Association of German University Students

The Association of Associations of German University Students in Poland (VVDH) was a corporation association of students of German origin founded in 1926 . He owned the clubs German Students (VDH) in Lemberg ( Lvov, L'viv ), Krakow ( Cracow ), Poznan ( Poznań ) and Warsaw ( Warszawa ) and the "Firmitas" Landsmannschaft German students in Poland in Danzig ( Gdańsk on). The successor associations are the Association of German Students in Poland in Ratibor , founded in 1999 , the Association of German Students in Poland in Opole, founded in 2003, and the Association of German University Students in Hungary in Budapest, founded in 2005 .

Member connections

Association of German University Students Lviv

Founded in 1922, motto: "Faithful to the people, loyal to the homeland", colored (ribbon: blue-red-gold, black cloth cap)

Association of German University Students in Poznan

Founded on March 6, 1925, colorful (tip: green-white-gold)

Association of German University Students Krakow

Founded on November 11, 1925, motto: "For Volkstum und Heimat", colored (ribbon: white-green-gold, no cap)

Association of German University Students Warsaw

Founded on September 23, 1926, motto: “German style, treu preserved”, in 1928 colored (ribbon: black-silver-green, black cap), conditional satisfaction

"Firmitas", country team of German students from Poland in Gdansk

Founded on November 30, 1922, colorful (tip: blue-gold-red)

(Association of German University Students Vilna)

Founded in 1930. The VDH Wilna was recognized by the VVDH, but was not a member of the association.

Association activity until 1939

The activity of the individual VDH was quite different in view of the different framework conditions at the university locations. In Lviv, Krakow and Warsaw, the German ethnic group was small and therefore faced little pressure from the Polish authorities. Accordingly, the VDHs there were more like student cultural associations, which occasionally were able to maintain friendly contacts with Polish corporations. In Poznan, where the Polish population had been subjected to German repression for decades, there was a strong distrust between the two ethnic groups. Accordingly, the activities of the local VDH were politically shaped from the start. Last but not least, Kurt Lück , who was decisive for the foundation , brought the German-national educational work of the Kyffhäuser Association to the VDH Posen from his time at the VDSt Breslau . Although the VDH-Bünde accepted students of both sexes, a certain separation was maintained internally. The students organized themselves in the “Communities of Female Students (GdSt)”. Financially, the VDH, which initially had no old men, were dependent on donations. These came partly from other organizations of the German ethnic group, partly from private sponsors on site, but also from Germany. Both the Kyffhäuser Association and the Association for Germanness Abroad (VDA) collected funds for the VDH. The seizure of power by the NSDAP in Germany also influenced German youth in Poland. The " Young German Party " in Poland, which is close to the NSDAP , quickly gained members, also within the VDH. In the 1930s there was an increasing political division among the VDH members. In the course of increasing tensions in 1939, the club's activities were hindered by the Polish authorities; In individual cases there were also attacks by Polish students. With the beginning of the Second World War, a continuation of the club life was out of the question. A total of around 1000 students were members of the VVDH by 1939. Many of the members died in the war, some as officers of the Polish army.

Persistence in the Federal Republic of Germany

The first efforts to regroup the former members who lived scattered in Germany and abroad began during the first federal meeting of the Weichsel-Warthe country team in Hanover in 1951. From 1953 onwards, foundation festivals were held in Hanover every two or three years under the chairmanship of the Krakow VDH Theodor Bierschenk. The long-term relationship with the Association of German Students' Associations finally culminated in the "Grönenbach Agreement" in 1963/64. This made the male members of the VDH full members of the VVDSt. The VVDH joined the VVDSt as an old gentlemen's association. This should support a newly founded VDSt Dortmund. However, since it proved difficult there to form an active VDSt, the VVDH became the old gentlemen's association of the VDSt Bielefeld in 1987. The remaining members of the VVDH finally dissolved their association in 2000 after a new VDH had meanwhile been founded by students in Racibórz, Poland. As an official gesture, the last chairman of the VVDH, Hermine Kammel, presented the VVDH association pin to the founding senior Lukas Staniczek on the occasion of the establishment of the VDH Opole in 2003.

Successor clubs in today's Poland and Hungary

VDH Ratibor

On the initiative of Age Men of the Association of German clubs Students (VVDSt) came there in 1999, following a study trip through Upper Silesia establishing the Association of German Students in Poland Racibórz (Ratibor VDH) in Ratibor ( Racibórz ). Students of the teachers' college there became members. In accordance with the statutory goal of “maintaining German language and culture”, it was mainly students of German origin who came together in the VDH Ratibor. In contrast to the associations from the interwar period, students who do not profess to be part of the German ethnic group are not denied membership. The VDH Ratibor sees itself as a black corporation, using the colors black-yellow-blue. The members refer to themselves as federal sisters or federal brothers.

VDH Opole

In 2002, students of universities in Opole (were Opole ) on the activities of the VDH Ratibor attention and formed the same year an initiative group to start their own association, which its founding in the Upper Silesian hard Lubowitz (in May 2003 Lubowice celebrated). Due to the large number of students on site, the VDH Opole was able to achieve a considerable number of members in a short time. Structure and colors were adopted by the VDH Ratibor.

VDH Budapest

With the establishment of another VDH association in the Hungarian capital in 2005, expansion outside of Poland was the first in history. The cultivation of the German language and culture has since been revived in the Hungarian-German / Danube-Swabian circles on this level as well. Through the active participation of various VDH and VDSt associations, a negotiable organization could be created, the colors blue-silver-blue were adopted from the Hungarian-German coat of arms.

Activity of the new clubs

The new VDH develop their activity mainly in the social and cultural area. In addition to normal corporate events such as pub evenings, the associations organize lectures and conferences on political and social issues, German language courses, study trips and sporting and social events. On their own initiative, the now annual Christmas market in Opole (goes Opole ) back, in which numerous organizations of the German minority participate. Despite this and other close cooperation with other minority associations, the VDH emphasize their independence from the umbrella organizations of the German ethnic group. The VDH-Mitteilungen is published every six months . As registered minority associations under Polish law, the new VDH receive financial support from both the German and the Polish side. The "senior associations" as an association of the old members, however, bear the majority of the costs. A formal re-founding of the old association is not sought, but the two VDHs have passed a declaration of cooperation. The tradition of the old association is, however, symbolically preserved by wearing the VVDH association needle. The clubs maintain close contacts with the Association of German Student Associations (VVDSt) in Germany and Austria, with which there is a formal friendship agreement.

literature

Theodor Bierschenk: The associations of German university students in Poland 1922-1939 . Hanover 1988.
Practical manual of the Association of German Students' Associations , 5th edition, o. O. 1992.
VDH-Nachrichten , Racibòrz, since 2000.