The
strange character or mark which you see in the inscription is the society
Zirkel, or cypher shown in greater detail here.
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From: Walt Vogdes
Remote Name: 68.116.104.205
Date: 11/19/2003
Time: 03:27:22 PM
This is the Wappen of Phönicia Leipzig. Their colors were gold-red-green, and they were founded on 01.07.1904. Their motto was "TREU FEST WAHR". You can observe all of this on the stein itself. The association was a member of the Rochsburger Delegierten Convent, but I am not able to provide any information about that, or any insights into the nature of the group, except to note that they apparently folded in 1936.
The
strange character or mark which you see in the inscription is the society
Zirkel, or cypher shown in greater detail here.
The student societies drew up their own arms to indicate things that were of importance to their own group. The clasped hands are a sign of valuing friendship. They chose to show the society's colors in the upper left quadrant, and the date of founding in the lower left. We are probably safe to speculate that the symbol in the lower right indicates a society of medical students.