Inforeader: Sabre, booze, rope team, an approach to the German fraternity system

The reader explains why fraternities have been present at universities for over 200 years and remain socially controversial to this day. It introduces central concepts, typical structures and rituals and outlines the development from the beginnings in the 19th century to the Federal Republic of Germany. Different currents within the spectrum are named, but at the same time recurring ideological patterns are addressed, such as völkisch nationalism and segregationist thinking, including anti-Semitic and sexist attitudes in parts of the milieu. Finally, the reader deals with university policy issues and makes local references to Siegen