Corps Rhenania Heidelberg

Corps Rhenania Heidelberg is a member Corps of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband, the oldest association of student fraternities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Corps Rhenania is "pflichtschlagend", which refers to the fact that it requires of its members, that they participate in several ritual, organised duels with members of other specific student fraternities. Eligible applicants are those students, both current and former, of the Ruprecht Karl University in Heidelberg, Germany. Members of Corps Rhenania are colloquially referred to as "Rhenane".GeneralRhenania Heidelberg is one of the oldest fraternities in Heidelberg. In its current form it was founded on January 15, 1849; its roots and predecessor fraternities date back to 1802, if not earlier. Rhenania means "area of the Rhine", where most of the founding members came from. Consequently, they chose the colors of their home area, which are blue, white and red. Following the open-minded principles of Corps, Rhenania traditionally is counting many foreigners among its members, including members from the U.S., Spain, Japan, Sweden, Greece and Turkey. Vice versa, members of the fraternity may be found in many different countries. While the vast majority of the members study medicine, law, economics, chemistry or theology, in fact, all different professions are represented, including academics, politicians, writers and authors, journalists, officers, public officials and members of the diplomatic service, to name a few. One of their most important and guiding principles is the strong bond of friendship and support that links its members. A unique aspect of the friendship is the almost immediate understanding across generations, establishing a true bond between young members, not older than 20 years, with the most senior member, well in his 90s.