Wingolf

{{Short description|German fraternity association}} {{Infobox fraternity | name = Wingolf | coat of arms = Wappen-Wingolfsbund.jpg | image_size = 170px | founded = {{start date and age|1844}} | birthplace = Schleiz, Germany | affiliation = Independent | type = Umbrella | status = Active | scope = International | emphasis = Christian Studentenverbindung | motto = {{Lang|grc|Δι’ ἑνός πάντα}}<br />{{translit|grc|Di henos panta}}<br />"All things through him" | colors = {{color box|#000000}} Black, {{color box|#FFFFFF}} White and {{color box|#75624D}} Gold  | publication = ''Wingolfsblätter'' | members = 35 student associations | lifetime = 5,000 | address = Birkhuhnstraße 2 | city = Lingen (Ems) | state = Lower Saxony | postal code = 49808 | country = Germany | website = {{URL|https://wingolf.org/}} }} '''Wingolf''' ({{IPA|de|ˈvɪŋɡɔlf|lang}}) is a studentenverbindung umbrella organization of 35 student fraternities at 34 universities in Germany, Austria and Estonia. It was established in 1844 in Schleiz, Germany. It is a Christian organization and was the first German fraternity umbrella organisation not to practice academic fencing.

== History == In 1844, representatives of student associations from Berlin, Halle (Saale), and Erlangen met in Schleiz, Germany, at what was called the Schleiz Council to discuss forming an umbrella organization for student associations. Later, the Bonn student association joined the group. Bonn, Berlin, Halle and Erlangen officially formed Wingolf or Wingolfsbund in 1844 in Schleiz.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Über uns (About Us) |url=https://wingolf.org/sample-page |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Wingolf |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Geschichte (Story) |url=https://wingolf.org/geschichte |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Wingolf |language=de-DE}}</ref>

Wingolf was established to be an umbrella organization for studentenverbindung or student associations. It was formed as a Christian organization and was the first German studentenverbindung not to practice academic fencing, a policy chosen because of its Christian ideals.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />

By the 1920s, it represented associations at forty universities in Germany.<ref name=":1" /> The position of secretary general was created to help manage the growing organization.<ref name=":1" /> Wingolf participated in the adoption of the Erlangen Honor and Association Agreement between dueling and non-dueling associations in 1922.<ref name=":1" />

Under the political pressures of the Nazi regime in the 1933 and 1934, Wingolf's member organizations were forced to add an "Aryan paragraph" to their policies, excluding thirteen Jewish fraternity brothers from their membership.<ref name=":1" /> When membership in the National Socialist German Student Union (NSDStB) became compulsory for students, the Wingolf associations no longer were able to recruit new members because the NSDStB prohibited membership in other student organizations.<ref name=":1" /> Finally, Wingolf was forced to merge into a new National Socialist association.<ref name=":1" /> Countering the loss of the student side of its organization, alumni formed the Association of Old Wingolfites in 1938.<ref name=":1" /> However, little was done by the Wingolf or its members to counter the policies of Nazi Germany.<ref name=":1" />

Wingolf reformed in 1948 but has changed fundamentally.<ref name=":1" /> When it held its first post-war festival in 1949 in Eltville, the organization asked for the forgiveness of its Jewish brothers.<ref name=":1" /> Because many of its associations were unable to be reestablished because their host universities were now in the Soviet occupied zone, new chapters were established at universities without theological programs.<ref name=":1" /> This changed Wingolf into an association of students from many disciplines with an interest in civics and shaping society.<ref name=":1" /> However, Christianity remained at the core of Wingolf<ref name=":1" />

Despite external pressures, Wingolf associations approved the Bielefeld Agreement in 1971, declaring a commitment to remaining an all-male organization.<ref name=":1" /> After the reunification of Germany in 1990, Wingolf reestablished chapters at universities in Dresden, Halle (Saale), Jena, Leipzig, and Rostock, as well as establishing new associations in Bremen and Erfurt.<ref name=":1" />

Today, Wingolf includes 35 student association at 34 universities in Germany; Wingolf zu Wien in Vienna, Austria; and the Arminia Dorpatensis in Tartu, Estonia.<ref name=":1" /> It has approximately 5,000 members. Wingolf is the oldest association of studentenverbindung.<ref name=":1" /> Wingolf is one of the oldest ecumenical organizations in Germany.<ref name=":2" /> Its headquarters are in Lingen, Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wingolf |url=https://wingolf.org/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Wingolf |language=de-DE}}</ref>

