The Corps Bavaria of Munich is a German

Student Corps Corps (or Korps; "''das ~''" (''Grammatical gender, n''), (''sg.''), (''pl.'')) are the oldest still-existing kind of ''Studentenverbindung'', Germany's traditional Corporation (university), university corporations; their roots date back to the ...

located in the City of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The Fraternity is a founding member of the umbrella organisation " Kösener Senioren Convent" and unites current

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

s of all Universities in Munich and

Alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

. As a German Corps it still practices the

Mensur Academic fencing () or 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 re ...

, the Members are wearing an academic ribbon as a sign of belonging. The fellows of the Corps are called "Bavarians from Munich", because in the early years only people from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

were able to affiliate.

Couleur

Bavaria is known for their white-blue-white

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

on golden ground. On special occasions the Bavarians also wear a white

student Cap A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...

. New members ( Füchse) have a ribbon with the colours white-blue on golden ground.

History

Landshut

The Corps was founded on 30 November 1806 at the

University of Landshut The University of Applied Sciences Landshut (''Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Landshut'') is a Fachhochschule in Landshut, between Munich and Regensburg, with over 5000 students and over 100 professors. Its main focus areas are enginee ...

, which today is the Ludwig Maximilan University of Munich. Founding President was Joseph Count of Armansperg. He later became Bavarian Minister vor inner-, outer-, and financial affairs. As a minister for inner affairs he guaranteed the moving of the Corps from Landshut to Munich in 1827. In 1832 Armansperg became

Archchancellor An archchancellor (, ) or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries. The Car ...

of the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

. Another founding member was

Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier (5 August 1787, in Munich – 28 August 1867, in Heidelberg) was a German jurist. Historian Richard J. Evans has described him as the 'nineteenth century's most influential critic of the death penalty'. Biography He ...

, one of the best known Law Professors in the 19th Century. He was president of the Universities of Heidelberg and

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

and later became President of the first democratic Parliament in Germany in

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

Munich

In July 1848 the President of the Corps Anton Baron of

Lobkowitz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is an important Bohemian noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest noble families of the region. Over the cent ...

was a co-founder of the Umbrella Organisation, KSCV. Corps Bavaria became a full member in 1862 and still is today. During the 19th Century many

Noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

, Jurists and Medics were fellows of the Corps. As the Bavarian Corps in Munich many members served the royal family of Bavaria, the Wittelsbachers. Only two examples are Emil Knight of Schauß (he protected the royal treasure) and Theodor Imperal Earl Basselet of la Rosée (Educator of the Royal Princes

Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...

and

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

). In the time of National Socialism Corps Bavaria was forbidden as one of the first

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

, because they refused to work together with the

National Socialistic Party National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. In 1935 they got forced to sell their own house, next to the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, to the politician

Adolf Wagner Adolf Wagner (1 October 1890 – 12 April 1944) was a German Nazi Party official and politician who served as the ''Gauleiter'' in Munich and as the powerful Interior Minister of Bavaria throughout most of the Third Reich. Early years Born in A ...

. One Alumnus, namely Eduard Brücklmaier, was executed due to his connections to the plot of 20 July 1944. After the Second World War the Corps was refounded on 13 July 1947, in 1963 the

bought a new house for the students in the district of

Bogenhausen Bogenhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Bognhausn'') is the 13th borough of Munich, Germany. It is the geographically largest borough of Munich and comprises the city's north-eastern quarter, reaching from the Isar on the eastern side of the Englischer ...

, this house was renovated and extended multiple times. In honour of the 200th

Anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

Commercium A commercium (plural commercia) is a traditional academic feast known at universities in most Central and Northern European countries. In German it is called a or . Today it is still organised by student fraternities in Germanic and Baltic coun ...

in the Hofbräukeller and a ball in the Hotel " Bayrischer Hof". Today the Corps has over 230 members, of which approximately 20 study. Every student has to live at least 3 to 4 semesters in the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

of the

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

before being dismissed as an

. One particularity is, that most German fraternities – like Bavaria Munich – postulate live long membership. Those who finish their studies and even live in another city or country, still visit their "brothers“ periodically for special events or just pay a visit to the house spontaneously.

