"Arierparagraph" (Aryan Paragraph)

Anti-Semitism had already become a central issue in gymnastics clubs in the 19th century. In 1887, the First Viennese Gymnastics Club introduced a provision in its statutes that was to become known as the so-called "Arierparagraf" (Aryan paragraph). At that time, the consensus in the Alpine Club was that day-to-day and party politics should not play a role. However, the younger members of the Alpine Club in particular were influenced by contemporary nationalist, anti-Semitic and ethnic ideas, which were particularly prevalent in the academic sections.

From the 1890s onwards, the association received applications from sections that wanted to introduce an "Aryan paragraph", i.e. the exclusion of Jews, in their statutes. Initially, it was the academic sections and the Alpine Club sections that had emerged from gymnastics clubs that declared themselves to be anti-Semitic. The first section that wanted to establish itself with an "Aryan paragraph" in its statutes was the Graz Academic section in 1891. However, the central committee of the Alpine Club in Vienna under Karl Ritter von Adamek rejected the draft statutes. As far as is known, the German sections that followed were the section Mark Brandenburg in 1899 and the Munich Academic section in 1910.

The founding of the Vienna section in 1905 was explicitly based on the desire for an "Aryan" section. Other sections did not accept Jews without explicitly stating this in their statutes. In the Vienna section, it was already stipulated in a statute in 1905 that only Germans and Austrians of "Aryan" descent could become members. In 1907 and 1910, the Academic Sections in Vienna and Munich also prohibited Jews from becoming members. Other sections followed suit.

The committees of the Alpine Club, which had to decide on the statutes, generally did not approve "Aryan paragraphs" as they were considered political and therefore detrimental to the association. On July 18, 1910, for example, the Hauptausschuss (main committee)--which decided on the admission of new sections--passed such a resolution.

Positions of nationalist ideology spread rapidly, particularly in the years leading up to the First World War. The beginning of that war and later the defeat of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires ultimately also changed the mood in the Alpine Club. At the first post-war meeting of the main committee in October 1919, the "Aryan paragraph" in the section statutes was once again put on the agenda. This was prompted by a belated motion from the Villach section, according to which the general meeting "beschließen möge, daß im Alpenverein in Hinkunft keine Juden mehr aufgenommen werden" (may resolve that no more Jews will be accepted into the Alpine Club in future) (see 20th main committee meeting).

The motion was not included on the agenda, but the administrative committee took this as an opportunity to submit a motion to the main committee stating that in future, no obstacles should be placed in the way of sections wishing to include the "Aryan paragraph" in their statutes. The sections are completely independent associations and it is therefore not up to the main committee to impose regulations on them regarding the admission of members. The statutes did not provide any means of doing so.

The first chairman of the Alpine Club, Reinhold von Sydow, spoke out clearly against the motion and wanted to maintain the ban on the "Aryan paragraph". However, he was unable to prevent it from being adopted by 11 votes to 8. However, von Sydow demanded "daß, wenn die erste Sektionssatzung mit dem Arier-Paragraph der Vereinsleitung zur Genehmigung vorgelegt wird, wegen Erteilung der Genehmigung noch einmal die mündliche Besprechung im H.-A. [Hauptausschuss] herbeizuführen sei" (that if the first section statutes with the Aryan paragraph are submitted to the association management for approval, the H.-A. [main committee] should have another oral discussion about granting approval) (see 20th main committee meeting).

At the following main committee meeting in May 1920, the two amendments to the statutes of the Graz and Villach sections to introduce an "Aryan paragraph" were finally presented. Once again, von Sydow raised objections, arguing that memberships had previously only ever been assessed on the basis of personal suitability. Dr. Robert Grienberger replied: "Die Aufnahme des Arierparagraphen ist aufrichtiger und unschädlicher als seine Handhabung ohne satzungsmäßige Festlegung." (The inclusion of the Aryan paragraph is more sincere and less damaging than its handling without a statutory definition.) (see 21st main committee meeting). He pointed out that it was not the task of the main committee to interfere with the rights of the sections.

Grienberger also said that the sections were already stricter when admitting members anyway, but at the same time recognized that there were a number of deserving Jewish members and alpinists among the members of the Alpine Club. He also explained that the introduction of the so-called "Aryan paragraph" would not set a precedent for the general association statutes, as the association as a whole had no personal members. This attitude opened the door to the introduction of the so-called "Aryan paragraph" by numerous sections and thus to the exclusion of Jews in the Alpine Club.

In the end, the motion was passed by a large majority of votes, meaning that the amendments to the statutes of the Villach and Graz sections were approved. From then on, the sections were able to include the so-called "Arierparagraf" (Aryan paragraph) in their statutes at their own discretion.

