American reacts to 'Why did so many German Officers have scars??'
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Why did so many German Officers have scars??
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There were no left-handed fighters in Germany at that time. Children were brutally trained to use their right hand, even if they were left-handed by nature. All of the students in these Schlagenden Verbindungen were fighting with their right hand.
This right here. And I can confirm that this practice was used in Kindergartens well into the 1990s. According to what my mother told me, I was left-handed until I was sent to Kindergarten, where it was "corrected".
In germany we have the ideom "Schneid haben" which means to be an impressive, noticeable character and basicly comes from this fact, that in former times most elite people were in a "schlagende Verbindung"
Nein, das Idiom ist viel älter als das studentische Ritual.
The practice of duelling and the associated scars was also present to some extent in the German military. Aenne and Franz Burda, 9 July 1931. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, duelling scars were seen as a badge of honour in Germany and Austria, making their owners "good husband material". Peace out.
I was part of a German fraternity that still fought Mensur as a core Principle until 2018. Sadly 2 weeks before my first match I had a very bad inflammation in both hands from training with a Schläger/Sabre that apparently had been too heavy. Subsequently I had to leave the Fraternity a while later for different reasons, but one being that I was unable to fence in a Mensur, which was very important.
Honestly fencing a Mensur is quite safe. When it is fought with sharp blades the Duelants wear a kevlar shirt, a fine chainmail shirt, Padded neck guard, double chainmail on the neck, Padding on the Arm and Steel goggles with a noseguard. only the cheeks and part of the forehead are really vulnerable and Doctors/Paukärzte are always standing by to quickly intervene.
I think it's funny that nowadays there seems to be a societal consensus among germans that ALL Fraternity students are Nazis, when most of them have a lot of reason to hate the Nazis, because they outlawed the corporations during their reign and pretty much ended their most prosperous Time. Since then, mostly after WW2, Fraternities have more and more lost relevance. There's only a small amount, mostly found among the Fraternities of the Deutsche Burschenschaften, that actually are Nazis, most of the others are normal people, maybe a bit more conservative, but very nice.
In my university-city we also have a bunch of those fraternity Clubs hanging around.
Most of them own old, fancy houses or villas in the city where the student-members can live for basically free.
Additionally, they have really antiquadet rule sets. I've Been to one because i had to do a seminar work with a member of such a Club in my Bachelor and they told me that females are prohibited from entering under all circumstances, non-heterosexuals are not welcomed and prohibited from joining and if you aren't Part of the catholic church you couldn't join either. Me being protestant was barely tolerable for them and my work-mate had to basically vouch for me xD due du that we were told to only work in the basement so that nobody noticed the non-catholic working in the villa.....
A friend of mine actually fences for Sport and once he got approached by some Club guys about joining and got told about this Kind of fencing, he laughed directly in there faces and told them that their fencing is Baby crap^^ because you don't need any skills or practice to do it and just do it, to hurt yourself xD
Well, when I went to one, I wasn't asked about my sexuality or my religious denomination. And there was a guy, who often had his girlfriend there.
Women weren't allowed to join. Thats true. But apart from fraternities (Burschenschaften), there was a female equivalent to this (Mädelschaften).
I am Brittas boyfriend, only using her Computer too. I am no accademic and rather shocked about intolerant antisemitic behavior of leftwing students currently flooding german universities . Scientists who are no member of politcal correct woke bubble have currently problems, holding a speech or discussion at universities. Formerly i, factory worker ,Had a good oppinion about students and proffessors seing them as fine educatet people, representing the spirit of golden days of german scientists. But nowadays? Way to much onesided pure idiots
"they told me that females are prohibited from entering under all circumstances"
Only from membership and for certain events. On others they also like to have girls on their parties.
They are not against getting drunk and getting laid on a party.
@@HalfEye79 we have one or two of those aswell here. on their websites they seem a bit more open-minded than the male-only equivalents.
But in general terms, i ain't the biggest fan of them overall. Some of them even try to lock you into memberships for life and threaten you with violence, if you stop paying your fees. That is criminal-behaviour and in my eyes not very tolerable.
I always say "to each their own, but only if you let other people live their way too and don't threaten or try to convert them" :)
Most importantly, those fraternities are pretty much right-wing extremists. I mean, the whole rule set around Mensur just oozes supremacist tribal thinking.
11:01 Hitler actually banned most (if not all) organized clubs and unions thaz were not state-organized. He was (rightfully) scared that independent organizations could be a source of insurrectionist force.