==Symbols== The name Wingolf came from Norse mythology; a Wingolf was a vestibule of Valhalla, the hall of warriors who have fallen gloriously in battle.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Geschichte des Rostocker Wingolf (History of Rostock Wingolf) |url=https://www.rostockerwingolf.de/ueber-uns/geschichte/geschichte-des-rostocker-wingolf/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Rostocker Wingolf |language=de-DE}}</ref> The word was translated roughly as "hall of friends" by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock in his “Ode to the Poet's Friends” written in 1767.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Über den Mainzer Wingolf, seine Geschichte und seine Bedeutung (About Us) |url=https://www.mainzer-wingolf.de/ueber-uns |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Mainz Wingolf}}</ref>

The motto of all Wingolf fraternities is {{Lang|grc|Δι’ ἑνός πάντα}} or {{translit|grc|Di henos panta}}'','' which translates as "All things through him" from Philippians 4, Verse 13.<ref name=":2" /> Its couleurs are black, white, and gold.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Its members wore these couleurs on ribbons and caps at all events.<ref name=":0" />

Its magazine is ''Wingolfsblätter''.<ref name=":1" />

==Activities== On odd numbered years, Wingolf holds a convention, called the Wartburg Festival, in Eisenach, Germany.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://muenchen.wingolf.org/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Münchener Wingolf}}</ref> It has a friendly relationship with the Falkensteinerbund in Switzerland.<ref name=":4" />

==Chapters== {{Main|List of Wingolf member associations}}Today, Wingolf includes 35 student association at 34 universities in Germany; Vienna, Austria; and the Arminia Dorpatensis in Tartu, Estonia.<ref name=":1" />

== Notable members == Following is a list of notable members of Wingolf's organizations.<ref name=":2">''Gesamtverzeichnis des Wingolf'', Lichtenberg 1991</ref> * Albrecht Alt, theologian * Willibald Beyschlag, theologian * Gustav Bickell, orientalist * Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, theologian * Harald Braun, film director * Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, ethnologist and ethnographer * Friedrich Brunstäd, theologian * Hans Conzelmann, theologian and scholar * Hermann Cremer, theologian * Friedrich Delitzsch, Assyriologist * Konrad Duden, philologist and lexicographer * Friedrich von Duhn, philologist * Johannes Heinrich August Ebrard, theologian * Sigfrid Gauch, writer * Franz Grashof, engineer * Adolf von Harnack, theologian and church historian * Erich Haupt, theologian * Karl Heim, theologian * Hermann Volrath Hilprecht, Assyriologist and archaeologist * Emanuel Hirsch, theologian * Heinrich Julius Holtzmann, theologian * Ferdinand Justi, linguist and orientalist * Martin Kähler, theologian * Johannes Kahrs, member of the German parliament, Deutscher Bundestag * Emil Friedrich Kautzsch, Hebrew scholar * Paul Kleinert, theologian * August Klostermann, Lutheran theologian * Johannes Kuhlo, co-founder of the Posaunenchor (trombone choir/church brass ensemble) movement who developed the kuhlohorn * Walter Künneth, theologian * Georg Leibbrandt, Nazi Party official * Friedrich Maurer, philologist * Carl Meinhof, linguist, one of the first linguists to study African languages. * Christian Mergenthaler, politician, member of the Reichstag * Julius Müller, theologian * Alexander von Oettingen, theologian * Gottlieb Olpp, medical missionary * Wilhelm Pauck, church historian and theologian * Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, pioneered rural credit unions in Germany * Albrecht Ritschl, theologian * Gerhard Ritter, historian * Adolf Schlatter, theologian and professor * Paul Schneider, pastor * August Tholuck, theologian * Paul Tillich, theologian and philosopher * Jacob Volhard, chemist * Theodor Weber, theologian and professor of philosophy * Theodor Zahn, theologian and biblical scholar * Matthias Zimmer, politician, member of the Bundestag * Otto Zöckler, theologian

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * http://www.wingolf.de

Category:Christian student societies in Germany Category:Fraternities and sororities in Austria Category:1844 establishments in the German Confederation Category:Fraternities and sororities in Estonia