German free group

The German Freischar - Association of hikers and scouts (DF) is an independent bündischer Scout Association in Germany. During the Weimar Republic , the German Freischar was an important group within the German youth movement . Developed from the union of numerous smaller Wandervogel and scout associations, it was one of the largest and most important associations of the Bündische Jugend, along with the German Scout Association and the Reichsschaft Deutscher Scout .

history

The DF was created in 1926 from the merger of the Greater German Boy Scout Association (an association of the Bund Deutscher Newfadfinder and Bund der Ringpfadfinder ) with the Alt-Wandervogel, Deutsche Jungenschaft , the Wandervogel, Deutscher Jungebund and the Reichsstand, following of German Wandering Birds to the Bund der Wandervögel and Scouts . In March 1927 the Bund der Köngener joined, in April of the same year the name was changed to Deutsche Freischar , on October 27, 1927 the Wandervogel-Mädchenbund joined the Freischar. Other small groups followed by 1928, at the end of 1929 the union had 12,000 members (1,500 of them women and girls). There were members of the Federation in Germany and Austria, with a focus on Silesia, Saxony and Berlin-Brandenburg.

Under its federal leader Ernst Buske , who rejected excessive nationalistic behavior, the German Freischar steered a course of political moderation. For this she was decried as "liberalist"; and she was even accused of high treason when she refused to take part in right-wing demonstrations against the Young Plan in 1928 .

On May 4, 1930, the German Freischar and Großdeutscher Jugendbund (under Admiral von Trotha ) temporarily merged under the old name Deutsche Freischar. A large association with up to 16,000 members was created, but it did not last long, so that from October 1930 the old German Freischar became an independent association again.

Simultaneously with the merger of the Freischar and the Greater German Youth Association, Eberhard Koebel , better known by his voyage name Tusk, was expelled from the federal government, some districts followed him and formed their own association, the German Youth Association of November 1, 1929 , of which he became federal leader.

On June 17, 1933, the Bund together with the other member unions of the Greater German Confederation was banned by the recently appointed youth leader of the German Reich, Baldur von Schirach .

The German Freischar was re-established in 1946 as the Sturmschwalben - Ring of German Youth Groups , later called itself Bündische Freischar and has been called Deutsche Freischar again since 1950 . In 1953 and 1954, a large part of the federation was absorbed into the new federation , which later became the Bund deutscher Jungenschaften (BdJ).

The group was retained, but today has only a few hundred members. The Freischar was a founding member of the ring of young leagues (RjB). By resolution of the Federal Assembly on May 19, 2013, the Freischar declared their exit from the RjB.

Known members

• Fritz Arlt - National Socialist functionary
• Ernst Buske - lawyer
• Horst von Einsiedel - member of the Kreisau Circle
• Georg Götsch - music teacher
• Helmuth Kittel - religious educator
• Arno Klönne - sociologist and political scientist
• Eberhard Koebel (tusk) - founder of the German (autonomous) youngsters from November 1st, 1929 (dj.1.11)
• Hermann Kügler - chemist and economist
• Oskar Kusch - submarine commander in World War II
• Kurt Mothes - botanist
• Karl Otto Paetel - journalist and publicist
• Carl-Dietrich von Trotha - university professor and member of the Kreisau Circle
• Heinrich Roth - educational scientist and pedagogue

literature

• Klaus Rauschert: "And blooms again after fog and night ...": Federal history of the free crowd; 1946 to 1953; on the establishment of a youth association and on youth policy in the post-war years . Publishing house of the youth movement Südmarkverlag Fritz, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-88258-147-6

Web links

• Homepage of the German Freischar
• Youth in Germany 1918 to 1945: German Freischar (NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne)

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Rudolf Kneip : Youth of the Weimar Period, Handbook of Youth Associations 1919-1938. dipa-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1974, ISBN 3-7638-0211-8 , pp. 75-83
2. ↑ Werner Kindt: The German Youth Movement 1920 to 1933. The Bundische Zeit. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf, Cologne 1974, ISBN 3-424-00527-4 , pp. 1050f
3. ^ Walter Laqueur : The German youth movement . Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1978. p. 160
4. ^ Walter Laqueur : The German youth movement . Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1978. p. 166
5. ↑ Werner Kindt: The German Youth Movement 1920 to 1933. The Bundische Zeit. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf, Cologne 1974, ISBN 3-424-00527-4 , pp. 1123f
6. ↑ Werner Kindt: The German Youth Movement 1920 to 1933. The Bundische Zeit. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf, Cologne 1974, ISBN 3-424-00527-4 , p. 1235
7. ↑ Hermann Giesecke: From the Wandervogel to the Hitler Youth . Juventa, Munich 1981. ISBN 3-7799-0556-6 , p. 186 Online version ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ^ Arbeitsgemeinschaft Burg Waldeck eV: Köpfchen . 02, 2006. Online version Köpfchen 02/2006 (PDF)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.