Torch march and protests: tensions at the boys' day in Eisenach!

Torch march and protests: tensions at the boys' day in Eisenach!

In the Thuringian city of Eisenach, there was a torch march on Friday evening, which attracted around 300 participants. On the occasion of the scene day of the German fraternity, people gathered to celebrate their tradition and prevent a commemoration of the dead. This march led directly to the venerable fraternity monument, a symbolic place that is closely linked to the history of the fraternities. According to Stern everything went peacefully.

Not only the supporters of the boys' day were active. Numerous opposites took place parallel to the torch march, including organized by the German Trade Union Confederation. These resistance campaigns mobilized up to 80 participants who, under the motto "against any glorification of violence - fraternities" announced the struggle "through the city. It also remained calm with these meetings. The emergency services of the state police inspection Gotha and the riot police Thuringia were on site to ensure security, learned from fraternities: a controversial tradition

fraternities have a long and often controversial story that goes back to the early 19th century. The first Urburschildren was founded in Jena in 1815. Over time, the ideals changed, and the umbrella organization of the fraternities, which was renamed the German fraternity in 1902, developed into a haven of ethnic nationalism. Historically, many fraternities have a questionable relationship with anti-Semitism and joined the fascist ideals in the National Socialism era. High-ranking members of that time were, for example, the notorious Heinrich Himmler and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, such as the Federal Center for Political Education explained.

After the Second World War, fraternities were initially banned, but “old men” found paths to avoid the ban. It would be more than naive to consider the fraternities only as harmless student compounds. Today you have personnel and organizational overlaps with right -wing extremists. In Austria, the influence of these groups is particularly strong, as their connections to the Austria's Freedom Party show. In Germany, their influence is weaker, but many fraternities are currently focusing on the alternative for Germany (AfD).

The events in Eisenach clarify that the topic of fraternities in our society still polarizes. While the supporters of their traditions celebrate their gatherings, there is still a strong resistance to right -wing extremist ideologies and their glorification. It remains to be seen how these social tensions will develop.