Academic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, and, to a minor extent, in Belgium, Lithuania, and Poland. It is a traditional, strictly regulated épée fight between two male members of different fraternities with sharp weapons. The German technical term Mensur in the 16th century referred to the specified distance between each of the fencers.
Mensur fencing in Heidelberg, 1900
An 1896 picture of Adolf Hoffmann-Heyden [de], a German Corpsstudent, showing an extensive fresh fencing scar and some minor old ones.
Student sabre duel, 1900
Mensur fencing with Korbschlägern in Tübingen in 1831
Studentenverbindung or studentische Korporation is the umbrella term for many different kinds of fraternity-type associations in German-speaking countries, including Corps, Burschenschaften, Landsmannschaften, Turnerschaften, and Catholic fraternities. Worldwide, there are over 1,600 Studentenverbindungen, about a thousand in Germany, with a total of over 190,000 members. In them, students spend their university years in an organized community, whose members stay connected even after graduation. A goal of this lifelong bond is to create contacts and friendships over many generations and to facilitate networking. The Lebensbund is very important for the longevity of these networks.
Meeting of corps-students (2010)
Corporation house of the K.St.V. Arminia Bonn (1900–present)
Ritual duelling in Würzburg around 1900
Couleur bands of the Zionist Verbindung Nehardea from Basel, in the Jewish Museum of Switzerland’s collection.