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“... in order to Keep German Soil German”: Austrian Burschenschaften, Nationalist Ethnopolitics and the South Tirol Conflict after 1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2014

Bernhard Weidinger
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Burschenschaften, as a particular type of German-nationalist (völkisch) student fraternity, have partaken in shaping Austrian politics in numerous ways since the nineteenth century. Acting as the standard-bearers of German nationalism in Austria after 1945 and being strongly represented in the ranks of the Freedomite Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs/FPÖ), they have been able to maintain a degree of political relevance up until the present day—their intimate ideological, personal, and institutional entanglement with the National Socialist regime notwithstanding. Nonetheless, their history has so far almost exclusively been written by fraternity members themselves, and mostly in an affirmative, if not apologetic fashion; critical assessments for the post-1945 era in particular are limited to a small number of articles that, for the most part, are based on secondary literature rather than on primary sources.

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Articles
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Austrian History Yearbook , Volume 45 , April 2014 , pp. 213 - 230
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Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 2014 

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References

1 Despite striking similarities, most importantly in terms of homosocial organizing, ideology, and group dynamics, Burschenschaften are to be distinguished from Catholic fraternities and, to a lesser degree, from other German-nationalist ones (Corps, Landsmannschaften, etc.). Also, Burschenschaften exist at both the university and secondary school levels. For the sake of style and readability, I use the term “fraternity” to refer to academic Burschenschaften in this article; I do not use it to refer to any type of Catholic or secondary school fraternity. By völkisch, I refer to a worldview that is anchored in the category of a people (Volk) in the sense of ethnos. In this perspective, ethnic collectives appear as the main agents of human history, as bearers of a certain set of qualities and, also, certain rights. Belonging is largely determined by lineage, not—as in republican nationalism—by adherence to a certain set of values. On the concept of völkisch nationalism, cf. Kellershohn, Helmut, “Völkischer Nationalismus und seine Kernideologeme: Eine knappe Begriffsklärung,” in Der Spuk ist nicht vorbei: Völkisch-nationalistische Ideologeme im öffentlichen Diskurs der Gegenwart, ed. Jäger, Siegfried et al. (Duisburg, 1998), 22–26.Google Scholar

2 I prefer this translation as an alternative to the more common usage “Austrian Freedom Party.” Apart from mirroring the German name more accurately, the term “freedomite” accentuates the blend of liberal and nationalist traditions of thought that is characteristic of the FPÖ and that, among other things, distinguishes it from liberal parties in other European countries. Other than liberalism, freedomite ideology emphasizes the collective dimension of freedom (the freedom of a people in an ethnic sense) at the expense of individual rights and freedoms.

3 Cf. Gehler, Michael, “Korporationsstudenten und Nationalsozialismus in Österreich: Eine quantifizierende Untersuchung,” Geschichte und Gesellschaft 20, no. 1 (1994): 1–28Google Scholar; also Weidinger, Bernhard, “Vom ‘Zusammenbruch’ zur ‘neuen Burschenherrlichkeit’: Zur Restauration des völkischen Studentenverbindungswesens in Österreich nach 1945,” zeitgeschichte 38, no. 2 (2011): 88–107Google Scholar, at 88–91.

4 Cf. e.g., Mölzer, Andreas, ed., Pro Patria: Das deutsche Korporationsstudententum—Randgruppe oder Elite? (Graz, 1994)Google Scholar; Graf, Martin, ed., 150 Jahre Burschenschaften in Österreich gestern—heute—morgen (Graz, 2009).Google Scholar

5 As a significant exception, the works of Michael Gehler must be mentioned. Cf. e.g., “Rechtskonservativismus, Rechtsextremismus und Neonazismus in österreichischen Studentenverbindungen von 1945 bis in die jüngste Zeit,” in Schwieriges Erbe: Der Umgang mit Nationalsozialismus und Antisemitismus in Österreich, der DDR und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ed. Bergmann, Werner, Erb, Rainer, and Lichtblau, Albert, 236–63 (Frankfurt, 1995).Google Scholar

6 The article is based largely on a chapter from my dissertation on Burschenschaften and politics in Austria after 1945. The completion of the dissertation was made possible thanks to a DOC-fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a research fellowship awarded by the University of Vienna. For her considerate and scholarly sound proofreading, I would like to thank Karin Kuchler of the University of Vienna.

