Student coat of arms
Student coats of arms are the coats of arms of student associations . They developed in the early 19th century and have some design features compared to the coats of arms of families, noble families, states and communities that follow classical heraldry .
layout
Student coats of arms are not referred to as "actual" coats of arms by the school heraldry, as they often do not follow the heraldic rules and use unheraldic elements in the shield, i.e. identity symbols of the respective connection that are brought together in the coat of arms.
Heraldic shield
The shield is usually square on student coats of arms , often with an additional heart shield . This usually results in four or five fields in the shield , which are filled with a certain repertoire of elements. While the crossing represents a method of combining coats of arms in classical heraldry , this division was probably chosen for student coats of arms simply to have enough space for the various identity symbols.
The most common element is the couleur ribbon, i.e. a piece of the mostly three-colored ribbon that color-bearing fraternity students wear around their chests, led diagonally through the field. Another common element is the circle , which can be placed either on the connecting colors or in its own field - usually the heart shield.
Also used to fill a field is often - especially in corps - the federal symbol, often shown in abbreviated form with a laurel wreath , two crossed scaling sticks and the inscribed date of foundation. Also common are various symbols for friendship ( trustees ) and eternity ( ouroboros ), which have been adopted from the Masonic system of the student orders or come from antiquity.
Often there are also individual heraldic elements that refer to the university town or, in the case of country-based connections, to the member's country of origin, for example through acquisitions from municipal, provincial or state heraldry. The inclusion of certain state coats of arms often suggests the connection name ( Sachsenross for Saxonia or Guestphalia , Franconian rake for Franconia, etc.).
In the case of professionally oriented connections, other symbols offered themselves, such as sticks and irons for montanist, trees or deer heads for hunting and forestry, compasses and cogwheels for technical or skull and Aesculapian staff for medical or veterinary connections.
In Fraternities often the motto will honor, freedom, homeland symbolizing elements used. For example, crossed thugs stand for honor , a rising sun for freedom and an oak for the fatherland. The crossing of the shield is often created by a black paw cross . A combination of lyre and sword is also used .
Gymnastics associations often use the gymnast's cross , musical connections a harp , scientific connections book or owl.
additions
As with the coats of arms of historical heraldry, the most common addition of a student coat of arms to the full coat of arms is the overlying helmet with attached helmet ornament and surrounding helmet covers . The helmet is mostly provided with a helmet crown - actually an attribute of nobility.
Above and below, the banner (mostly in the form of "... be it Panier") and the motto often surround the full coat of arms. Shield holders, on the other hand, are extremely rare in student coats of arms.
The crest is designed with most Studentenwappen in the same form and is made of ostrich feathers in the colors of the connection and the number of colors. There are only a few other figures, such as an open flight or a deer's head. Ostrich feathers as a helmet ornament are otherwise very rare in German-speaking countries and are more known from Polish coats of arms .
Coat of arms of the Wingolfs connections
A special feature are the coats of arms of the connections in the Wingolfsbund , which follow a uniform design and always contain the Jerusalem cross , the imperial or federal eagle and the city arms. There are only deviations in the fourth field. While the old connections there have a laurel wreath with the date of foundation, more recent connections have often included the state coat of arms. The laurel wreath is sometimes shown with crossed clubs. The coat of arms is also designed uniformly. The reference to the Jerusalem cross and thus to the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem also explains the heraldically inadmissible combination of gold and white (silver). Differences are particularly noticeable in the crest ornament. While the crest of the Hallenser Wingolf shows a star from the Halle city coat of arms , the Göttingen Wingolf chooses horns of plenty ("drinking horns") as the crest .
Fusion coat of arms
In the event of a merger of two student associations, in addition to the question of a new name and uniform color, the question of a common coat of arms arises. The problem can be solved either by continuing one of the existing coats of arms or by a coat of arms association. Either a completely new coat of arms or an alliance coat of arms can be created , in which at least the original shields are retained and - in some cases under a new common coat of arms - are placed side by side.
history
Origin and distribution in the early 19th century
While the country teams of the early modern period were likely to have used their respective national coats of arms at most, at the end of the 18th century, during the period of the student orders, content-laden symbolism came to the fore. Against the puristic rules of heraldry, which at that time was already at a historical low point, the student associations preferred "emblematic teaching boards in the form of coats of arms".
