February 9, 2005
MAYBE VANSITARTT HAD A POINT...:
AUDIO: Blood and Honor (Here and Now, February 09, 2005, NPR)
In competitive fencing, some things are understood: the blade is not real, and in any event you'd never purposefully scar your opponents face.Posted by Orrin Judd at February 9, 2005 9:33 PMThose rules are turned upside down in secret dueling societies in Germany that draw on ancient rituals -- and draw blood -- as a sign of honor.
Members in these German clubs may be scared for life, but they are also made for life with well-placed fraternal brothers in business and political circles.
It took freelance writer Jonathan Green eight months to gain access to these secret societies. A story about a duel he witnessed was published in the Financial Times Weekend magazine.
Oh boy, where to start ? Maybe by pointing out that these "societies" aren't secret at all. It are student clubs belonging to a very old tradition and they don't make a secret of the membership requirement that you fight a duel at least once. Most of these clubs are apolitical but rather aristocratic. Others (the "Burschenschaften") do have a political message which can best be described as conservative German patriotism (Bismarck rather than Hitler, so to speak, even though the Burschenschaften actually belonged to the movement that carried the failed attempt at German unification in the Parliament of Frankfurt 1848-1849, which included the German-speaking parts of the Habsburg Empire). Many conspirators against Hitler came out of these circles.
The duel itself is highly ritualized : both swordsmen may only move the arm holding the sword (and the elbow must at all times be kept above the shoulder). The eyes and the nose are protected, as is the rest of their bodies from the neck down. In between both fighters stand their secondants, who block every forbidden movement with their swords.
Posted by: Peter at February 10, 2005 3:41 AM