Association of German Girl Scouts (1949–1975)
The Association of German Girl Scouts (BDP, also BDPi) was a German Girl Scout Association founded in 1949 .
history
From 1945 onwards, groups of girl scouts were formed again in the three western zones , often with the help of foreign girl guides and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). These initially formed zonal associations before a new association of German Girl Scouts was founded in 1949 . There were hardly any lines of tradition between the new Bund and its predecessor of the same name. The naming is referred to in many sources as a reference to the Association of German Scouts founded in 1948 , a reference to the "first" Association of German Girl Scouts, which existed between 1912 and 1933, is often judged to be non-existent. The federal scouts saw themselves, however, in a historical line. For example, in the brochure “10 Years of the BDP” from 1956: “The Association of German Girl Scouts was founded in 1922 [...]. In 1946, many older women leaders woke up the desire to meet the girls who have now been through all the terrible war years had behind them to report on the joys of the scout life. Small groups were formed all over Germany in which the scout idea came to life. "
Also in 1949, the BDP, the Union of Christian Girl Scouts , the Evangelical Girl Scout Union and the St. George Scouting Union founded the Ring of German Scout Groups as a joint umbrella organization. In 1950 he became a member of WAGGGS and in 1952 a member of the German Federal Youth Association .
In 1956, the BDPi ran a federal camp in Immenhausen , which was visited by Olave Baden-Powell , Chief Guide of the World. The storage area in Immenhausen was leased by the BDP in 1955 and was expanded into the federal center of the BDPi and its successor BdP in the following years.
In the second half of the 1960s, contacts between the BDPi and the Association of German Scouts intensified . First talks about a merger took place as early as 1968. Because of the worsening situation in the Association of German Scouts and the reservations on the female side, these talks were initially broken off. They were only taken up again when in 1971, the Union of Scouts, a new male interlocutor was available. After several years of negotiations, the BDPi and the Association of Scouts merged on January 1, 1976 to form the Association of Scouts and Scouts . At the grassroots level, this merger had already been anticipated by numerous groups.
The local group name "Burg", which has traditionally been used since the 1920s in the BDPi, was gradually abandoned by the groups from the Association of German Girl Scouts after the merger. Only the group from Karlsruhe still bears the name "Burg Karlsruhe", whose existence can be traced back to 1925; the group itself was founded in 1913.