Today the Far-Right "academics/fraternities" ball takes place in Vienna

[Franknburger]

How is the word "fraternity" being used in this context?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burschenschaft

"Burschenschaften" go back to the 19th century German national-liberal movement, and played an important role in the 1848 German revolution. They continue to exist as student fraternities, though with strongly decreasing relevance.

I did some more research
http://www.zeit.de/2013/06/Oesterreich-Burschenschaften/komplettansicht (in German)
http://burschenschafterpacktaus.wordpress.com/ (German Blog "Burschenschafter" against Neo-Nazis)

Austrian fraternities after 1945 have apparently focused more on the "national" part of the tradition, following a Greater Germany ideal that encompasses Germany, Austria and South Tyrolia. The "Deutsche Burschanschaften" is an umbrella organisation of German and Austrian fraternities. Since 2013, it is headed by Vienna's Teutonia fraternity, which is regarded as hot-bed of militant neo-Nazis. The Teutonia fraternity last year initiated a resolution, signed by 14 Austrian fraternities, which called for a "völkisch" concept of nationality. That resolution has commonly been understood as being directed against a Mannheim-based fraternity that accepted a son of Chinese parents as member. In opposition to that resolution, and in solidarity with that Mannheim fraternity, in the meantime 38 German fraternities, as well as a handful of Austrian fraternities have left the "Deutsche Burschenschaften", and are preparing for establishing a new umbrella organisation.

Within the "Deutsche Burschenschaften", there is a far-right sub-organisation called "Burschenschaftliche Gemeinschaft". The German members are under supervision by the German "Verfassungsschutz" for  neo-Nazi tendencies. Currently, six German states are reporting links of local fraternities with the neo-Nazi scene. These fraternities are generally regarded as having an "interface function" towards the far-right.
Austria stopped supervising their fraternities in 2002 under the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition. A lot of former fraternity members have made career inside the FPÖ, FPÖ leader H.P. Strache, former fraternity member himself, once described fraternities as "the backbone of the party after the BZÖ split-off".

UNESCO has in 2012 taken off balls in the Wiener Hofburg from their Immaterial World Cultural Heritage list in explicit reference to the annual Vienna Corporatist (fraternity) Ball. In reaction to that decision, the Wiener Hofburg refused to further host that ball. Therefore, from 2013 on, Vienna's FPÖ chapter has been organising a new "Vienna Academics Ball" at the same date and venue as the previous Vienna Corporatist Ball.
Participants in the 2009-2011 Vienna Corporatist Balls have included Marine LePen (FN), Bruno Gollnisch (FN), Patrik Brinkmann (D/SE), Filip DeWinter (Vlaams Belang), Aleksandr Dugin (RUS), Mathias Faust (DVU/NPD), Enrique Ravello (E). The Ball has apparently lost some appeal - in 2014, some 400-900 people participated (sources vary on the number), down from 1,900 in 2010.

[Tender Branson]

Thanks for the research, Frankenburger !

We should probably note that most of the extreme-right/Neo-Nazi fraternities have some sort of "Aryan Paragraph" as well, even though they never admit it.

Aryan Paragraph means that they only accept new members with an ethnic German/Austrian background that goes back centuries. This is why the guy of Chinese origin in the article would not be admitted to most of these fraternities, even if he were staunchly right-wing ...

[Zanas]

This whole event, from both sides, and this whole thread, from both sides, is a disaster. Exemptions for Franzl and Tender, who seemed the only ones with a bit of critical thinking and perspective.

[palandio]

We should note though that not all member fraternities of the Wiener Korporationsring (WKR) are Burschenschaften. And probably not all self-designated Vienna-based Burschenschaften are members of the WKR and some have never been members of the Deutsche Burschenschaft (DB).
Additionally there are many more Vienna-based student fraternities that are neither Burschenschaften nor WKR members.

What we can say is that most student fraternities in Germany and Austria are rather conservative and that most WKR member fraternities are even more to the right. Burschenschaft is a self-designation used by a variety of student fraternities that identify with early 19th century national-liberal tradition. Not all of them are far-right. Many are organized in the DB. The DB has shifted even further to the right in recent years. As Franknburger mentioned, there is an extreme-right sub-organization called Burschenschaftliche Gemeinschaft, in which many Vienna-based WKR fraternities are members, for example:
WAB Alania, WAB Albia, WAB Bruna Sudetia, WAB Gothia, WAB Libertas, WAB Moldavia, WAB Olympia, WAB Silesia, WAB Teutonia
Particularly Olympia and Teutonia are known for being openly Neo-Nazi.

[Tender Branson]

The Vienna city council has voted today to "ban" future fraternity balls in Vienna, with the votes of the Red-Green government.

According to the article below this is not binding for the Hofburg event agency, which is a private company, but the decision is "likely to put increasing pressure on the agency not to host it next year".

The Vienna city council agreed to "ban" it because the ball is damaging to the international image of the city.

http://derstandard.at/1389858756072/Gemeinderat-stimmt-ueber-Aus-den-FPOe-Balls-in-der-Hofburg-ab

Let's see what triumphs next year with regards to the Hofburg agency: Sanity and respect for Holocaust-survivors or money.

[dead0man]

Violence wins again!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Lol - no one else knows about the stereotype about the right-wing being full of closet-cases?

[Tender Branson]

Today, once again the police had to come out in force because the right-wing "Identitaries" held a protest march in Vienna, with a ton of left-wing protesters nearby.

While the right-wingers marched more or less peacefully through the city, the left-wingers attacked the police and then the police tear-gassed them down ...

Meh, why do the left-wingers always think they accomplish something with this sh*t ? They should rather focus on the Neo-Nazis instead.









Once again, German participants (this time with the Far-Right):



You can watch all the pics here:

http://derstandard.at/2000001316139/Der-Marsch-der-Identitaeren-am-Samstag-in-Wien

[Tender Branson]

If you are wondering what the yellow-black poster of the right-wingers means:

"It's your country. DEFEND YOURSELF ! Identitary movement."

[Cassius]

That front row of marchers in the third picture down must be some of the most inoffensive looking far-right marchers I've ever seen. Anyway, the left-wing protestors clearly are not into this type of thing for political purposes, but instead because they're masochists

[Tender Branson]

That front row of marchers in the third picture down must be some of the most inoffensive looking far-right marchers I've ever seen. Anyway, the left-wing protestors clearly are not into this type of thing for political purposes, but instead because they're masochists

Not all right-wingers these days look like skinheads ...

A lot of those are actually club-visiting metrosexuals, or when it comes to women, pretty hot and styled up ...

[Cassius]

Meh, true, though I was referring to far-right wingers (and if you ever see any photos of members of our home grown far-right party the BNP, it is quite amusing as to how many of them do conform in appearence to the skinhead stereotype).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

How many far-rightists in Austria support merging with Germany?

[Tender Branson]

How many far-rightists in Austria support merging with Germany?

Hard to say, maybe 20-50% ?

I don't think that even among far-right voters there's a big desire to merge with Germany, with many of them are simply patriotic protest voters, who would never think of this and who like Austria. (The Neo-Nazi and far-right Burschenschafter types on the other hand - they would probably like merging with Germany).

In the "normal" voting population (non-right wing) you will probably find not more than 5% who would want to merge with Germany.