Corps Austria is a member Corps of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband, the association of the oldest student fraternities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Corps Austria is "pflichtschlagend", which refers to the fact that it requires of its members to participate in several organized duel-like fencing engagements with members of other specific student fraternities, a ritual dating back to the 17th century and described by Mark Twain in his book "A tramp abroad". The Corps Austria is further considered "farbentragend" in that its members wear a colored sash (right shoulder to left waist) across their chests as evidence of their membership of the fraternity. Both of these tendencies are characteristic of the most traditional and often very elite all-male fraternities in countries for