The oldest student coat of arms is said to have owned the order- like Concilium Metallicorum in Freiberg from 1794 .
This special form of the coat of arms came into general use around 1810, when the early form of the corps , the oldest form of student association still in existence today, and with them the current color developed. The spread of the student coats of arms can also be seen in connection with the advent of the porcelain pipes, which are known as the earliest bearers of coats of arms. Most of the early traditions come from Jena , which is generally regarded as the place of origin of the corporation's coat of arms.
Color sign as a short form
As early as the 19th century, a uniform short form for student coats of arms became common. For this purpose, a coat of arms shield is covered diagonally with the colors ("color shield"), and the circle of the relevant connection is placed in the middle . This form of coat of arms is also called the small coat of arms .
Reform efforts at the turn of the century
Since they only rarely comply with the rules of traditional heraldry, student coats of arms have always been criticized by heraldists . In particular, the use of tone variations of the same color , which makes a uniform description of the coat of arms impossible, isolates the student from historical heraldry.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were therefore several - ultimately unsuccessful - attempts to reform student heraldry and to change the student coats of arms according to the rules of scientific heraldry. Friedrich von Gaisberg-Schöckingen wrote several works on the subject at the beginning of the 20th century. In it he made demands that, although heraldically plausible, were unacceptable to the conservative student associations. Among other things, it was demanded that the modern elements, that is, above all circles and letters, be removed from the coat of arms.
Ludwig Clericus , one of Germany's most important heraldists in the 19th century, wrote in 1890 for the 60th foundation festival of his Corps Masovia :
“It is an indisputable fact that the corps coats of arms are some of the most unfortunate heraldic formations. This is not conspicuous, since the oldest corps emerged at a time when heraldry and heraldry were deeply depressed and even older, more experienced and historically and art-historically educated men were unable to distinguish a beautiful coat of arms from a hideous one. The corps coat of arms was designed based on the model of the first best baronial diploma coat of arms: armed with a central shield, in the latter the corps circle, in the first and fourth fields the stripes of the corps colors, in the second field a pair of crossed lashes wrapped around an oak wreath and possibly in the third field an attempt at another country allegory. A plume of feathers in the Corps colors on the helmet. This template has been imitated again and again and the resulting monotony is really frighteningly poor. Further errors were added to make the poverty ugly here and there. I will refuse to give examples. Recently, since the Kösener SC Association and the institution of the Alte Herren-Kommerse require more frequent use of corps coats of arms, the old, complicated coats of arms have mostly been retired and the ballrooms and gardens have been decorated with cardboard signs that some bookbinder was throwing away at Has. Then decorations come to light, which are embarrassing and outrageous for every heraldic understanding, even for every eye that is only somewhat aesthetically inclined. Fifty, a hundred or more cardboard lids, all of which are colored striped in one direction, once diagonally to the right, another time diagonally to the left, do indeed have a deterrent effect - it looks as if the model traveler from a tape or bedding factory is digging out his samples and brought to the exhibition. Nowhere a trace of original ideas, artistically tasteful invention. Ten years ago, Dr. Hartmeyer in Hamburg - I don't immediately know which corps - contacted me to strive for a reform of the corps coat of arms, but the indifference with which this idea was received everywhere made the plan fail. "
use
To this day, representations of student coats of arms can be found on the walls and ceilings of buildings, as independent oil paintings and on all kinds of objects, but especially on the porcelain lids of beer mugs. Precious objects decorated with student coats of arms were particularly popular gifts among federal brothers or friends in the German Empire. In the 1970s and 1980s, bumper stickers with student crests became fashionable.
