Starting in 1889, there was a change in the format of the Reich Kommerse. This celebration had become a custom. Other fraternities wished to have their share in the leadership as well. The committee of representatives thus fell apart when the dueling fraternities left at the suggestion of the regional student associations. The fragmentation of the student body, which the V. D. St. had managed to alleviate to a certain extent, at least with respect to the major day of remembrance in the German Reich, has since reemerged in robust fashion. For the first time, two Reich Kommerse took place that year, one held by the Convent of Representatives of the dueling fraternities and another by the Unicolor Association (Paulus, Arion, Lausitz Preacher Society). In order to avoid even greater division, the V. D. St. joined the celebration of the Unicolor Association and maintained friendly relations with its fraternities in other regards as well. For the celebration of Moltke’s 90th birthday, however, it managed to reunite the student body in a general Kommers on October 28, 1890. This was boycotted only by the V. C., and the fellow association member and law student Rogge assumed the chairmanship. The extent to which the fragmentation had increased, however, became evident in the year 1893, which saw four different Reich Kommerse; the V. D. St. once again took part in the Kommers of the Unicolor Association.* But when the Unicolor Association dissolved the following year, the V. D. St. celebrated the 1894 Reich Kommers at its own pub. It had fulfilled its mission in this area. Since 1890s, Reich Kommerse have become and remained common phenomena; they have moved beyond academic circles to become customary in other nationally-oriented associations. The Kyffhäuser Association of the German Student Associations deserves credit for awakening the cultivation of traditions linked to this custom.
Since the splitting of the unified student Reich Kommerse in 1889, the coincidental proximity of the new Kaiser’s** birthday and the association’s founding day afforded the V. D. St. the opportunity to combine the two celebrations and thus reach out in a way that was new but still motivated by the old spirit. The first joint celebration in the winter semester of 1888/89 already represented a magnificent start. In front of 1,000 guests, among them generals from the officer corps of the Leipzig garrison, the celebrated law professor Prof. Sohm gave tribute to the Kaiser and the Court Preacher Rogge extolled Bismarck. Since then, the joint celebration of Founder’s Day and the Kaiser’s birthday has remained a favorite event of the V. D. St. and served as the high point of subsequent semesters right up to World War I. One particularly solemn occasion was the celebration of the 10th Founder’s Day in 1891. It took place in the theater hall of the Crystal Palace and was attended by Princes Johann Georg and Max of Saxony, General von Holleben and the officer corps, members of the Supreme Court of the German Reich, and the Superintendent General, etc. Prof. Luthardt, Court Preacher Rogge, and the Reichstag deputy [Max] Liebermann von Sonnenberg*** delivered addresses. A festival production by Pusch entitled “The Secret of the Kyffhäuser” and a well-executed comedic performance by the Fuxen**** accompanied the celebration. Once, in the winter semester of 1891/92, the association moved the Kaiser Kommers to an external location. Together with an affiliated association from Halle, the group celebrated the occasion in Merseburg, with Senior District Administrator von Diest and the local officer corps in attendance. In 1896, on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Reich, another Reich Kommers involving the entire student body took place at the suggestion of the V. D. St.; it was chaired by the vice-president of the university and attended by all fraternities. The Bismarck speech was given by fellow association member and theology candidate Maurenbrecher. Unity also existed the following year, 1897, with the exception of the dueling fraternities, which bailed out again at the last moment. This time, fellow association member and theology student Schumann gave the speech honoring Kaiser, King, and Reich. Upon Bismarck’s death, the Chairman of the V. D. St. Leipzig and science student Fredenhagen suggested that the entire German student body should be represented at the burial. The same suggestion had been made by the Alemannia fraternity in Bonn shortly beforehand, however. As a result, most universities gave the Bonn committee priority over the Leipzig one, and the former ended up coordinating student body participation in the ceremony. The Leipzig student body sent a member of the V. D. St. (Fredenhagen) and one member of a dueling fraternity to the funeral service on Bismarck’s Friedrichsruh estate. Prior to this date, on August 2, 1898, the Leipzig students had held an edifying funeral ceremony in the Crystal Palace, with Fredenhagen serving as chair and Prof. Erich Marcks giving the eulogy. The fellow association member and history student Hoetzsch had delivered the solemn promise to adhere to Bismarck’s work. And “everyone joined hands, old and young, student and professor, and sang the Deutschlandlied.”
* German name: Unikoloren-Verband – trans.
** i.e., Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was born on January 27, 1859 – trans.
*** A leader of the antisemitic German Social Party – ed.
**** Fux (pl. Fuxen): a 1st and 2nd semester fraternity student – trans.
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