7 For a comprehensive account, cf. Steininger, Rolf, Südtirol im 20. Jahrhundert: Vom Leben und Überleben einer Minderheit (Innsbruck, 2004)Google Scholar; with a focus on the South Tirol terrorism: Gehler, Michael, “‘dass keine Menschenleben geopfert werden sollten—das war der Plan.’ Die Bozner ‘Feuernacht’ und die Südtirol-Attentate der 1960er Jahre,” in Von Sarajewo zum 11. September 2001: Einzelattentate und Massenterrorismus, ed. Gehler, 205–56 (Innsbruck, 2007).Google Scholar

8 The attacks were carried out in several series. On the diffuse backgrounds of the last series, cf. Peterlini, Hans Karl, Feuernacht: Südtirols Bombenjahre—Hintergründe, Schicksale, Bewertungen 1961–2011 (Bozen/Bolzano, 2011), 427–45.Google Scholar

9 Cf. exemplarily BAK, DB 9 (Archiv der Deutschen Burschenschaft im Deutschen Bundesarchiv Koblenz), E. 4, ADC/DBÖ-Tags-Protokolle und Arbeitsunterlagen, minutes from the annual meeting of Austrian Burschenschaften (DBÖ-Tag) 1963, 2; Wiener akademische Burschenschaft Libertas, Libertas: Die Geschichte einer Wiener Burschenschaft, vol. 3 (Vienna, 1967), 134–35.Google Scholar

10 Günter Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” in 150 Jahre Burschenschaften, ed. Graf, 105–21, at 120.

11 Akademische Burschenschaft Alemannia in Wien, Festschrift zum 100. Stiftungsfest (Gmunden, 1962)Google Scholar, 26. All quotes in this article are translated from German; all translations are my own.

12 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 7; Nachtmann, Herwig, “Südtirol,” in Österreich und die deutsche Nation, ed. Mölzer, Andreas, 313–30 (Graz, 1985)Google Scholar, at 330.

13 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, resolution on South Tirol, supplement to the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956, and the minutes themselves, 13–14, respectively.

14 Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 112 and 119; Gerhard Pendl, “Vorwort,” in Graf, 150 Jahre, 13–14, at 13.

15 Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 120.

16 Cf. i.a. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956; supplement 1 to the minutes from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958, 5–6; supplement 1 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 7. The resolutions were usually met with little to no reaction from their addressees—cf. e.g., the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1956, 2; BAK, DB 9, E.4, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, circular letter no. 1, October 1960, 3. According to Norbert Burger (Olympia, Vienna), however, the resolutions had “a bearing on the Austrian federal government that should not be underestimated.” BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 7.

17 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ADC-Tag 1957, 17.

18 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958, 8. Also, leaflets carrying that same message were distributed along the Brenner Pass road for years. Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, supplement VI to circular letter no. 4, December 1964, 2–3.

19 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 3 to the minutes from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958; minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956, 5.

20 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 2/6 to the minutes from the ordinary DBÖ-Tag 1961, 2; BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, supplement VI to circular letter no. 4, December 1964, 1.

21 Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 119.

22 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956, 5.

23 Quoted in Libertas, Geschichte, 135, from a report in Libertas' intra-fraternity newspaper. For a critical perspective on the event, cf. Arbeiter-Zeitung, 14 October 1956, 1.

24 Cf. Akademische Burschenschaft Oberösterreicher Germanen in Wien, Die Akademische Burschenschaft Oberösterreicher Germanen in Wien in den Jahren 1967 bis 1992 (Vienna, 1994)Google Scholar, 140.