@jgr_lilli_ he stopped and forbid anything that offered anything connected to democracy, parties, unions, youth groups, evereything just belong to the one party.
yup, it's called national SOCIALISM for a reason.
@@MichaelCHO-tl6di Nope, socialism is something else and allowed boy scouts, clubs etc. In addition to fear from potential insurgent groups, Hitler rose to prominence from lower classes and as a populist, he hated aristocrats and their ways.
@@SilverJackLeg I recommend looking a bit deeper, collectivism will take different forms and cause immense suffering in the end.
The nazis had their own youth organisations too and were collaborating with the church, which other socialists didn't. I don't see this as a huge difference.
@@MichaelCHO-tl6di Its a common right-wing narrative that the Nazis were "socialists". Of course it's a lie, every reputable political scientist and historian can tell you this. The Nazis were right-wing in their whole ideology and actions.
In the end it was just a reason for the guys to come together and have a lot of beer 😀
and talk about their fascist ideas and actions
thats hasnt changed to this day
@@mats7492 Wo lebst du denn? 😂 Laber mal nicht so ein Müll du kleine Zecke.
@@mats7492 wrong
@@questy4tw Are you living under a rock? the afd has douzends of people in parliament that have been in these organisations and their staff is full of them as well!
@@questy4tw no, he's got a point
There are still a few student fraternities that practise these type of menusr fencing today (in Germany "schlagende Verbindungen").
Many of these fraternities only allow men to join and some of them are even very far right wing.
most of them are!
@@mats7492if cause you know them all and the members to make such a big educated argument
@@tjswc1458 ive had to deal with over 50 of these organisations and they were pretty much all the same..
@@mats7492 and they were all from the same type/umbrellaorganisatiom/city/country and even there you know all members? I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but with nearly 2000 frats all over germany with normally around 5-15 active members, not counting the alumni and the inactive members and newbies, even 50 are not able to talk for every frat. For example austrian ones are always way not far in the political spectrum since the culture there is way more extreme. Also it’s known that most (here the term is correct) burschenschaften from the DB is in the right spectrum, partly even extreme enough to be watched by the verfassungsschutz. But except from that the spectrum is so big, that generalization, and u see why one feels easy about that, is highly problematic for an actual discourse
0:51 This is an excerpt from the movie "Der Untertan", which is also available as a book, and it is well worth reading (and the book is of course also available in English).
In this book / movie the mentality of our great-grandfathers and grandfathers is shown / described very well (Prussian education and military culture) and it explains because of this mentality why WW1 and WW2 could happen.
Hitler banned every tradition and every last bit of culture in germany that wasn't up to his "perfect Aryans" delusion.
every region, state, city, town and every village had their own and shared traditions and cultures. And because of him most of that is forgotten or completly gone.
I despise that "man" not only for the obvious reasons.. as a german i also despise him for stealing our cultures, traditions and our identities.
Aber nicht vergessen, Hitler war kein Deutscher.
He banned it so people wouldn't come together for exchanging thoughts or bonding in cultural activities. His ideology needed the people to not have exchanges except for the Nazi get togethers. It's really sad how much we lost under him in art, sports and culture.
Thank you Ryan for bringing this up. It reminds me of my beloved grandfather who died when I was 5 years old. He told me about having been in a "Schlagende Verbindung" (literally translated, a beating connection), and yes he did study at university after WW1. But he was neither a Nazi, nor aristocratic. Anyway, I was very young when he told me about it and I was wondering why these guys would beat each other up. I'm not sure if he had a Schmiss. I was more impressed with all the other major scars all over his body, which came from being heavily wounded in two world wars.
There was then in accademic circles a difference between the more ritualiced Mensur and a real duels. For a long time german students could carry a sword, but in early 19th century, after napoleonic wars, numbers of students rised, and thrustfencing with narrow pointy blades caused a lot of deaths. In those more monarchist days students with often democratic ideas had not been liked by authorities, so in 1820s students fencing was short before being forbidden. But one of rulers of small german states, ordered his fencing master to create a lesser dangerous fencing style. He stopped thrustfencing and replaced it with cutfencing with an only partly sharpened light blade which has a rounded tip. This, and other changed, reduced deadly accidents, last one was in 1933, caused by a broken blade.
The current style of accademic fencing is mostly practiced in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but in small number also in Belgium, Poland, Lativa and Lithuania.
My grandfather had his nose shot in the middle during World War II. After the war, he had problems finding work as a salesman and always wore a huge plaster on his nose.
Banned fraternities: Control was obviously everything.