Notable members

Look up famous members of the Corps Bavaria Munich here. Short excerpt (alphabetically): Bruecklmeier2

* Joseph Earl of Armansperg (1787–1853), Founder, Bavarian Minister, Chancellor of Greece * Josef Knight of Aschenbrenner (1798–1858), Minister of Finance of Bavaria * Gustav Baermann (1877–1950), Medic ( Larvenauswanderungsverfahren) * Theodor Imperial Earl Basselet of la Rosée (1801–1864), General, Royal Educator *

Eduard Brücklmeier Eduard Robert Wolfgang Brücklmeier (8 June 1903 – 20 October 1944) was a German diplomat and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime, who was executed as a result of his association with the 20 July Plot. Life Brücklmeier was bor ...

(1903–1944), Lawyer, killed by Nazi Gouvernment * Stefan Blum (*1957), Lawyer, Entrepreneur * Richard Anton Nikolaus Carron du Val (1793–1846), Lawyer, Mayor of

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

* Georg Cornet (1858–1915), Medic * Ernst Derra (1901–1979), Medic * Bodo Eidenmüller (1927-2024), Chief of Production with Siemens *

Horst Eidenmüller Horst Eidenmüller (born 23 October 1963) is the Freshfields Professor of Commercial Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. Hugh's. Eidenmüller was born in Munich, Germany. He is a graduate of Ludwig Maximilian ...

(*1963), Lecturer in Oxford * Karsten Ewert (*1937), Medic, General of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

* Ambroise Forssman-Trevedy (*1963), CEO of Wasgau Inc. * Ignaz Baron Freyschlag of Freyenstein (1827–1891), General * Ernst Frickhinger (1876–1940), Medic * Joseph Gangkofner (1804–1862), Member of the parliament * Heinrich Gattineau (1905–1985), Director at

I.G. Farben I. G. Farbenindustrie AG, commonly known as IG Farben, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate. It was formed on December 2, 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies: Agfa, BASF, Bayer, Griesheim-Elektron, Hoechst, and We ...

, board member of WASAG-Chemie AG *

Karl Gebhardt Karl Franz Gebhardt (23 November 1897 – 2 June 1948) was a Nazi physician and a war criminal. Gebhardt was the main coordinator of a series of medical atrocities performed on inmates of the concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz. ...

(1897–1948), Medic, General of the SS *

Ludwig Grass Josef Johann Ludwig (24 August 1789 – 29 November 1860), more commonly known as Ludwig Grass, was a Liechtensteiner physician and politician. Early life Grass was born on 24 August 1789 in Vaduz as the son of doctor Christoph Grass and his ...

(1789-1860), physician and political figure from Liechtenstein. * Eugen Baron of Gorup-Besánez (1817–1878), Chemist *

Max Haushofer Maximilian Joseph Haushofer (12 September 1811 – 24 August 1866) was a German landscape painter and professor of landscape painting at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Biography He was born in Nymphenburg, the son of a tutor at the court of ...

(1811-1866), painter, Professor, grandfather of

Karl Haushofer Karl Ernst Haushofer (27 August 1869 – 10 March 1946) was a German general, professor, geographer, and diplomat. Haushofer's concept of Geopolitik influenced the ideological development of Adolf Hitler. Rudolf Hess was also a student of ...

* Franz Hayler (1900-1972), Secretary of State * Gerd Hohlbach (*1944), Medic, Professor * Lutz Jani (1935–2019), Medic, Professor * Friedrich Jungheinrich (1899–1968), Founder of Jungheinrich * Kajetan Georg von Kaiser (1803-1871), chemistry professor, researcher and inventor * Ernst Mantel (1897–1971), Judge * Karl Mantel (1869–1929), Chief of Police in Munich * Theodor Mantel (*1942), Medic, Professor *

(1787–1867), President of the Universities of Landshut and Heidelberg * Ernst-Günther Mohr (1904–1991), Ambassador * Ignaz Perner (1796–1867), Lawyer * Johann Michael Knight of Poschinger (1794–1863), Member of Parliament * Anton Knight of Schauß (1800–1876), Lawyer, Member of Parliament * Emil Knight of Schauß (1833–1900), Treasurer of the Royal Family * Hermann von Valta (1900-1968), Olympic Gold medal winner * Karl Tempel (1904–1940), 2nd Mayor of Munich * Anton Westermayer (1816–1894), Member of the Parliament, Priest

References

{{Authority control Student societies in Germany