At first a Swiss Catholic student fraternity was founded, Helvetia Lovaniensis. It existed from 1872 to 1875. It was succeeded by an all German Catholic student fraternity, Tungria Lovaniensis, that existed from 1877 until 1879. In 1888 a regional student fraternity was founded by students from Luxemburg. Only the last fraternity survived. Out of the ashes of the demise of the Swiss and German fraternities, a new fraternity was founded.
This event was triggered by a public allocution of Armand Thiéry[nl], a professor in thomistic philosophy at the university, on student life at Germanic universities on January 21, 1896. During his student years in Bonn, Thiéry had become a member of the prestigious student fraternity K.D.St. V. Bavaria Bonn, the oldest Catholic student fraternity in the world. This speech motivated a number of Germanic students to such an extent that they decided to establish a fraternity that same evening. It was called Lovania, which is Latin for Leuven (Louvain). The fraternity quickly expanded and Prof. Thiéry became honorary president. Lovania continued to blossom until the outbreak of the First World War. In 1914 the fraternity was suspended due to the commencement of fighting. At that moment the fraternity already had more than 160 active and inactive members. Numerous members died on both sides of the war.
In post war Belgium it was impossible to re-establish a German student fraternity in 1918. Promising efforts were made during 1927 and 1928 but failed after a short period of time. The Second World War made a quick re-establishment even more impossible. It took until 1996 until the political situation was stable enough to reconstitute the fraternity, within the Dutch-speakingKatholieke Universiteit te Leuven. At that moment many students who belonged to fraternities were members of the Cartellverband and studied in Louvain. The idea then arose to re-establish the fraternity. The last surviving member gave his blessing to this undertaking and on April 19, 1996 the reactivation became a reality. In 1999 the friendly affiliation to the Cartellverband was formally re-established. Today the fraternity flourishes and has over 137 members, originating from Flanders, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and the United States.
Principles
Zirkel (monogram)
Lovania is founded upon three guiding principles:
religio: the fraternity and all its members publicly adhere to the Roman Catholic faith
scientia: the pursuit of an academic education of all of its members
amicitia: a lifelong friendship between all the members of the fraternity as long as they live whilst demonstrating a strong esprit de corps
The members of Lovania do not practice academic fencing (Mensur) because it is forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church. Academic fencing is common with the more secular student fraternities that already existed in Germanic countries. Due to this restriction, Catholic students had to organize themselves in separate fraternities. Lovania only accepts men into the organization.
Structures
The fraternity has a legislative (the power to make laws), executive (the power to implement laws) and judiciary (the power to judge and apply punishment when laws are broken) body. All full members make up the legislative body, which elects the executive body. The legislative body also functions as a judiciary body. In this case it assumes the function of an honorary senate.
Traditions
Vollwichs - Georg Mühlberg 'Zum ersten Mal in Wichs' (1900)
The official dress symbols, that are worn by each member, consist of a vertical green-white-red triband bordered with a golden thread and a green kepi, the historical military cap as worn during the American Civil War.
During official ceremonies and special occasions, the praesidium wears a dress uniform, a traditional Polish military uniform called a Vollwichs which consists mainly of a bekiesza.
Famous members (selection)
Deceased
Prof. Dr. Prosper Viscount Poullet (December 9, 1871 - December 23, 1935) former prime minister of Belgium and Minister of State
Pierre Prüm (July 9, 1886 – February 1, 1950) former prime minister of Luxemburg
Mon De Goeyse (October 1, 1907 - December 21, 1998), Flemish student leader, author of the clubcodex
Prof. Dr. Albert Carnoy (November 7, 1878 - January 12, 1961), Belgian minister of internal affairs and health
Mgr. Charles Cartuyvels (February 27, 1835), vice-rector of the Catholic University of Louvain
Mr. Georges Baron Holvoet (August 16, 1874 - April 23, 1964), governor of the (Belgian) province of Antwerp and chef de cabinet of the Prince-regent Charles of Belgium
Paul Lebeau (June 29, 1908 - October 18, 1982) Flemish author
Prof. Dr. Albert Michotte (1881 - 1965), experimental psychologist
Wolf Otto, Geschichte der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindung Bavaria 1844–1914, Bonn, 1914
Contzen Hans, Lovania - Zwanzig Jahre deutschsprechenden Studententums in Belgien, Studentenbibliothek 24), Mönchengladbach, 1916
Schulze, Friedrich, Ssymank, Paul, Das deutsche Studententum von den ältesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart, 1932, Verlag für Hochschulkunde, München (Nachdruck), ISBN3-923621-90-6
Doergé Robert., 75 Jahre katholische deutsche Studentenverbindung Franconia an der Rheinisch-Westfälischen technischen Hochschule Aachen 1898–1973, Aachen, 1974
de Bruyne, Arthur (Ed.), Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van een generatie - Een liber amicorum voor mr. Willem Melis, Rinda, 1977, Kemzeke
de Goeyse Mon., O Vrij-Studentenheerlijkheid, Leuvense Universitaire Pers, Leuven, 1987, ISBN90-6186-251-5
Schieweck-Mauk S., Lexikon der CV- und ÖCV-Verbindungen, Gemeinschaft für deutsche Studentengeschichte, Würzburg, 1997, ISBN3-89498-040-0
Bodman, Ernst-Michael, 100 Jahre K.D.St.-V. Franconia Aachen, Aachen, 1999
Uytterhoeven R., Nostalgia Lovaniensis, Universitaire Pers Leuven, Leuven, 2000, ISBN90-5867-065-1
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