Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine

infobox Organization
name = Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine


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abbreviation = KV
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formation = Birth date|1865|11|29
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status = Foundation
purpose = Academic
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region_served = flagicon|Germany Germany
membership = 16,000 (as of 2007)
language = German
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website = [http://www.kartellverband.de/ Kartellverband.de]
remarks =The Alliance of Catholic German Students' Unions ("Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine") (incorporated November 29, 1865) is a German academic corporate association with ninety (90) member Unions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As of February 2008, the Alliance represents 16,000 students in Germany alone (additional numbers in Austria and Switzerland not stated at de.Wikipedia.org as of March 1, 2008).

History

Prior to and during the First World War, 1853—1918

The process of forging an alliance of students' associations began in 1863, when several "color-carrying" Catholic students' associations ("Farbentragende katholische Studentenverbindungen") independently prepared an inter-association group under the initial title "Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen;" the organization suffered schism in its first year. In 1865, a successful Alliance of Students' Unions under the present name was incorporated at Berlin twelve years to the day after the "Katholische Leseverein" was incorporated. The initial association consisted of five "non-color-carrying" students' unions ("Nichtfarbentragende katholische Studentenvereine"): the K.St.V. Askania-Burgundia Berlin, established November 29, 1853 as the "Katholische Leseverein," at the "Humboldt-Universität," Berlin; the K.St.V. Unitas-Breslau, established March 4, 1863, at the "Universitas Wratislaviensis," Breslau, Lower Silesia (Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, from 1945); the K.St.V. Arminia Bonn, established November 6, 1863, at the "Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität," Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia; the K.St.V. Germania, established March 7, 1864, at the "Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität," Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia; and the K.St.V. Walhalla Würzburg, established 1864, at the "Julius-Maximilians-Universität," Würzburg, Franconia.

In 1865, the Alliance commenced its work in the intellectual, religious and cultural areas of the German society of the period. The same year saw the Alliance's first major adversity: a multilateral inquiry into the doctrine of Papal infallibility. The Cultural Struggle, a heavy burden on the member Unions, actually served to promote the "Kartellverband" to the point where, as of 1914, the Alliance had fifty-one (51) member Student Unions.

During the Weimar Republic, 1919—1932

After the Peace of Versailles, the Alliance's ranks swelled with returning war veterans, resulting in the establishment of numerous additional "Studentenvereine," including the "Katholische Österreichere Studentenvereine" at Vienna and Graz, Austria.

By 1921, an Alumni Board ("Philisterausschuß," lit., "Philistine outshoot") was elected after much debate within the Alliance, the individual "Studentenvereine" having established alumni's unions ("Philistervereine") from 1913; the principle of federal life governed the Board.

From 1930, membership declined as a consequence of the economic crisis that started with the mass stock sell-off at the New York Stock Exchange on October 29, 1929.

During the Nazi Regime, 1932—1945

The Alliance faced a triple whammy that eventually resulted in forcible decorporation on July 6, 1938 under the "Verbot der Korporationsverbände": Misjudgment of the totalitarian regime of Adolf Hitler, misinformation and deliberate Nazi deception.

In March 1933, the Catholic bishops' resistance to the Nazi power grab weakened, and with it the will of the "Studentenvereine" to fight; the conclusion of the "Reichskonkordat" finished both off. Several corporations resisted, but were unable to halt the Alliance's collapse.

At the start of the Nazi regime, the corporations, that were not prohibited, were held for enlargement of their directors' boards. On September 1, 1933 at Frankfurt am Main, the Alliance was merged into the "Ring katholischer deutscher Burschenschaften," albeit over objections from within, over the fact that a "color-carrying" and a "non-color-carrying" board had been combined; and from without, as the "Deutsche Burschenschaft" accused the "RKDB" of name infringement. The merger did not last long.

On July 10, 1933, the "Studentenvereine" in Austria severed ties with the Alliance on account of Austro-German tensions at the time, and incorporated an "Österreichischer Cartellverband"; the "Kartellverband katholischer nichtfarbentragender akademischer Vereinigungen Österreichs" incorporated July 22 of the same year. Both "Kartellverbände" were forcibly decorporated on June 20, 1938 in the wake of the Nazi invasion and annexation of Austria ("Anschluß Österreiches").

1945—present

The Alliance was reincorporated immediately after the Nazi collapse. Many Alliance alumni were directly involved in the fledgeling government of the "Bundesrepublik Deutschland", newly incorporated in 1946, emerging at all Minister positions and the Federal Chancellory ("Bundeskänzlerei"). At the Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht"), the Alliance established a liberal democratic order ("Freiheitlich-demokratische Grundordnung"), with Gebhard Müller as Chief Justice and Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde and Paul Kirchhof as Associate Justices.

From 1968, the Alliance reorganized from the ground up, the primary innovation being the capacities of the member Students' Unions, in certain cases composed of non-Catholic Christians.

The Alliance is a member of the Labor-Congress of Catholic Associations ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft katholischer Verbände") and the Labor-Congress of Catholic Student Associations ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft katholischer Studentenverbände").

Principles

The Alliance holds to the principles of:
*Faith
*Science
*Friendship

The Alliance of Catholic Academic Student Unions of Austria additionally hold to the principle of Love of Home-Nation.

Member Unions

Notable members

Footnotes

Bibliography

* (Deutsch) "Akademische Monatsblätter," Official Newsletter of the KV.k.d.StVe. ISSN 0002-3000.
* (Deutsch) Robert Jauch OFM, "Das Prinzip "Religion" katholischer Studenten- und Akademikerverbände unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der nachkonziliaren Entwicklung beim Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine (KV)" (ISBN 3-923-621-14-0). Würzburg, BRD: Archivverein e.V. der Markomannia, 1986.

See also

* Students' union
* German Student Corps, a "color-carrying" students' union ("Farbentragende Studentenverbindung").

External links

* (Deutsch) [http://www.kartellverband.de Official Website of the KV.k.d.StVe, Kartellverband.de]