In 1921, the National Socialist Eduard Pichl became chairman of the Austria section and began to enforce anti-Semitism. After the introduction of the "Aryan paragraph" into the section's statutes failed in February 1921, Pichl was finally successful in October 1921. Jews and liberals had already left the Austria section in large numbers and founded the Sektionen Donauland und Ostmark (Donauland and Ostmark sections).

As a result, 98 of the 110 Austrian Alpine Club sections now also formally introduced the so-called "Aryan paragraph". Jews were not allowed to become members or be catered for in the club huts. Many sections that had not yet included an "Aryan paragraph" in their statutes practiced this by means of sometimes secret ballots in the section's own admission committees.

In 1927, the German and Austrian Alpine Club passed a comprehensive amendment to its statutes as a result of the discussions of the previous years. The objectives of the association were expanded to include three points, namely the promotion of mountaineering, the preservation of the "Schönheit und Ursprünglichkeit" (beauty and originality) of the Eastern Alps and the cultivation and strengthening of "Liebe zur deutschen Heimat" (love for the German homeland). Mountaineering, nature conservation, and German national education were brought into a triad.

The behavior of the sections and their scope for action varied greatly: individual sections delayed resignations from the association as long as possible, especially from longstanding, deserving members. This included, for example, the Freiburg section, whose "Aryan paragraph" explicitly spared those members who had joined the section before 1914, had fought in the First World War as soldiers or had lost family members there. The ambitious mountaineer and climber Dr. Robert Liefmann thus remained a member of this section until 1938. Some sections only required proof of "Aryan" origin for new members.

Some, on the other hand, continued to allow Jews to join. They did not introduce the so-called "Aryan paragraph" until 1933 and did not apply it covertly. The Frankfurt on the Main section belonged to this minority.

At its meeting on May 13 to 14, 1933, the Hauptausschuss (main committee) of the German and Austrian Alpine Club abstained from commenting on the political situation in Germany. In contrast, many sections officially welcomed the Nazi regime in their association reports. Without any legal basis, they "voluntarily" complied with the expectations of the NSDAP and quickly introduced the Führer principle and the so-called "Arierparagraf" (Aryan paragraph). The German and Austrian Alpine Club initially retained its independence, but the German sections were incorporated into the National Socialist "Reichsbund für Leibesübungen" (Reich Union for Physical Exercis). Almost all of the German sections that have been examined in detail so far now introduced "Aryan paragraphs", which at least affected new members. Jewish members left many of them because they did not want to remain in an anti-Semitic association.

On May 14, 1933, the main committee adopted a new "Mustersatzung für Jugendgruppen" (model statute for youth groups), according to which only "unbescholtene Jugendliche arischer Abkunft" (unblemished young people of "Aryan" descent) could become members of the youth group. In November 1933, the sections received a draft of the new provisions to be included in the statutes; in addition, a circular letter dated November 21, 1933, expressly pointed out that the amendments to the statutes must be duly adopted, i.e. in a meeting convened and chaired in accordance with the provisions of the previously applicable statutes. Only after a legally valid amendment to the articles of association had been adopted could the election of the leader and the appointment of the deputy and advisory board members take place in accordance with the new association statutes. In addition, the amendment to the statutes had to be submitted by the previous Board of Directors for entry in the register of associations. The leaders and their deputies elected in accordance with the new association statutes could only be registered once the amendment to the statutes had been entered.

In June 1936, the Reich Ministry of the Interior decreed that all Alpine Club sections had to be indirectly affiliated to the "Reichsbund für Leibesübungen" (Reich Union for Physical Exercise) and, as a result, had to adopt its binding uniform statutes.

Austria was "annexed" to the German Reich in 1938. The Alpine Club was immediately brought into line and incorporated in its entirety into the National Socialist "Reichsbund für Leibesübungen", which was renamed the National Socialist Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRL) at the end of 1938 and placed under the control of the NSDAP. A model constitution with an "Aryan paragraph" now became mandatory for all sections. In Austria, only four of around 100 sections had not yet introduced an "Aryan paragraph" in their statutes at this time, although these sections (Bludenz, Köflach, Badgastein, and Reichenau) also refused to admit members of Jewish origin or even actively excluded them. The independent German Alpine Club Berlin had already been dissolved in 1933, and now the Donauland Alpine Club in Vienna followed suit. Finally, Jews were thus officially excluded from the entire Alpine Club.

