During the period of 19th century in Germany called the Kulturkampf, the Prussian state tried to reduce the influence of the Catholic Church.

As a result of this, many Catholic organizations were founded in order to withstand this pressure by forming a single front.

They were formed according to the historic examples of the already existing fraternities, like wearing couleur, rules of behaviour, lifelong membership and democratic organization, but added as main principle the foundation upon the Catholic faith.

These new Catholic fraternities, called Studentenverbindungen, faced strong resistance of the older Corps and Burschenschaften and of the administrations of the universities as well.

Patria did not mean a limitation of membership to people of German, Austrian or Swiss origin, as several members from other countries, as Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom show.

Since its foundation, the Cartellverband only accepted into its structure one fraternity from every university, called the principle of singularity.

Those fraternities, which were denied membership founded other umbrella organisations, like the Katholische Deutsche Verband farbentragender Studentenkorporationen (KDV), sharing the same principles as the CV.

Shortly before World War I, former fraternities of the Unitas-Verband, like Alania Bonn and Cheruskia Tübingen also entered the Cartellverband.

After World War I the CV was spread on seven states, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania, but soon the fraternities of Strasbourg had to leave Alsace.

The members were the fraternities Bavaria Bonn, Burgundia München, Ripuaria Freiburg im Breisgau, and Zollern Münster.

Some other fraternities sympathized with them, for example Guestfalia Tübingen, Rheno-Palatia Breslau, Rheno-Franconia München and Marco-Danubia Wien.

The fraternities had to develop a principle of leadership similar to the party organizations of the NSDAP and connection to the national socialist student community.

On 20 June 1938 the remaining structures of the CV were eliminated by order of Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS.

Although the fraternities did not exist any more, many of the former members tried to find informal ways to live their academic traditions.

Today the German (CV) and Austrian (ÖCV) Cartellverband together unite more than 177 active and 12 inactive German student fraternities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovakia and Syria.

Only in matters of protocol, a distinction is made on the basis of the historic date of membership of the Cartellverband.

If there are several member fraternities in a town, these are to form Ortsverbände, local divisions of the CV to coordinate their connections and their exterior view.

For example, there are Ortsverbände at Aachen (7 fraternities), Darmstadt (3), Freiburg im Breisgau (6), Hannover (3), Cologne (7), München–Freising–Weihenstephan (10), Münster (7), Würzburg (6,) Mainz, (3), Frankfurt am Main (4), Heidelberg (2), Berlin (4), Bonn (8) and Erlangen–Nürnberg (3).

In addition to the meetings, the programme during a Cartellversammlung consists of a ball, a Kommers and a Holy Mass on Sunday.

The executive committee of the Altherrenbund, a president, and several heads of regional divisions is elected for therms of four years.

Academic fencing is common with the more liberal student fraternities that already existed in German-speaking countries.

The motto of CV: In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas ('In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity').

Melden was a Lutheran, but the motto has also been used by the catholic Church, such as in Pope John XXIII's first encyclical, Ad Petri Cathedram of 1959.

A Helmet with a medieval student on top, in a green coat, doubled gold and yellow, a sword on his right side.

In the left hand, he has a flag with a golden cross on a red shield containing the letters C and V surrounded by a green wreath.