General poor institution (Elberfeld)
The Elberfelder Allgemeine Armenanstalt was a civil organization for poor relief in Elberfeld , which existed from 1800 to 1816.
It was founded by the banker and then mayor Jacob Aders in view of the difficult economic situation in the Wuppertal. Church activities alone no longer seemed sufficient. The model of his concept was the " Hamburg Poor Institute ", with whose establishment its co-founder Caspar Voght had connected the idea of "not only giving gifts to the poor, but also clogging the sources of poverty."
Of the twelve administrators of the institution, eight were district heads and four took care of finances and branch institutions such as the poor house , the school for the poor and a soup house . (The head of the poor house and teacher was the philanthropist Johann Friedrich Wilberg ). Each district had four quarters, for which the head of the quarters or carers were responsible. These had to look after a total of around 500 poor families. The work of the administrators and the head of the quarters was voluntary; there was a criminal duty to accept the offices at election.
In the concept of the poor institution, education and employment were on an equal footing with material support. Ultimately, the aim was to ensure that the people affected could (again) earn their living on their own.
The institution was financed by donations from the citizens of Elberfeld. When the revenue became too low, a poor tax was applied for, but this was not politically enforceable. In 1816 the poor institution was closed due to insufficient funds.
The general poor institution is in various respects the forerunner of the later Elberfeld system of poor relief.
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Sillem: Kaspar Freiherr von Voght . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 161-166.
literature
- Karl Herrmann Beeck (ed.) / Tanja Ünlüdag , historical texts from the Wupperthale. Sources on the social history of the 19th century, Wuppertal 1989
- Rudolf Bergmann, 300 years of Reformed Diakonie in Elberfeld, new edition Wuppertal 2002