25 Cf. e.g. the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1957, 16–17; from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958, 9–11; and from the DBÖ-Tag 1963, 2 and 10 (all: BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle). In 1967/68, the DBÖ made an effort to raise the humongous amount of ATS 80,000 (or ATS 3,000 per fraternity). Cf. Carl Grisson's letter to his fellow members of Germania Innsbruck, 10 February 1968, Innsbruck (private collection).

26 On the Niermann Foundation, cf. Der Spiegel, Nr. 45, 7 November 1994, 68–72; Falter, no. 7, 11 February 1998, 13; Antifaschistisches Info-Blatt no. 33, 1996, 28–30.

27 Cf. e.g., BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, report of the Volkstumsreferent für Südtirol, supplement to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1963, 1–2; supplement 1/4 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1962, 1.

28 I speak of terrorism and terrorists in a deliberate rejection of terms like activism or freedom fighters. In my opinion, those latter terms belittle or even glorify the activities at issue here. If we understand terrorism as a pursuit of political goals through generating attention and instilling fear by the use of violence toward material things and/or people, the terminology seems to fit our case very well. This is also true when narrowing down our definition by applying additional criteria such as a systematics, advanced logistics, a multiyear duration, and the aim to cause (or the willingness to accept) casualties.

29 Nachtmann, “Südtirol,” 326.

30 Aula, July/August 1977, 4.

31 Ibid., 4–6, at 5.

32 It was Norbert Burger—member of Olympia and a regular at Brixia's house near his workplace at the University of Innsbruck—who provided the main connecting link between the two. Cf. Innsbrucker akademische Burschenschaft Brixia, Festschrift zum 125. Stiftungsfest (Innsbruck, 2001)Google Scholar, 47.

33 Aula, July/August 1977, 5.

34 This segment is based on the representation given in Peterlini's book, which convinces through wealth of detail and novel insights gained from interviews with contemporary witnesses (see note 8).

35 Cf. ibid., 126. Burger also played a major role in planning and preparing the attacks. Cf. ibid., 123–25.

36 Wintersberger, interview by Peterlini, ibid., 242.

37 Peterlini, Feuernacht, 228.

38 Wintersberger, interview by Peterlini, ibid., 242.

39 Peterlini, Feuernacht, 109 and 228, respectively. Similar comments were made by Wintersberger when interviewed by me on 4 January 2012.

40 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 242.

41 Ibid., 231.

42 Cf. Arbeiter-Zeitung, 1 December 1961, 1; 3 January 1962, 3. During his hospitalization and imprisonment, Wintersberger becomes estranged from völkisch politics. In his absence, Olympia is illegalized and dissolved by the Austrian authorities, saving Wintersberger the trouble of officially resigning. Interview with the author, 4 January 2010. Cf. also Peterlini, Feuernacht, 241 and 248.

43 Cf. Arbeiter-Zeitung, 3 December 1961, 1; 5 December 1961, 2.

44 One of the three, by the account of the Ministry of the Interior, blared out a threat upon his arrest, directed at the police officers who apprehended him: “Just you wait until Hitler returns, then I'll have all of you hanged, you red, democratic pigs.” A medical examination found the three only lightly drunk. Cf. decision B 266/62 of the Constitutional Court of Austria, 28 June 1963, 4 and 28–29 (quote: 28).

45 Cf. Arbeiter-Zeitung, 2 December 1961, 2.

46 Quoted in Constitutional Court decision B 266/62, 28 June 1963, 5. Student fraternities are, as a general rule, constituted as associations under Austrian law.

47 Ibid., 6. Cf. on the legal case also Dvorak, Helge, “Olympen-Chronik,” in Wahr und treu, kühn und frei! ed. Verein für studentische Publikationen, 2nd ed., 13–78 (Vienna, 1996)Google Scholar, at 55–56 and 59; Burschenschaftliche Blätter, January/February 1964, 8; Written Question 4831/J by Member of the National Council Karl Öllinger, 17 July 1998, and the answer by the Ministry of the Interior 4450/AB, 15 September 1998.