Hey Ryan , I agree with you, such an idea of fighting and possibly getting injured in the process is something only men can come up with to prove their masculinity.
I don't think so
To not make this an essay (it is already long enough), I take some shortcuts here.
Well, actually, your Schmiss shows that you made a mistake during the Mensur. When you do everything according to the "book", your opponent cannot come through your defense.
Generally spoken, these duels are made as fair as possible. Some fraternities require these duels for their members. The respective fence masters select the pairings according to hitting frequency and physical reach of the two. You have to stay your ground, no matter what happens. If you hit your opponent, and take a step back because you're surprised, you are dishonorably taken out of this duel. Wounds are treated by a doctor or a medic of a higher semester. If these need to be stitched, there is no anesthesia. Afterwards, you and your opponent seal the new bond by 1. exchanging a plaque with the fraternity's monogram on a colored ribbon. It is usually worn on the belt. and 2. drinking at least one beer together.
The duration of these duels are regulated in each region. They consist of an honor heat/round at the beginning and the end of the duel, a number -- often 30 -- of severe (hot, keen, live...select your preference) heats. Each heat has five hits and answer hits. After 15 heats the other has the right for the first hits in each round.
Historical origin: You had to be a reliable member of your fraternity when in the times were rough in the last couple of centuries. Members of fraternities have something in common. This could be societal status, local origin, special interest, and a couple of others.
3:22 you want the blade to be like a razor for two reasons: it hurts less if you get hit and its easier to stitch and leaves less of a scar.
10:03 there's still the danger to get scars its just less likely than in the early 20th century.
Surprisingly good video on the topic.
Hi, Ryan! This also reminds me a bit of Spanish bullfighting. (Not nice either)... 😵💫
It was definitely too “imperial” for Hitler.
1:40 SA leader Ernst Röhm (right one) who was a captain in WW1 got his scars when he was shot in the face during battle
just learned something new as a german
Greetings from European Germany Hamburg!
I, in my 38 years of lifetime, have lived in Germany, and never heard of this "Mensur".
Schmiss, is a word I've heard, I think it refers to a minor injury.
Ihr im Westen wisst fast garnichts von deutscher Geschichte. Wir im Osten hatten Glück, wir waren sowjetische Besatzungszone, und es liegt nicht in der Doktrin der Russen anderen ihre Kultur zu nehmen. Wir wurden von euch immer abgewertet, dumme Ossis und so, heute wisst ihr das besser und solche Frechheiten finden nicht mehr statt. Im Gegenteil, heute feiert ihr uns plötzlich.
@@Maik0341 ok Maik
Dieser Komentarbereich ist jetzt deutschsprachiges Eigentum.
07:10 not really, that would be kind-of like a poor person grabbing expensive looking clothes or an imitation rolex. The scars were a status _symbol_, they didn't grant status on their own.
At my time, the more honarable guys were those who did a lot of mensurs and got no smites. That showed, they had the will to take a scare but also the practice to not get one. It has something to do with showing that your willing to defend your fraternity brother and vice versa.
South-West German here. Never heard of this. And reading through some of the comments, I'm glad i didn't. Some Germans have the weirdest things to be proud of -.-
I'm sure that some of them got scars from the war, cause most of them already fought in WW1 and WW2
I'm pretty sure women would have done this as well, they just weren't allowed to.
that’s not correct, there are like 4 women that did it, ists just extremely rare
I am circumcised, am I now also part of the German elite...my glans was too big!?
POV: You put one of the most notorious war criminals in your thumbnail.
3:35 That was the problem when going into mensur against someone who did not like you. He could then really mess up your face
Member of a German fraternity here, we still do it today, I did it twice. The safety didn’t really increase since back in the day, the difference is more that back than they would want to get hit at least once so they could show of the scar, most of us don’t do that any more. Also back in the day it wasn’t uncommon for a fraternity member to fight >4-5 mensur per semester, while today most only fight 2-3 in there entire career, so they naturally accumulated more scars. A Mensur also usually doesn’t stop when first blood is drawn, but instead most of the time when either the agreed length of the duel was finished or when the (always, not usually) attending doctor would say that one side can’t continue, usually there are two doctors present, one for each side. And lastly nowadays even some of the woman fraternities start doing mensur.
8 times on 4 different comments against right and left handed! 😉
Because they are often at least ultra-conservative, members of fraternities are not very popular at german universities. Conflicts often arise when these guys show up in their costumes, for example at university parties, because normal students feel disturbed or harassed by it.