Outside the German-speaking area
Many student associations that did not come into being according to German tradition also have coats of arms, for example the North American fraternities and sororities .
literature
- Erich Bauer : When, where and how were our coats of arms created? A task for our collective historical research. Einst und Jetzt 7 (1962), pp. 74-79.
- Emily Helen Butterfield : College Fraternity Heraldry. George Banta Publishing, Menasha 1931.
- Michael Doeberl , Otto Scheel , Wilhelm Schlink , Hans Sperl , Eduard Spranger , Hans Bitter and Paul Frank (eds.): Academic Germany, Vol. 4: The coats of arms of German corporations at home and abroad . CA Weller Verlag, Berlin 1931.
- Gregor Gatscher-Riedl : The student coat of arms. An introduction to the heraldic tradition of academic fraternities . In: Adler. Journal of Genealogy and Heraldry , No. 4, April 24, 2005, pp. 97-105.
- Theodor Hoelcke: The coat of arms of the leagues of the Coburg Convent. o. O. 1982/1983.
- Gerhard Richwien: The legacy of the order. Symbolic world of the Enlightenment and knightly identification patterns in academic corporations. In: Erich Donnert (Hrsg.): Europe in the early modern times. Festschrift for Günter Mühlpfordt. Volume 6: Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. Böhlau, Cologne 1997. pp. 627-650.
- Rudolf Sack : Academic heraldry. A handbook for academics, heraldists, and artists . Neu Isenburg 1935.
- Oskar Franz Scheuer : Student Heraldry . In: Michael Doeberl et al. (Ed.): The Academic Germany. Volume 2: The German universities and their academic citizens. Berlin 1931. pp. 113-124.
- Aribert Schwenke: Symbols, emblems and secret signs in the Kösener corps coat of arms. Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 41 (1996), pp. 29-82.
Web links
- Coat of arms of the member associations of the German Burschenschaft and the General German Burschenbund as well as German associations abroad (as of 1931)
- Bernhard Peter: Student Heraldry
- Association for corps student historical research : coat of arms in the yearbook once and now
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gerhard Richwien: The legacy of the order. In: Erich Donnert (Hrsg.): Europe in the early modern times. Festschrift for Günter Mühlpfordt. Volume 6: Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. Böhlau, Cologne 1997. p. 636.
- ^ Gerhard Richwien: The legacy of the order. In: Erich Donnert (Hrsg.): Europe in the early modern times. Festschrift for Günter Mühlpfordt. Volume 6: Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. Böhlau, Cologne 1997. p. 637.
- ^ Gerhard Richwien: The legacy of the order. In: Erich Donnert (Hrsg.): Europe in the early modern times. Festschrift for Günter Mühlpfordt. Volume 6: Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. Böhlau, Cologne 1997. pp. 627-650, here: p. 631.
- ^ Paul Ssymank , Friedrich Schulze: The German student body from the oldest times to the present , Munich 1932. P. 324.
- ↑ Leopold Knobloch et al. (Ed.): Mountain students. History and customs at the mining colleges in Schemnitz, Clausthal, Freiberg and Leoben. SH-Verlag, Cologne 2003. p. 15.
- ↑ Erich Bauer : When, where and how were our coats of arms created? A task for our collective historical research. Einst und Jetzt 7 (1962), pp. 74-79.
- ^ Václav Vok Filip: Introduction to Heraldry. (= Historical basic sciences in individual presentations , Vol. 3) Steiner, Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 3-515-07559-3 . P. 39.
- ^ Friedrich von Gaisberg-Schöckingen: Proposals for the reform of the student heraldry. In: Heraldisch-Genealogische Blätter 4 (1907), pp. 171-174, 183-189.
- ^ Oskar Franz Scheuer: Student Heraldry . In: Michael Doeberl et al. (Ed.): The Academic Germany. Volume 2: The German universities and their academic citizens. Berlin 1931. pp. 113–124, here p. 121.
- ↑ Silke Möller: "Beer, mischief and duels"? Corps student education in the German Empire 1871–1914. Meidenbauer, Munich 2004. p. 111.