48 Cf. Constitutional Court decision B 266/62, 28 June 1963, 32. On the obligatory payment, cf. ibid., 11 and Dvorak, “Olympen-Chronik,” 54–55. In the end, the funds raised were never used according to their intended purpose, as the Land Tirol decided to cover the court costs for all pending lawsuits on South Tirol terrorism in Italy. This decision was based on “a consensus among all political forces,” Wintersberger recalls. Interview by Peterlini, Feuernacht, 241.

49 Cf. Nachrichten der Burschenschaft Vandalia, winter semester 1962/63, 1–2.

50 Peterlini, Feuernacht, 277.

51 Ibid., 126, 181, 228.

52 Cf. Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 119; Arbeiter-Zeitung, 19 December 1961, 2.

53 Quoted in Arbeiter-Zeitung, 25 November 1966, 3. The original—Furche no. 46, 1966—was confiscated by the Austrian authorities.

54 Cf. the report in Kurier (“Bomb Thrower at Public Expense”), 10 February 1967, and the stenographic record of the Austrian National Council's 117th sitting, 28 November 1968, 9490–94.

55 Cf. Wochenpresse 10, 1963, 4.

56 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 385. Humer later rejected German-nationalist activism and became a professor at the University of Innsbruck.

57 Cf. ibid., 401.

58 Cf. Speckner, Hubert, “Zwischen Porze und Rosskarspitz ...”. Der “Vorfall” vom 25. Juni 1967 in den österreichischen sicherheitsdienstlichen Akten (Vienna, 2013)Google Scholar. Speckner surmises that the attack was staged by the Italian intelligence service to gain leverage in the negotiations with Austria and, at the same time, to cover up an accident during a military mining exercise.

59 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 403. On the conviction cf. also Arbeiter-Zeitung, 16 May 1970, 4.

60 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 404.

61 Cf. the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1955, 3 and 9; from the joint session of the ADC-Tag and the Altherrentag 1958, 6; from the joint session of the DBÖ-Tag and the Altherrentag 1960, 16 (all: BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle); BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, circular letter no. 1, November 1959, 3; Dvorak, Helge, Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft, vol. 1, book 1 (Heidelberg, 1996)Google Scholar, 158.

62 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 42 and 181 (quotes), respectively.

63 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 3 to the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1957, 1.

64 The indictment for the Munich South Tirol trial of 1970 charged Burger with recruiting co-perpetrators in Germany. As reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, 24 April 1970, 13, Burger gave as many as 110 talks on South Tirol in Germany since joining Olympia in 1953, which offered him ample opportunity for recruitment.

65 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ordinary DBÖ-Tag 1961, 21; BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, circular letter no. 2, 15 December 1961, 1.

66 Cf. on Mauritz's election BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ordinary DBÖ-Tag 1961, 21; in possible relation to Burger's resignation, cf. his thoughts on his withdrawal from the Bergisel-Bund, reproduced in Peterlini, Feuernacht, 55.

67 Cf. Archiv der akademischen Burschenschaft Allemannia Graz, Korrespondenzen, DBÖ, Rundschreiben und Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1964, 14 and 16 (Mauritz) and 13 and 15 (Nachtmann), respectively.

68 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ADC-Tag 1957, 16.

69 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958, 23; cf. also BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, circular letter no. 1, June 1958, 6.

70 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 1 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960.

71 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 2/6 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 10. One may wonder whether the initiative was launched in reaction to the conference of the SVP a few weeks before, where an effort to programmatically replace the demand for autonomy by the demand for self-determination had been averted by a narrow margin.

72 Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 8.

73 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 1 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960.

74 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1960, 6.

75 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the joint session of the DBÖ-Tag and the Altherrentag 1960, 15.

76 Interview with the author, 4 January 2012.

77 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 2/6 to the minutes from the ordinary DBÖ-Tag 1961, 1. It must be stressed that—much in contrast to the case of Burger—the literature provides no indication of Büchele having been directly involved in terrorist operations. In fact, he quit his fraternity as early as in 1961, joined the Jesuit Order two years later, and was ordained as a priest in 1969. He oversaw the Katholische Sozialakademie Österreichs and became a professor of theology at the University of Innsbruck.