Until 1933, there was no "Aryan paragraph" in the Frankfurt section statutes, and no corresponding measures were taken against Jewish members. Nazi and anti-Semitic tendencies only gained the upper hand after the National Socialists came to power. As in many other German sections, the introduction of the "Führerprinzip" (Fuehrer principle) in the Frankfurt section was very rapid and not entirely legally flawless. On July 14, 1933, the section leader was to be elected at an extraordinary general meeting without the corresponding amendment to the statutes having taken place beforehand. This necessary amendment to the statutes did not take place until the spring of 1934, when the "Führerprinzip" was legally introduced and the section leader decided on all matters alone or in consultation with the advisory board, which he appointed himself.

In addition, an "Aryan paragraph" was now also included in the Satzung der Sektion Frankfurt (statutes of the Frankfurt section). From then on, only those of so-called "Aryan" descent could become members of the section; applicants had to affirm this in their application for membership. For the definition of the term "Aryan", reference was made to the provisions of Reich law. At the same time, the statutes stipulated that "non-Aryans" could not remain members of the association. However, they were subject to the exemption provisions of April 7, 1933, according to which Jewish "Frontkämpfer" (front-line fighters) from the First World War and their relatives as well as civil servants who had been civil servants before August 1, 1914, were exempt from the membership ban.

The amendment to the statutes in 1934 now also provided the basis for the active exclusion of Jewish members. Due to the lack of membership lists from the early 1930s, it is not possible to determine how many Jewish members left, remained in the section, or whether they "voluntarily" gave up their membership after being pressured to do so or were de facto expelled. The only documented case is that of member Ernst Meissinger, who had a Jewish mother but was himself a Protestant. He was initially asked to leave the section. Finally, in June 1935, he was expelled from the section by section leader Dr. Rudolf Seng.

In 1936, the Frankfurt on the Main section--as an indirect member of the "Reichsbund für Leibesübungen"--also had to adopt its uniform statutes. The administrative committee of the German and Austrian Alpine Club sent a corresponding request to the sections. To amend the statutes, an extraordinary general meeting was held in Frankfurt on July 7, 1936, at which the new statutes were unanimously adopted. The section leader had already had the new statutes approved by the administrative committee beforehand to speed up the process, as he did not expect any changes to be made by the general meeting.

With regard to the particularly controversial Para 2 (Purpose of the Section), the Section had followed the recommendation of the Hauptausschuss (main committee) and opted for the less political version. Instead of the "leiblichen und seelischen Erziehung seiner Mitglieder im Geiste des nationalsozialistischen Volksstaates" (physical and spiritual education of its members in the spirit of the National Socialist people's state), according to the new statutes, the non-profit purpose of the section was "die Kenntnis der Hochgebirge zu verbreiten und erweitern, das sommerliche und winterliche Bergsteigen, insbesondere in den Ostalpen, zu fördern und zu erleichtern, ihre Schönheit und Ursprünglichkeit zu erhalten und dadurch die Liebe zur deutschen Heimat zu pflegen und zu stärken." (to spread and expand knowledge of the high mountains, to promote and facilitate summer and winter mountaineering, especially in the Eastern Alps, to preserve their beauty and originality and thus to cultivate and strengthen love for the German homeland.) (see Statutes of the Frankfurt section 1936).

Para 3 (3) now stipulated that members of the section must fulfill the requirements "die für den Erwerb des Reichsbürgerrechts durch einen deutschen Staatsangehörigen reichsgesetzlich bestimmt sind, und dies im Aufnahmegesuch nachweisen" (stipulated by Reich law for the acquisition of Reich citizenship by a German citizen and prove this in the application for admission), which corresponds to a coded "Aryan paragraph".

After the annexation of Austria and the transformation of the German and Austrian Alpine Club into the German Alpine Club, the branch associations had to amend their statutes again in accordance with the "Uniform Statutes for Branch Associations of the German Alpine Club (DAV)", which had been issued with effect from July 17, 1938. To this end, an extraordinary general meeting was convened on October 11, 1938. These new unified statutes, which had to be adopted by November 1, 1938, were now clearly National Socialist in orientation. The standard statutes contained parts in bold print that had to be adopted and parts in thin print that represented suggestions from the club's management and whose use was optional. According to Para 2, the purpose of the association was now "die leibliche und seelische Erziehung der Mitglieder durch planvoll betriebene Leibesübungen und Pflege des Volksbewusstseins im Geiste des nationalsozialistischen Staates" (the physical and mental education of its members through systematic physical exercise and the cultivation of national consciousness in the spirit of the National Socialist state).

Membership of the NSRL also forced the adoption of new uniform statutes in the 1940s, which the Frankfurt on the Main section adopted without amendment in May 1943. Among other things, it stipulated that members of the branch could only be of German or related blood--this was the most stringent formulation of the "Aryan paragraph" to date.