Despite a long scouting history, you won’t see members of this fraternity taking part in outdoor activities whilst sporting a neckerchief and woggle.
The fraternity that exists today started out as a student club for former scouts in 1915, and formally became a fraternity in 1920. Up until the 1960s the group had strong links to the worldwide scouting movement. “In 1975 we officially changed our name to the Delftsche Zwervers, because members felt that they didn’t fall into the scouting box, but did fit with those kinds of people,” explained president, Laura Geurtsen. “We still have connections with scouting today, although not everyone here would like to admit it.” The word ‘zwerver’ is a literal translation of the English scouting term ‘rover’ and doesn’t, as commonly thought, mean hobo or tramp. Their logo is a campfire on a cog, representing scouting and engineering.
The crew have been at their current location at the Kruithuis complex at Schiekade since 2000, in one of the towers previously used for gunpowder storage. Designed by Pieter Post, and built in 1660 a safe distance from town due to the risk of explosion, they are completely surrounded by water. Previously you could only reach the tower by boat, but now there’s a jetty. The building and terrain belong to Scouting Nederland.
“We are now at a record number of 46 members, breaking the record from 1952 when there were 45,” said Geurtsen. This makes them one of the smallest fraternities. Some members have a scouting background, but it’s not necessary. There is no hierarchy. “We all know each other and are like a big family. We’re quite informal, there’s no uniform, and anyone can come anytime.”
The group meets on Thursday evenings. “When we come together we eat, taking it in turns to cook, then do some kind of activity before having drinks,” said Geurtsen. The activities vary, since each new member gets to plan an evening programme; it could be a casino, knot tying or something crafty. On other days role-playing groups meet. Hertog Jan is their standard beer at the bar, and they’re small enough not to need a beer contract. With the sofas, dart board and piano the space resembles a large living room. “We have a fire breathing tradition which you learn from older members,” said Geurtsen, and there’s a bonfire pit outside. For OWEE they had a zip-wire over the water, and spent a weekend camping. Summer camps are another long-standing tradition; the fraternity organises these camps in the east of the Netherlands for special needs children of primary school age.
See delftschezwervers.nl and kampjes.nl to find out more.
In this series we’ll be meeting TU Delft’s student fraternities. These fraternities are called gezelligheidsverenigingen in Dutch, which translates as ‘social clubs’, but in fact they’re far more than that. If you’d like to suggest a fraternity for us to cover, please email us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl.
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