The Corps Borussia Bonn is a German Student Corps. It was established at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany in 1821. Inactive during the Nazi rule of Germany, the Corps was reestablished in 1949.
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History
The Corps Borussia Bonn was established on 22 December 1821 at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany. It is the corps of the House of Hohenzollern and Prussian nobility.
The Corps Borussia Bonn joined the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) in 1856. In 1864 and 1883, Borussia headed the KSCV. In 1933, the KSCV amended its bylaws to require member corps to expel anyone of Jewish ancestry or with a Jewish spouse, a rule that affected twelve Borussia members. Rather than formally expel them, the corps initially attempted to persuade the affected members to resign voluntarily. The matter came to a head at a members' meeting on 13 October 1935, when Paul Graf Yorck von Wartenburg protested the policy and announced his resignation; the corps voted to dissolve itself at that same meeting rather than comply with the expulsion requirement.
The Corps Borussia Bonn reestablished itself in 1949, after the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. Corps records indicate the reestablished corps was active by the mid-1950s: the Wiener Holocaust Library in London holds correspondence and Corps Borussia semester reports dated 1954–1962 relating to a lecture Alfred Wiener gave to the corps.
The corps' alumni organization, the Verein der Alten Herren des Corps Borussia Bonn e.V. ("Association of Old Members"), remains currently registered in the German register of associations (Vereinsregister) at the District Court of Bonn (VR 2182) as of 2026.
Symbols
The Corps Borussia Bonn's motto is Virtus fidesque bonorum corona (Latin for "Bravery and loyalty are the crown of the good").
Notable members
Following are some of the notable members of the Corps Borussia Bonn.
Princes
Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt
Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg
Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden
Frederick Francis IV
Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia
Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885)
Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia
Prince Oskar of Prussia
Wilhelm, German Crown Prince
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906–1940)
Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen
Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe
Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Others
Karl Hermann Bitter, writer
Petre P. Carp, political scientist and culture critic
Hermann Dohna-Finckenstein, politician
Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, politician
Friedrich von Berg, politician
Herbert von Bismarck, Foreign Secretary of Germany
Johann von Dallwitz, politician
Wilhelm von Gayl, jurist and politician
Julius von Mirbach, politician
Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron, German ambassador
Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss, German military officer and SS general
Joseph Maria von Radowitz Jr., diplomat
Hans von Rosenberg, diplomat and politician
Kurt Baron von Schröder, financier and politician
Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, jurist
Paul Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (1902–2002), diplomat and resistance figure
Botho zu Eulenburg, minister-president of Prussia
Scandals and member misconduct
Karl Marx fought a duel with a Corps Borrussia member in August 1836.
In November 1909, the corps was suspended for one semester for hazing and its members were prohibited from wearing its colours for three months. At the time, it was the primary fraternity of German royalty, including the Kaiser and all of the Hohenzollern princes.