The Roman Catholic fraternity

Corporation (university)

Corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide.Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin corporatio meaning a body or group...

 Askania-Burgundia is the founding fraternity of the Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine

Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine

The Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine) is a German academic corporate association with ninety member corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...

 (KV). It is a Catholic Studentenverbindung

Studentenverbindung

A Studentenverbindung is a student corporation in a German-speaking country somewhat comparable to fraternities in the US or Canada, but mostly older and going back to other kinds of...

. The headquarters of Askania-Burgundia are located in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Based on the Roman Catholic faith, Askania-Burgundia strictly refuses academic fencing

Academic fencing

Academic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and to a minor extent in Kosovo, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Flanders.- Technique :Modern academic fencing, the "mensur," is neither a duel nor a sport...

. Its members do not wear couleur

Couleur

Couleur is the expression used in European Studentenverbindungen for the headgears and ribbons worn by members of these student societies....

. Askania-Burgundia's principles are religio (religion), scientia (science) and amicitia (friendship).

History

Georg von Hertling (a university student who later became imperial German chancellor) founded Askania-Burgundia in 1853. The root of the fraternity was a Catholic academic reader circle. During the German Kulturkampf

Kulturkampf

The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...

(literally, "culture struggle") in the late 19th century the fraternity became an important meeting point for Catholic students in Berlin.

Members

Askania-Burgundia's members are all male. Among its members, there are several German chancellors like Wilhelm Marx

Wilhelm Marx

Wilhelm Marx was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was Chancellor of the German Reich twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and also served briefly as minister president of Prussia in 1925, during the Weimar Republic.-Life:Born in Cologne to...

, Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Kurt Georg Kiesinger was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 until 21 October 1969.-Early career and wartime activities:...

 and Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...

 as well as industrial managers such as Heinrich Nordhoff

Heinrich Nordhoff

Heinz Heinrich Nordhoff was a German engineer famous for his leadership of the Volkswagen company as it was rebuilt after World War II....

, chief of the Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 company, and several famous scientists. The membership is only open to baptized students of the universities in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

. The requirements to the members in respect to capability of teamwork and in respect to academic accomplishment are severe.