BURSCHENSCHAFT, an association organized by German students for the pur pose, originally, of reforming the excesses and outrages customary at the universities of Germany, and to arouse a spirit of nationality by uniting the students of different uni versities. The first organization of the B. took place at Jena in 1815, and most of the students who became members had fought in the German war of independence; during 1815-17 it spread to Tubingen, Heidelberg, Halle, and Giessen. As it was evident that the students ‘y-ere to be disappointed in the hope that the war would he fol lowed by political reforms, the B. of Jena decided to have a general gathering of the associations, which took place at the Wartburg, Oct., 1817. At this festival all the universities were represented, and in Oct. of the following year, delegates from 14 universities adopted a constitution, which was agreed to by all except the universities of Austria, Gottingen, and Landshut; they adopted the colors of the German empire, black, red, and gold, and resolved to hold annual conventions. In 1819, Kotzebue, the German dramatist, who had been declared by the B. a traitor to his country, was assassinated by Sand. After a conference at Carlsbad, the German government took step's to suppress the B., but without avail; it resulted only in their holding secret
instead of public meetings. The original plan of a national B. was revived an 1827; the chief obstacle was the difference of view held by the Germanen, who desired to. bring about the unity of Germany by practical and political means, and the Arminen, who laid more stress on the ideal unity of their country and the cultivation of indi vidual powers. The views of these two parties were discussed at the convention of Bamberg in 1827, and in Frankfort in 1831; and, although the Arminen had the larger number of followers, they were obliged to give way to the more energetic Germanen. On the 25th of Dec., 1832, the B. resolved to attain the freedom and unity of Ger many by a revolution; all the students were called upon to support the B., whose head quarters were at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The attempt was made at Frankfort in June, 1833, in which nearly 2000 students were implicated. It resulted in the arrest and pros ecution of students at all the German universities, and many of them were impris oned and disfranchised. The students of Vienna, who mad never before been connected with the B., took a prominent part in the revolution of 1848.