78 Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 119.

79 Quoted in BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, circular letter no. 3, 25 February 1962, 2.

80 Wrabetz, quoting his own article from 1962, in Burschenschaftliche Blätter, May 1964, 104 and 103, respectively.

81 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, report of the Volkstumsreferent für Südtirol, supplement to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1963, 1.

82 Cf. on the criticism of Alber BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1963, 10; Wrabetz's quote appears in Burschenschaftliche Blätter, January/February 1964, 8.

83 Burschenschaftliche Blätter, May 1964, 102. Although many Burschenschafter actively involved were students at that time, the participation of fraternity members of a more advanced age was a phenomenon not limited to Olympia. One of those was Helmut Riedl (Silvania, Vienna). During World War II, he had served in the special staff of Otto Skorzeny, a fellow Burschenschafter (Markomannia, Vienna). Now, he had become the “chief blaster of the BAS and organizer of the blasting seminars for South Tyroleans and Austrians.” He was acquitted in Graz 1965 and Linz 1967, just like the other defendants of those trials. Between 1970 and 1972, he held office as the FPÖ's chair for Innsbruck. Dvorak, Helge, Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft, vol. 1, book 5 (Heidelberg, 2002)Google Scholar, 72.

84 Burschenschaftliche Blätter, May 1964, 103.

85 Cf. e.g. Aula, July/August 1977, 6; Dvorak, “Olympen-Chronik,” 53; Wiener akademische Burschenschaft Albia, Festschrift 135. Stiftungsfest (Vienna, 2005), 18; Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 112 (quote).

86 Burger in Deutsche Wochen-Zeitung, 21 July 1968 (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Zeitgeschichte, Sammlung Matejka, Mappe Norbert Burger). Cf. similarly Akademische Burschenschaft Aldania zu Wien, 100 Jahre Akademische Burschenschaft Aldania zu Wien: Vom Werden und Wirken einer deutschen Korporation (Vienna, 1994)Google Scholar, 184.

87 Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 114 and 118; similarly Nachtmann, “Südtirol,” 325; succinctly Burger, quoted in Gehler, Michael, “‘…erheb’ ich, wie üblich, die Rechte zum Gruß…': Rechtskonservativismus, Rechtsextremismus und Neonazismus in österreichischen Studentenverbindungen von 1945 bis 1995,” in Blut und Paukboden: Eine Geschichte der Burschenschaften, ed. Gehler, Heither, Dietrich, Kurth, Alexandra, and Schäfer, Gerhard (Frankfurt, 1997), 187–222Google Scholar, 374.

88 Cf. e.g., Rathkolb, Oliver, “Der Mythos von der Wirkung der Bozner Feuernacht vom 12. Juni 1961,” Zeitgeschichte 25, no. 1–2, 36–45Google Scholar; Steininger, Südtirol im 20. Jahrhundert, 491–92.

89 Gehler, “‘die Rechte zum Gruß’,” 202–03.

90 Regarding media, the left-leaning party newspapers Arbeiter-Zeitung (Social Democratic) and Volksstimme (Communist) constitute noteworthy exceptions.

91 Cf. Arbeiter-Zeitung, 15 October 1965, 1; Schweinberger, “Südtirol ist nicht Italien,” 117; Peterlini, Feuernacht, 386.

92 Burschenschaftliche Blätter, May 1964, 102.

93 Cf. Burschenschaftliche Blätter, May 1964, 104 and January/February 1964, 8.

94 Cf. e.g. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, resolution on South Tirol, supplement to the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956.

95 Draft resolution on South Tirol, supplement to a letter from Olympia to the fraternities of the ADC, April 1955, 2; resolution on South Tirol, supplement to the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1956; draft resolution on South Carinthia, to a letter from Olympia to the fraternities of the ADC, April 1955, 1 (all: BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle). Both draft resolutions were adopted at the ADC-Tag by large majorities. Cf. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, minutes from the ADC-Tag 1955, 13.