People feel harassed because people "are just there" 😅
That is no longer the case today. There used to be student fraternities that fought against other student fraternities without protection. That naturally led to corresponding scars. Today, there are only a few fraternities that practice academic fencing. Today, the few fencing matches are only fought with the appropriate protective equipment, as in professional sports fencing. These scars used to be a sign that one was suitable for higher positions in the state administration, in the administration of companies and the officer's career in the military. Today, German students no longer want such scars. These scars used to be a sign that one was suitable for higher positions in the state administration, in the administration of companies and the officer's career in the military. This also applied to the professions of doctor and lawyer. People with such scars were promoted more quickly. Today, German students no longer want such scars because such scars are considered unattractive. Back then, the students were so crazy that they interrupted the healing process so that a clearly visible scar would form. Today, deliberately inflicted scars are a marginal phenomenon, carried out by a piercer using a scalpel. The piercer makes patterns, or fish, flowers and whatever else the customer wants by carving into the skin with a scalpel.
There are alsow Women „Verbindungen“
Ryan you opened a nice can of worms here. 🤣
Takeaway message of this (love & hate thing within german "academic" culture) : leave it in the past millenium where it belongs to.
not realy german student organisations where pretty much democratic in the early stages or monarchistic but not nazi
its not weird that student corporations were banned from the nazis.. its a logical step coz student corporations are highly democratic! and its also not true that the students fought mensurs only with rapiers...my own corporation fought with heavy sabers on naked torso...there are also shooting corporations in germany
It is still a praktice in germany.
How about in some states in the USA: Stand your ground ?
It's like you are no real Ice Hockey Player if you have still all your teeth in your mouth, no real boxer if your nose is straight and not flat and crooked or no real wrestler if you do not have cauliflower ears.
First German
First German from the Netherlands
Lol the wish, it's still all about the scar, or "Schmiss" in the fraternities still fencing, but their propaganda seems to work just fine
I'm German and learned of this tradition only recently, probably through Ryan. Never heard of it before. Is that a southern thing? 😅
It's not. I guess it's mostly found in cities with ancient universities, which do exist in the North as well.
No, it's a right-wing thing.
Please react to wasn das für kombie
React German song . Kilez and more . Leben und Tod des Imperialismus. This guy tell the tru…
Of course, it would be much more difficult in the USA. There, two people would face each other with guns (like in old western movies) and try to graze the other's cheek. 😅
lol...
Hey can you please try to pause the videos just a LITTLE bit less often? especially the meme reaction videos.
🍻
As a German, a long time practitioner of historical european martial arts/sword fighting and a former colleague of a guy who does this shit and has the these ugly scars, I can tell you it's bullshit and has nothing to do with the art of sword fighting or fencing.
Maybe you should look that up one more time, just to be sure, just saying... greetings, a fellow guy who's done both, medieval sword fighting and mensur.
You cannot compare german fraternities with American fraternities. In germany, they (especially those who practice fencing) are very right-wing, and the not few members are right-wing extremists or are close to an extremist right ideology.
You should put that in perspective in regards to the US politics at least if you put something out there which is barely on the verge of being true like this to a american guy. Firstly most of students in fraternities in germany aren't right wing extremists (there are enough of those idiots though, won't dispute that), secondly, yeah, they are mostly more conservative and you won't find many guys who're voting the Left (even though I knew one personally), but there are is a big difference between people voting FDP or CDU/CSU and what you're implying and thirdly the positions the democrats (the more liberal party in the US) are holding would be considered centre-right over here. Also you should inform yourself before talking about things you know nothing more than some halftruths about. What about Turnerschaften? Or Sängerschaften? Or the christian fraternities? Or the girls-only "fraternities" (put in quotation marks for the latin meaning of frater and not in a judging sense) that are out there too? Also there are a lot of different variants in those fraternities that you most likely have in your mind when talking about them. And also this is not a D/A/CH-only Thing. The same fraternities with more or less the same structures and history can be found in the baltics. Also, just to put it in a historical perspective: for a long time fraternities wheren't part of the establishment nor conservative/centre-right to right but considered "leftist" (for a lack of a better term). Also Germany as a State was build upon the Work of fraternities, go to Frankfurt to the Paulskirche and look up the Plaques and the people who are inscribed into them. Those very same fraternities you so uncomprehendingly put into one big bucket which you mislable to fit your worldview where the ones building the state you're living in and where dying in big numbers to give you the democracy which allows you to do so. So yeah, there are idiots, yeah, there are problems with those idiots, yeah, a lot of people in fraternities are more on the conservative side but that doesn't mean they're a big bunch of nazis and reactionaries like you paint them to be.
