page_title: Leonensia
section_title: German Empire, 1871–1918
hierarchical_section_title: Leonensia / History / German Empire, 1871–1918
caption_attribution_description: English: Photography of new members of the German student association Leonensia of Heidelberg. Deutsch: Fotografie der Füchse der Studentenverbindung Leonensia Heidelberg. Der Passepartout trägt oben den Verbindungszirkel. Darunter steht: "Die Füchse des Winter Semesters 1904/05 ihrer lieben Kneipe z. frd. Erg."
context_page_description: Leonensia is a male student fraternity in Heidelberg. Unlike most German fraternities, members wear no couleur and are not obliged to engage in academic fencing. It was founded in 1871 and ranks among Central Europe's oldest non-couleur-wearing fraternities. In 1919, Leonensia and five other fraternities founded the umbrella organization Miltenberger Ring.
context_section_description: Shortly after the Franco-Prussian War, Leonensia was founded by students in the restaurant Zum Goldenen Löwen in Heidelberg. In the beginning, the "society" (Gesellschaft) had few rules, among them regulations (de) on how to properly consume vast amounts of beer during social gatherings. The creation of a Zirkel and of a fraternity hymn (de) furthered the identity of the young society.
  In 1878, Leonensia clashed with another fraternity, called Corps Vandalia. As both fraternities focussed on recruiting freshmen from Mecklenburg, Vandals challenged members of Leonensia to duels hoping to destroy the rival fraternity. Under this pressure, it was decided to amend the society's constitution so as to make it compulsory for members of Leonensia to give satisfaction where an offence had violated the honor of the challenging party. With this decision, Leonensia was able to adhere to the code of honor of fraternities in Heidelberg while protecting itself from frivolous mass challenges by Vandalia. A further amendment to the constitution outlawed the wearing of couleur for members of Leonesia. This decision was taken to distance Leonensia from couleur-wearing fraternities like Vandalia.
  Historian Bernd Kasten describes Leonensia as the "most important civic student fraternity of Mecklenburg" (wichtigste bürgerliche Studentenverbindung für Mecklenburg) during the German Empire. Historian Martin Dröge confirms this assessment in a biography on Nazi politician Karl-Friedrich Kolbow: "If you wanted to start a career as a jurist in Mecklenburg, establishing contacts as an active member of Leonensia was essential." (Wer später in der mecklenburgischen Heimat als Jurist Karriere machen wollte, musste als aktiver Leonenser in Heidelberg die entsprechenden Kontakte geknüpft haben.)
  The influence of Leonensia in Mecklenburg is borne out by the fact that its member, Adolf Langfeld, served as first minister of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin until the outbreak of the German Revolution of 1918–19. The flag of Leonensia is identical to the Grand Duchy. The upper right field of the Duchy's and Leonensia's coat of arms bears the head of a crowned bull.
caption: New members (de) of Leonensia sporting traditional jackets called Kneipjacke de (1904)
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