment of KVHV Gent (1944)

Everything changed in 1944. Although the nationalist student corporations had not been banned, they did fall victim to repression. As an alternative to GSV, the university founded a new umbrella organization to also control the clubs and associations. This Nationale Studentengroepering (NSG) ( National Student Group) was, in contrast to older associations such as the AVHV, GSC and GSV, Belgian-loyal, rather free-thinking and had a good relationship with professors and rectors. In 1944 Catholic Flemish students, with the help of KVHV-Leuven, re-established KVHV-Gent as an anti-Belgian, Flemish-national and Catholic association. Professor Corneel Heymans chaired the board of directors.

In the next few years the association grew again strongly and diverse sub-associations and groups were established. KVHV was not only once again the largest association in Ghent, a political society, a cultural circle, a fanfare corps and again the Verbondswacht formed within the association . The growing number of female students led in 1948 to the establishment of a partial association for women, the St. Veerlekreis.

In the 1940s the association was very active in the Koningskwestie ( king question ). Even in the 1950s, KVHV remained a notable political force with an anti-Fosty campaign (1953) and protests against the very Belgian course of Expo '58. As a student association, KVHV was also involved in the well-known occupation of the City Palace ( Gravensteen ), the so-called Battle of Gravensteen Castle on November 16, 1949. Despite the large number of members and political power, the active people temporarily had to keep active operations under the influence of new social movements to adjust.

After May '68

History board of the KVHV-Gent

Despite smear campaigns and the strengthening of left movements and clubs, KVHV-Gent continued active operations in 1969, led by Vic van Branteghem. In addition to criticism from the left because of the explicitly right-wing, Catholic and Flemish guidelines, there was also competition on the right-hand side from the young, partisan Vlaams Nationale Studentenunie ( Flemish National Student Union ) (VNSU). Politically, KVHV was characterized by a strong influence from the New Right . The strong polarization between left-wing extremist organizations and KVHV, meanwhile again the largest right-wing connection on site, escalated on October 21, 1974, when active members of the KVHV tried to impossibly prevent the performance of a controversial play from the life of Cyriel Verschaeve . As a result of the street battles between right (KVHV) and left (MLB and AMADA), the university banned KVHV. The association was dissolved again in 1977 through a ban and persecution by university associations and the media. A new generation tried to re-establish it in 1984, but had to adjourn again in 1988.

Since 1991

Supported by KVHV-Antwerp, KVHV-Gent was re-established in 1991 and, despite the heavy legacy of 1974, was able to attract new players and prosper again as a prominent association. 1997 was followed by a new recognition by the university, so that it is today a member of the political convention of the university (PFK). Politically, KVHV remains controversial at the University of Ghent because of its right-wing political character and because it organizes lectures by non-conformist speakers such as Jean-Marie Le Pen (2005), David Duke (2006) and Gabriele Adinolfi (2011). In 1998, active members also set up the Gents Student Corps (GSK) as an umbrella organization for traditional student associations. After the GSK ended in 2007, KVHV organized itself as a defender of traditional student customs and style. Every year in November there is a Festkommers to commemorate the Gravensteenschlacht of 1949. Since 1991 KVHV has again been in charge of the sale and distribution of student song books (Codex). In 2012 , Huize Heymans moved into the new fraternity house (also known as the Association House) in Willem Tellstrasse.

In 2015 KVHV Gent was once again the largest political association on the right in Ghent and a strong force in university politics. Since 2011, the federal government has increasingly turned to foreign connections, and contacts have been made with the German fraternity . In April 2015 the active members of the KVHV-Gent and the active members of the Marburg Burschenschaft Rheinfranken established a friendship between their connections.

Colours

Uylenspiegelkommers 2009 in Gravensteen Castle

The colors of the KVHV-Gent have been black, yellow and white since the interwar period. Black and white are the city colors of Ghent, black and yellow are the colors of the Flemish lion, white and yellow symbolize the Christian-Catholic laws. These colors can be found on the coat of arms, flag, ribbon and cap. The coat of arms of KVHV-Gent dates from 1939 and was adapted in 1956 by Prosenior Herman Soetaert. Since 1956 the colors have been black-yellow-white instead of white-black-yellow. Foxes wear the band from the left chest to the right hip. The active senior also wears a three-colored sash at unofficial events.

When it was founded in 1939, the motto was God ter ere, Vlaanderen ten bate . The older motto Hou ende Trou! , from the Gentsch Student Corps (1916–18). This means "(hold) firmly and faithfully!"

The wine-red hat was adopted in 1932 on the initiative of Praeses Piet Meuwissen (KVHV-Leuven) and Edmond de Goeyse, and presented as the general AVHV hat and successor to the Flat (the brown-red beret without a peak). The flat was reassessed as a symbol of a radical and stylish club spirit, with this dark red semi-rigid plate cap, Meuwissen and de Goeyse wanted to return to the German-Flemish tradition from 1913. In contrast to the flat, faculty symbols and stars on the cap are forbidden as they are French and Belgian-loyal customs apply, but marks for the Verbondswacht (black and yellow armband and sword as marks) are permitted. After the Second World War, Flat had come back to Ghent until the 1960s and 1970s, due to strong anti-German resentments from the city and university.

Known members

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ F. Staeren: Albrecht Rodenbach en de Duitse fraternity , In: B. Vermeulen, (ed.) Omtrent Albrecht Rodenbach: Historical literaire schetsen , Verduyn, Roeselare, 2006, pp 42-45
  2. ^ M. De Bruyne en L. Gevers, "Kroniek van Albrecht Rodenbach", Brugge, 1980, p. 151
  3. ↑ E. De Goeyse: O Vrij Studentenheerlijkheid: historical and studentikoze schetsen , Universitaire Pers Leuven, 1987, pp 61-65
  4. ↑ HJ Elias: Vijfentwintig jaar Vlaamse Beweging. De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, Antwerp 1969-1972 (4 dln)
  5. ↑ L. Vos: Idealisme en Engagement: de roeping van de kathieke studerende jeugd in Vlaanderen (1920-1990) , Acco, Leuven, 2011
  6. ↑ L. Vos, B. De Wever en W. Weets: Vlaamse Vaandels, Rode Petten: honderd jaar Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond , Uitgeverij Pelckmans, Kapellen, 2002
  7. ↑ Mon de Goeyse, O Vrij-Studentenheerlijkheid, Leuvense Universitaire Pers, Leuven, 1987