Thats mostly a stereotype even I Had before somehow ending Up in one. There ist an organization of relatively few extremist fraternities which is giving all of us a bad Reputation. As a social democrat i have always felt very comfortable here
not true, friend of mine was in a fencing fraternity and i have been around those people.
Traditional fraternities (Burschenschaften) still exist on old German universities. Those who still practice academic fencing (and other self injurious behavious in the name of tradition) are called "schlagende Vereinigung" (striking corporations). They are usually very "traditionalist" meaning they are racist, sexist, antisemitic, and in many regions have close ties to right-wing parties.
Deine Charakterisierung einer schlagenden Verbindung dokumentiert deine Ahnungslosigkeit
you're talking bs
Modern leftwing studets are, as you can see currently in Germany, are antisemitic and onesided too. Whats the problem?
@@pok81 it's the truth
I knew a guy, who was so proud of his scar and his mother was so angry. First, of course, it's dangerous and stupid. second, these fraternities are very conservative and she didn't raised her son like that.
Herr Wuzer wie heißen sie nun richtig , Wass oder Wuzer ????
Wass for German videos, Was for Australian and Wuzer for UK. I doubt very much any of them are his real name.
@@nolasyeila6261 :Well I was just a bit confused about two different names.
BIERJUNGE!
... im from Berlin... born and raised with my Grandma... she was born 1921 in Berlin ... and talks about theese german stuff for so long ...and later it was on German TV every Day... and so the Story began...
In this video the whole thing doesn't look too bad. But my grandfather was in one of those fraternities and I saw the pictures of his fights. Some of his opponents got injured really bad. A lot worse than any of the ones shown here. One of the reasons by father did break with the tradition of being in that fraternity.
To me it seems quite insane. But then again I also think that when I see people going over the top with tattoos and piercings...
American will never understand what honour means !
What do you mean with "did this"?
Academic fencing is still practise and when you are a member of a "schlagender Verbindung", a fraternity where this is mandatory, you have to to it.
I knew guys with scars because of that. They are in their late 40's now.
They still do it today because they are all about tradition - with all the downs and very few ups that is connected to that, like nepotism for example.
Well, weak men trying to look hard... It does make sense. In the most creepy way.
No you don´t think too deep. You are goona think at this person who gave you that scar every time you look in the mirror.
🇩🇪
You have mistaken this @ all
Mensu fencing is cool and fun, it is done even today but more privat because most Uni do not allow it. And Ryan you are a cool too.
You REALLY have to react to germanys best comedy ever made: Der Schuh des Manitu
This groups are still making trouble and are most often far right, there is an new doku about it the Burschenschaften und die afd
This is a weird tradition. I don't like the idea of injuries as a
Sign of honour and pride at all. This is so ridiculous!
First
My ex was in a Christian fraternity while student at university. Actually already some pre- fraternity at High school. But they never did the fencing part. In Austria only right wing fraternities do the "Schmiss"fencing. Once in a fraternity it is for life.
People are incredibly dumb. Nothing more to say.
Don't call germans "Nazis".
Get educated what a "Nazi" realy is.Where thst word comes from and what it was used for in origin.
Wtf
@@iodiimelita7999 find out yourself.National Sozialist could've only been "Nasos" but not "Nazis".National is still written with "io" and not "z".Are ya too dumb to think for yourself?
@@iodiimelita7999 The word "Nazi" was british tavistock propaganda. Nobody from the Nationalsocalists called themselves as "Nazi", also the germans generelly. It is a propaganda word to blame all germans.
@@Maik0341 falsch, denn der Begriff wurde in den Jahren 1926 und 1927 das Wort Nazi schon vermehrt von den Anhängern und für die Anhänger der NSDAP verwendet. So heißt es in einem Artikel des Berliner Tageblatts vom August 1926[3] mit Verweis auf das nationalsozialistische Wochenblatt Berliner Arbeiterzeitung aus dem Kampfverlag Gregor Strassers:
@@Maik0341 Im Jahr 1928 taucht der Begriff Nazi schon häufiger in den Blättern der NSDAP und der übrigen Presse auf. So berichtete das SPD-Parteiorgan Vorwärts (Deutschland) im April 1928 von einem „Nazi-Aufmarsch“ in Bayern.[6] Die konservative Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung schrieb wenig später:
Student associations that do this still exist in Germany today. Many of them are politically very far right and some are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Definitely one of the more bizarre aspects of German culture.