Baltischer Philisterverband (B!Ph!V!)

The Baltic Philistines' Association (B!Ph!V!) is the umbrella organization of the philistines' associations of the Curonia (founded in 1808) and the three active German-Baltic fraternities:

  Corps Concordia Rigensis zu Hamburg (founded in 1869)
  Fraternitas Dorpatensis zu München (founded in 1948)
  Corps Curonia Goettingensis (founded in 1959).

The Baltic Philistines' Association was founded in 1951. According to its statutes, it aims to keep alive, to promote and support the objectives, traditions and ideas of the Baltic student culture.

In the past, the Association mainly supported the building of local groups of the young German-Baltic fraternities in Germany and gave the members of the old German-Baltic fraternities from Tartu and Riga and the Estonian and Latvian fraternities in exile a common platform. Since its reconstitution in Darmstadt in 1998, the Baltic Philistines' Association now has the primary duty to keep contact to fraternities in the Baltics and in Poland, which experienced a revival since the liberation from communism and the rebirth of Estonia's and Latvia's independence in 1991.

The Baltic Philistines' Association organizes the Baltic Nations' Conventions in Germany where Estonian, Latvian, Polish and German fraternity students gather. Such Nations' Conventions existed in the Baltics already in the 19th century. Between 1960 and the early nineties, the Conventions were celebrated yearly in Heidelberg.

Today's Baltic Nations' Conventions are celebrated every fourth year in Germany (alternately in Hamburg, Göttingen and Munich), and in the years between in Tartu, Tallinn, Riga and Warsaw. By the Conventions, the Baltic Philistines' Association hopes to foster understanding and friendship among people, especially among young students from Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Germany.

At the Baltic Nations' Conventions graduates shall make contacts, and university admission requirements in said four countries shall be explained. In addition, inquiries concerning student exchange and scholarships can be made, and assistance of any kind can be arranged for the students.

The Baltic Philistines' Association is also involved in co-operations with other Baltic organizations.