The political antisemitism that was so widespread at the end of the nineteenth century did not stop at the gates of German universities. According to new regulations, Jews were barred from membership in established associations. Jewish students were thereby denied access to vital cultural and community activities that were a central part of academic life. As a result, they founded their own organizations at a number of universities. Jewish associations saw themselves as being connected to the German Fatherland, but they were also concerned with reinforcing a Jewish self-consciousness.

Shown here are members of the Jewish fraternity “A.W.V. Veda Würzburg” in their uniforms. The first national Jewish student association had been formed in Berlin in 1892. Along with other associations, it established the Federation of Jewish Fraternities [Bund Jüdischer Corporationen, or BJC].