FAR RIGHT: AUSTRIA

Vienna City Hall in Austria, a magnificent neo-Gothic building built in the 19th century. It is the headquarters of Vienna's municipal administration.

Members of Vienna's 18 Burschenschaften groups gathered together on 6/11/08 for a private and formal meeting at a venue called the Grinzinger Keller under the neo-Gothic Vienna City Hall ( Rathaus) . The Burschenschaften are secretive academic fraternities in Austria and Germany with a long tradition stretching back to the 19th century when students fought in the War of Liberation against the Napoleonic occupation of Germany. They are ostensibly benign brotherhoods similar to the Freemasons but some groups have a history of terrorism and have been linked to extremist far right groups in Austria.

Members wear different coloured hats to denote their loyalties to each fraternity and only males with a German heritage can join. Elected leaders from each group wear traditional outfits and carry swords on formal occasions.