96 Cf. on South Tirol Olympia's draft resolution from 1955, 3 (see note 95); on the case of Carinthia, cf. exemplarily Widmann, Werner, “Kärnten ist anders! Minderheitenfrage und Volkstumskampf,” in Österreich und die deutsche Nation, ed. Mölzer, Andreas (Graz, 1985), 331–43Google Scholar, at 337–38; BAK, DB 9, B. VI. Burschentage [a], minutes from the Burschentag 1972, 29–31. The anti-Slovenian pogrom in the autumn of 1972 that has become known as Ortstafelsturm was met with reactions ranging from understanding to explicit approval in German-nationalist fraternity circles. Cf. the working documents for the Burschentag 1973, 31 (same holdings); Aula, October 1972, 8. For a more moderate, nuanced take on the Carinthian conflict by a fraternity member, see Müller, Wilfried, “Grenzland Kärnten—Das Minderheitenproblem,” in Handbuch der Deutschen Burschenschaft: Ausgabe 2005 zum 190. Jahrestag der Burschenschaft, ed. Burschenschaft, Deutsche, (Traunstein, 2005)Google Scholar 302–07.

97 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, draft resolutions 1955 (see note 95), 2 and 1, respectively. Windisch, as a political concept popular among German nationalists, denotes both assimilated, “German-friendly” ethnic Slovenians in Austria and their conversational language. From a linguistic standpoint, the notion of Windisch as a language distinct from Slovenian has long been exposed as a mere propaganda tool.

98 Gehler, “die Rechte zum Gruß,” 202–03.

99 Cf. Olympia's draft resolution on South Carinthia from 1955, 1 (see note 95); Aula, October 1972, 5–9; November 1972, 8–10; December 1972, 10–11.

100 Cf. Peterlini, Feuernacht, 70.

101 Cf. Burger, Norbert, “Südtirol,” in Worte und Bilder: Zur Erinnerung der Alten, als Bericht der Jüngeren und als Beispiel für die Jungen zusammengetragen zur Hundertjahrfeier der Burschenschaft Olympia in Wien im Jahre 1959, ed. Technisch-Akademische Burschenschaft Olympia in Wien, 125–38 (Vienna, 1959)Google Scholar, at 133–34 and Deutsche Wochen-Zeitung, 21 July 1968, respectively (see note 86).

102 Berka, Günther, Sind wir die Letzten …? Betrachtungen über den Aufbau der nationalen Arbeit in Österreich (Vöcklabruck, 1964)Google Scholar, 17 (private collection).

103 BAK, Burschentage, working documents for the DB-Burschentag 1975, 26–27.

104 Ibid., 27.

105 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 1/4 to the minutes from the DBÖ-Tag 1962, 4.

106 Burschenschaftliche Blätter, December 1991, 93.

107 The formulation is taken from a motion by Brixia, Teutonia (Vienna) and Frankonia (Graz) from 1958. BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 1 to the minutes from the ordinary ADC-Tag 1958, 5.

108 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Rundschreiben, supplement VI to the circular letter no. 4, December 1964, 2–3.

109 At times, paternalism mingled with exoticism as a consequence of idealizing South Tiroleans as martyrs and outposts of the German people in a hostile environment. As an example, see the motion put forward by Alania at the DBÖ-Tag 1964, according to which fraternity students should avail themselves of the Merano collegiate weeks (Meraner Hochschulwochen) to “establish relationships with the indigenous population” (“mit der eingeborenen Bevölkerung”). If they tried hard enough, they would find “how much the South Tyroleans like to make contact with South Tyrolean students” (as which the Burschenschafter apparently planned to camouflage). BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, working documents for the DBÖ-Tag 1964, 4–5.

110 BAK, ADC/DBÖ-Protokolle, supplement 3 to the minutes from the ADC-Tag 1957, 2 and 3, respectively. Claus knew, however, that good manners alone might not suffice to gain the South Tiroleans' trust and sympathy. A monetary donation to the South Tirolean Union of Students, he noted, would “appeal tremendously to the authoritative South Tirolean circles and have the best propaganda effect” (ibid., 3).

111 Ibid., 2.