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Young German Order
The Young German Order (German: Jungdeutscher Orden, shortened form Jungdo) was a nationalist-liberal association founded by Artur Mahraun in the early years of the Weimar Republic. It grew out of a Freikorps unit but kept its paramilitary structure for only a few years before it turned away from the political Right. It differed from other similar associations in its organisation and customs, which were based on the medieval Teutonic Order, and in its political aims. Mahraun hoped to overcome class and social differences in German society by instilling it with the camaraderie that front-line soldiers had experienced during World War I.
Most of its members belonged to the middle classes. It was antisemitic and in favour of reconciliation with France. It achieved its historical prominence through its brief merger with the left-liberal German Democratic Party to form the German State Party in 1930. It was banned when the Nazi Party came to power in 1933.
The organisation of the Jungdo was hierarchical and based on the medieval Teutonic Order. There were local groups called brotherhoods or sisterhoods. Young members between the ages of 10 and 15 were grouped together in junior troops. For 16- to 19-year-olds, the groups were called junior fellowships (Junggefolgschaften). Several brotherhoods and sisterhoods made up a formation called a Ballei. The leaders of the individual groups were elected and had to be confirmed by the next higher authority, a process known as a "cure". The chairmen of the local groups were known as Grand Masters (Hochmeister) and those of the Balleien as Commanders (Konture). The individual Grand Commanders formed the High Chapter, which was presided over by a Grand Master and was the supreme body of the Order.
The uniform dress of the Jungdo was the field-grey soldier's uniform, the jacket of which was replaced by a windbreaker. There were no rank insignia.
The Young German Order was founded in Kassel on 10 January 1920 by retired captain Artur Mahraun. It grew out of the Freikorps unit Offiziers-Kompanie-Cassel, which Mahraun had founded one year earlier. Mahraun wanted to recreate the camaraderie experienced by soldiers at the front during World War I in order to overcome class and social differences in German society. Estimates of the Jungdo's membership vary widely, from 70,000 in the summer of 1921, 200,000 in 1925, to over a million at peak. Mahraun, however, stated in an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel in 1949 that membership had never exceeded 37,000.
Initially the Jungdo was a nationalist defense association with ties to the political Right through such groups as the paramilitary Organisation Escherich. It kept the underlying structure of a paramilitary for a number of years, although during the Kapp Putsch of 1920, its leadership declared its solidarity with the legitimate government of Chancellor Gustav Bauer of the Social Democrats (SPD). As late as 1923 the Jungdo took part in the resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr.
Mahraun broke away from right-wing groups after only a few years. Historian Ernst Maste wrote:
The initial character of the "middle-class peasant self-protection organisation" was very soon shed; the more general character of the defense association then faded to the extent that the Young German Order, without joining the ranks of the parties, became a political factor comparable to them, although the terms "right" and "left" were soon no longer applicable to its position.
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Young German Order AI simulator
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Young German Order
The Young German Order (German: Jungdeutscher Orden, shortened form Jungdo) was a nationalist-liberal association founded by Artur Mahraun in the early years of the Weimar Republic. It grew out of a Freikorps unit but kept its paramilitary structure for only a few years before it turned away from the political Right. It differed from other similar associations in its organisation and customs, which were based on the medieval Teutonic Order, and in its political aims. Mahraun hoped to overcome class and social differences in German society by instilling it with the camaraderie that front-line soldiers had experienced during World War I.
Most of its members belonged to the middle classes. It was antisemitic and in favour of reconciliation with France. It achieved its historical prominence through its brief merger with the left-liberal German Democratic Party to form the German State Party in 1930. It was banned when the Nazi Party came to power in 1933.
The organisation of the Jungdo was hierarchical and based on the medieval Teutonic Order. There were local groups called brotherhoods or sisterhoods. Young members between the ages of 10 and 15 were grouped together in junior troops. For 16- to 19-year-olds, the groups were called junior fellowships (Junggefolgschaften). Several brotherhoods and sisterhoods made up a formation called a Ballei. The leaders of the individual groups were elected and had to be confirmed by the next higher authority, a process known as a "cure". The chairmen of the local groups were known as Grand Masters (Hochmeister) and those of the Balleien as Commanders (Konture). The individual Grand Commanders formed the High Chapter, which was presided over by a Grand Master and was the supreme body of the Order.
The uniform dress of the Jungdo was the field-grey soldier's uniform, the jacket of which was replaced by a windbreaker. There were no rank insignia.
The Young German Order was founded in Kassel on 10 January 1920 by retired captain Artur Mahraun. It grew out of the Freikorps unit Offiziers-Kompanie-Cassel, which Mahraun had founded one year earlier. Mahraun wanted to recreate the camaraderie experienced by soldiers at the front during World War I in order to overcome class and social differences in German society. Estimates of the Jungdo's membership vary widely, from 70,000 in the summer of 1921, 200,000 in 1925, to over a million at peak. Mahraun, however, stated in an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel in 1949 that membership had never exceeded 37,000.
Initially the Jungdo was a nationalist defense association with ties to the political Right through such groups as the paramilitary Organisation Escherich. It kept the underlying structure of a paramilitary for a number of years, although during the Kapp Putsch of 1920, its leadership declared its solidarity with the legitimate government of Chancellor Gustav Bauer of the Social Democrats (SPD). As late as 1923 the Jungdo took part in the resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr.
Mahraun broke away from right-wing groups after only a few years. Historian Ernst Maste wrote:
The initial character of the "middle-class peasant self-protection organisation" was very soon shed; the more general character of the defense association then faded to the extent that the Young German Order, without joining the ranks of the parties, became a political factor comparable to them, although the terms "right" and "left" were soon no longer applicable to its position.