{"id":19865,"date":"2025-04-09T14:29:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T12:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deutschlandmuseum.de\/unkategorisiert\/ceremonial-duelling-sword\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T14:07:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:07:42","slug":"ceremonial-duelling-sword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.deutschlandmuseum.de\/en\/collection\/ceremonial-duelling-sword\/","title":{"rendered":"Ceremonial duelling sword"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"Paradeschl\u00e4ger\"<\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ceremonial duelling sword<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlthough the cause of nationalism drew its support from a wide range of social groups during the 19th century, students \u2013 many of whom were organized in fraternities \u2013 were especially vocal in calling for the establishment of a German nation state. The ceremonial duelling sword on display in the Deutschlandmuseum was carried by one of the leaders of a student fencing fraternity. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Student duelling fraternities<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Students often liked to duel in order to prove their courage, and many of the student fraternities set up from the 16th century organized contests between each other. As the injuries caused by the thrusting weapons originally used to conduct these bouts were often fatal, fencers made the switch to slashing weapons in the 18th chentury. Now the worst that someone could expect was a nasty scar, which became prized as a status symbol. <\/p>

Two main types of weapon were used in fencing matches by the 1850s: the Glockenschl\u00e4ger and the Korbschl\u00e4ger. The difference between the two types of weapon was found in the form of their hand guard and explains their names. Whilst the Glockenschl\u00e4ger (Glocke means \u201cbell\u201d in German) has a bell-shaped metal guard between the handle and the blade, the Korbschl\u00e4ger (Korb is the German word for \u201cbasket\u201d) features a metal mesh basket covered with a solid fabric. Fraternities in the eastern regions of Germany mostly used the Glockenschl\u00e4ger; students in the rest of the country preferred the Korbschl\u00e4ger. <\/p>

The Korbschl\u00e4ger on display in the Deutschlandmuseum is a ceremonial weapon. With a blunt edge and point, it was never used to fight an opponent, but was carried by students elected to an office in their fraternity to mark their position. The colours on the hand guard are those of the fraternity, indicating the group represented by the student. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Who carried this ceremonial duelling sword?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Whilst an engraved dedication on the hand guard dates the weapon to c. 1860, several markings on the object suggest that it was commissioned by the Corps Guestphalia Heidelberg, a student fraternity founded in 1818 at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universit\u00e4t Heidelberg. The name Guestphalia is pronounced Westfalia and indicates that the members of the fraternity originally came from Westphalia. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCoat of arms, colours and corps house of the Guestphalia Heidelberg<\/strong> (Source: Der K\u00f6sener S.C. Handbuch f\u00fcr deutsche Corps-Studenten. 2nd edition, W\u00fcrzburg 1912)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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German student fraternities developed a system of monograms consisting of several intertwined letters to identify each organization: that of the Guestphalia is faintly visible on the hand guard of this sword. <\/p>

The letters \u201cv-c-f\u201d stand for Vivat circulus fratrum (long live the circle of brothers); a \u201cG\u201d for Guestphalia; and \u201cRC\u201d Ruperto Carola, the Latin name of Ruprecht-Karls-Universit\u00e4t Heidelberg.<\/p>

The colours of the respective student fraternity are traditionally found on the fabric of the bell-shaped hand guard. Guestphalia used the colours green, white and black, the classic tricolour of Westphalian student fraternities. <\/p>

Whilst black and green are clearly visible on this basket of the hand guard, the middle colour field is more of a dirty light brown, with the structure of the fabric clearly different from that of the other colour fields. It would appear that the material has been unprofessionally restored: the white paint oxidized and the sword does not appear as impressive as it once did. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Property information<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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