Fraternity Bragging Scars

bragging scars

At the turn of the century, at German and Austrian universities, upper-class fraternity boys dueled and considered their scars a mark of class, honor and masculinity -- called bragging scars (renommierschmiss). It extended into the 1920s. The face at the right is Otto Skorzeny, who fought fifteen duels while a student in Vienna in the 1920s. Skorzeny joined the Austrian Nazi Party in 1931, was with  Hitler's SS during World War II and a hero commando leader.

home